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Sports
Tuesday, January 28, 2020 — 7

‘M’ beats UCSB to go 3-1 on weekend

The final shot came barrelling
in, but Heidi Ritner was never
worried.
The senior goaltender had her
defense in perfect position and
the ball sailed harmlessly over
the net. That strong defensive
effort led the No. 7 Michigan
water polo team (5-3) to a 7-6
victory on Sunday against No. 9
UC Santa Barbara (6-3) to close
out the Michigan Invitational.
Playing
their
first
games
in front of home fans, the
Wolverines opened up with an
11-8 win against No. 21 Wagner
(1-3), which they dominated from
the start. The team struggled
against No. 5 UCLA (8-1) and
took a tough 12-4 loss before
bouncing back with a 7-4 win
against No. 11 Pacific (2-3). The
final match of the day against
the Gauchos, though, ended up
being the most thrilling of the
weekend.
“That game had so many
different things that symbolize
what a championship match
looks like,” Michigan coach Dr.
Marcelo Leonardi said.
The game kicked off with
an influx of fouls and a lack of
scoring. Each team took a power
play but could not capitalize. It
was not until halfway through
the first quarter that junior

attacker Maddie O’Reilly opened
the scoring with her thirteenth
goal of the year. She leads the
team in points and has set the
tone on offense.
“We’ve tried to maximize her
shot selection and she’s doing a
great job,” Leonardi said. “She’s
just naturally confident, which
takes time, but I like her mindset
when it comes to playing.”
Added O’Reilly: “I’m a junior
now. I’m trying to be a leader as
much as possible.”
Her confidence helped elevate
the rest of the team in the
second period. The Wolverines
traded goals with UC Santa
Barbara, but largely dominated
the pace of play. Several players
hit the crossbar and kept up
the offensive pressure. Junior
defender Emily Ritner buried a
shot in the back of the net with a
minute left to put the Wolverines
up, 4-2, at the half.
Michigan was in control, but
the game felt far from over.
“I thought they were going
to get opportunities to at least
get back into it.” Leonardi said.
“We had to be able to finish the
game.”
After Michigan made it 5-2
with an early third quarter
goal from Erin Neustrom, the
Gauchos stormed back. They
scored two goals within a minute
to trim the deficit to 5-4 entering
the fourth.

UC Santa Barbara tied it up
just forty seconds into the final
period. The Wolverines took
back the lead with goals from
junior defender Sophie Pontre
and junior utility player Kathy
Rogers. Michigan held a 7-5
lead and looked on their way to
an easy finish until a Gauchos
goal with a minute remaining
suddenly made it a one-goal
game again.
UC Santa Barbara loaded up
for one final push to tie the game,
but ultimately, the defense held.
“(I was) just making sure
everyone
was
calm
and
composed,”
Ritner
said.
“Everyone knew we were going
to walk out with the W.”
Ritner, who had eight saves on
the day, led the strong defensive
effort from her goal. She made
some difficult saves early on to
keep the game close and stood
tall when it mattered most.
“I have one of the best goalies
in the country,” Leonardi said.
“She makes this look easy.”
In a game of ebbs and flows,
the Wolverines were able to
squeeze out a 7-6 victory. They
now shift their focus to the
Stanford
Invitational
next
weekend. Having shaken off the
early season rust, they are now
beginning to find an identity.
“(It starts with) our defense.”
Leonardi said. “Our defense and
our confidence.”

Big lineup helps unlock Varejão

It was almost too easy for
Izabel Varejão.
The
freshman
center,
defended by a Rutgers guard
six
inches
shorter
than
her, received a pass from
sophomore guard Amy Dilk in
the post with her back to the
basket. Without hesitating, she
faked one direction, pivoted
the other, and knocked down a
turnaround jumper to put the
Michigan women’s basketball
team up 20 en route to a 71-57
win on Sunday.
But this mismatch didn’t
come because the Wolverines
ran a play that forced a guard
to
switch
onto
Varejão.
Instead, it was a choice the
Scarlet Knights made due to
the lineup that Michigan had
on the floor, which featured
Varejão, sophomore forward
Naz
Hillmon
and
junior
forward Hailey Brown — all
players who typically play in
the post.
“There were times when
Izabel was defended by (a
shorter guard), and we were
able to post her up,” Michigan
coach
Kim
Barnes
Arico
said. “So really trying to take
advantage of the mismatches
that we’re gonna have if we go
with that big lineup.”
When
senior
forward
Kayla
Robbins
suffered
a
season-ending ACL injury last
weekend
against
Nebraska,
the Wolverines lost a key
part of their most common
lineup. Without a clear sixth
player on the team who could
step into Robbins’ spot on the
wing, Barnes Arico looked
to
experiment
with
some
different lineups. While the
big lineup wasn’t used in the
second half — Brown picked
up her fourth foul just four
minutes into the third quarter
— it was arguably Michigan’s
most effective group, giving
Rutgers problems on both ends
of the court.
While the Wolverines’ style
of play changed significantly
with this lineup, it was clear
that they were comfortable in

their new roles. Three-point
shooting was more of a focus,
as Brown moved from the post
to the wing, giving Michigan
the true deep threat that it had
been lacking on the perimeter.
The Scarlet Knights devoted
much of their attention to
Hillmon and Varejão in the
paint,
giving
open
3-point
chances to Brown and senior
guard Akienreh Johnson.
Defensively, the Wolverines
switched to a zone, and their
length down low allowed them
to close out on shooters and
prevent Rutgers from getting
the ball to its bigs — often
resulting in bad passes when
it was attempted. Michigan
forced five Scarlet Knights
turnovers in the six minutes
the three bigs were on the floor
together.
Most
importantly,
this
lineup
allowed
Varejão
to
get comfortable and stay on
the floor. Varejão has shown
flashes of high-quality play,
but poor defense, foul trouble
and
decreased
offensive
production
have
kept
her
off the floor in Big Ten play.
Sunday, she played 19 minutes
— her most in almost a month.
The biggest change for her
was the zone the Wolverines
played for much of the game
with her on the floor. Varejão
has shown immense offensive
talent at times, but recently,
teams have gone after her on
the defensive end, drawing

fouls from her and forcing
Barnes
Arico
to
take
her
out before she can get into
a rhythm. The zone took
pressure off her defensively,
limiting one-on-one matchups
and keeping the ball on the
perimeter.
“Most freshmen come in
and don’t know how to defend,
have never had to defend, don’t
really know the toughness
of what it takes to play in the
Big Ten,” Barnes Arico said.
“I think that’s what Izabel is
learning now, how to be strong,
how to be tough, how to be
physical, and how to defend.”
Because she was able to
stay on the court, Varejão had
her best offensive game. She
scored eight points — tied for
her most since late November
— and added two assists, both
of which came on tough passes
not typically seen from a
center.
“She
came
in
with
a
confident
mindset,
playing
defense,
getting
her
shots
off,” Hillmon said. “(Varejão)
is instant offense, honestly.
She’s trying to work on the
little things so she can stay
on the court, like defense and
rebounding, but she was really
confident today.”
Barnes
Arico
identified
Varejão as someone who would
need to step up in Robbins’
absence. Sunday, she found a
lineup that helped get the most
out of her.

Michigan hockey’s summer of painting houses

By early April at the latest,
the
college
hockey
season
wraps up for all teams. That
leaves players with a break
of around five months before
starting up again.
Such a gap allows players
to return home to visit their
families. Plus, they can work
to fine-tune individual aspects
of their games to be better
prepared come fall.
But the summer break also
gives the student athletes an
opportunity to take up jobs
they wouldn’t have time for
during the strenuous season.
Senior forward Nick Pastujov
and his brother, junior forward
Michael
Pastujov,
are
two
members
of
the
Michigan
hockey team who have taken
advantage of that.
“They had a summer job and
they were painting the houses,”
Michigan coach Mel Pearson
said. “I don’t know, I think that
only lasted one summer. I don’t
think they properly drew up the
estimates very well, because
they seemed to be getting a lot
of work and I don’t know if they
were making much money.”
It
was
the
summer
of
2017, right after
Nick’s freshman
year and before
his brother had
suited
up
for
the Wolverines.
The
two
of
them
worked
in
Michigan
for
Student
Painters.
The
company
hires
college
students
and
gives
them a chance to learn business
management skills by letting
them paint houses and handle
related business logistics.
The
Pastujovs’
youngest
brother, Sasha, had already
been playing hockey in the state
at that time. So, sometimes, the

older brothers painted things
for Sasha’s teammates. Other
times, they painted for some of
their own friends.
The majority of their work
was exterior, but the duo also
painted the inside of Eric
Nystrom’s
house.
Nystrom
— a former NHL player and
first-round pick — is similar
to the brothers
in that he, too,
spent
time
with
the
U.S.
National Team
Development
Program before
four years with
the Wolverines.
“That
was
cool
spending
time with him
and painting his
house,”
Mike
said. “It was fun.”
Nick
employed
other
teammates for a few of the jobs.
For instance, James Sanchez
— who now plays for Arizona
State after transferring from
Michigan — joined the crew
once. Another time, senior
defenseman
Griffin
Luce

helped Nick paint two decks in
the scorching heat.
“Basically what I remember
is that it was probably one of the
hottest days of the summer,”
Luce said. “And both Nick and I
got pretty severely sunburned.
I didn’t reapply sunscreen. But
it was a fun time. He paid for
my lunch. He gave me some
benefits
for
working
for
him.”
Nick
and
Luce
came
across
challenges that
day. Normally,
Nick
would
power
wash
a deck before
repainting.
But
on
this
occasion,
the prior paint had a sort of
stickiness to it and wasn’t
coming off with ease. So, the
two had no choice but to roll
up their sleeves, get down
and scrape the old paint inch
by inch under the sun. The
struggles didn’t stop there.
They also had to carefully tape

multiple dowels near the deck’s
railings before repainting. In
short, it was an eventful day.
When it comes to hockey,
there’s likely a dispute as to
which of the Pastujov brothers
is the better player. But when it
comes to painting, there was no
competition.
“I was probably quicker,”
Nick said. “He
got tired pretty
fast.”
Added
Mike:
“Nick definitely
takes
more
precision strokes
and he uses a lot
more tape than I
do.”
A
return
to
painting
in
the
future
is
unlikely for the
Wolverines. Mike mentioned
that all the hours spent working
outside made for a difficult
summer, and Luce is on the
same page.
“It was a pretty taxing job I
would say for sure,” Luce said.
“I don’t know if that’s in the
future of my career.”

Offensive adjustments
help Wolverines in win

After
playing
its
first
three games in the Michigan
Invitational over the weekend,
the No. 7 Michigan water polo
team (5-3) thought it had made
all the adjustments necessary
for its offense to dominate in its
final game against No. 9 UC Santa
Barbara.
The team went 2-1 in its earlier
tournament contests, but its nail-
biting victory was fueled not by
experience from earlier matches,
but by mid-game adjustments and
a stout defensive performance
against the Gauchos.
When the two teams played
last weekend in California, the
Wolverines were efficient in their
power plays, but that efficiency
fell flat in their second meeting.
Michigan thought it could
attack UC Santa Barbara with the
same strategy. But it was wrong.
“I’m sure that they went back,
they watched film,” Michigan
coach Dr. Marcelo Leonardi said.
“They made their adjustments
... we had to make in-game
adjustments to counter their
adjustments.”
In the first half, Leonardi
opened up the lineup more — due
to fatigue setting in after a long
weekend invitational — rotating
in more players at a time and going
deeper into the roster. But as the
game became closer and closer,
Leonardi needed to tighten up the
roster due to some mental lapses
and personnel breakdowns.
The
adjustments,
mainly
offensive,
allowed
sophomore
center Erin Neustrom to get
better looks and draw more
exclusions.
“A lot of my game is how
teammates get the ball into me,”
Neustrom said. “We have been
doing a great job of that this year
and my position is just feeding off
of them.”

The
Wolverines
needed
offensive adjustments to beat a
team for the second time in one
week, but their overall defensive
strategy remained the same.
“Our defense contained them,”
Leonardi said. “You hold a team
like that who I feel like is high
octane. They play really fast. They
are going to create a lot of scoring
opportunities so kind of keep our
defense in check.”
And a more productive offense
allowed for the defense to shine
and play one of their best games to
date. Praised by her coach as “one
of the best goalies in the country,”
senior goaltender Heidi Ritner
had eight saves and two steals.
Once the defense locked in after a
shaky start to the second half, the
Gauchos’ offense fell flat, allowing
the Wolverines to maintain their
slim lead.
“Ultimately you could look from
the side of my bench,” Leonardi
said. “The facial expressions of
the athletes that we’re facing, you
could tell that once we locked in
defensively they really struggled
to move the ball and create
opportunities to score.”
Junior defenders Emily Ritner
and Sofie Pontré also shined in the
game. Ritner had the most difficult
matchups of the game, guarding
the team’s finisher. In addition
to her strong defense, where she
tallied one steal, she added two
goals on offense. As the center
defender, Pontré guards the best
weapons and does all the team’s
dirty work. Pontré scored one goal
and added one steal defensively.
“(Emily) really came out of her
shell and really grew this game,”
Heidi, her sister, said. “I’m super
proud of her. She had some big
blocks on defense and some big
goals on offense so she really
helped us with the W.”
Added Leonardi: “Those two
positions, if you can lock people
down and contain them, then
that’s a win in itself.”

JOSH TAUBMAN
For The Daily

ALEC COHEN/Daily
Sophomore Erin Neustrom scored in the third quarter of Michigan’s win over UC Santa Barbara on Sunday.

JACK KINGSLEY
Daily Sports Writer

EMMA MATI/Daily
Freshman center Izabel Varejão found success playing in a big lineup.

ROHAN KUMAR
Daily Sports Writer

KELSEY PEASE/Daily
Senior forward Nick Pastujov spent a recent summer painting houses with his brother, Mike, for extra money.

I don’t know
if they were
making much
money.

I don’t know
if that’s in the
future of my
career.

WATER POLO

LILY ISRAEL
Daily Sports Writer