The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com Sports Tuesday, February 11, 2020 — 7 Storako pitching as ace T op of the seventh, last chance for Georgia State. Sophomore right-hander Alex Storako trotted out and took her place inside the circle. With 13 strikeouts under her belt, she was just two away from tying her single- game record of 15 set last season against Michi- gan State. Skylar Mosel stepped up to the plate for Georgia State. Four pitches later, she was heading back to the bench after swinging for the third strike — 14 strike- outs. Sofia Tunon took her turn against Storako. And once again, Storako got another Panther to swing and miss for a third strike — 15. Two outs. Gracie Kittrell was Georgia State’s last chance. Seven pitches in and Storako and Kittrell were locked in a full count. Stora- ko sent the ball over the plate. Kit- trell swung, but like those ahead of her, she found nothing but air — 16, a new career-best. That was how Storako started her season. With emphasis. “I just had all my pitches,” Storako said. She stamped Michigan soft- ball’s season opener, a 6-1 win over Georgia State, with a per- formance that made a statement about her year to come. She went on to contribute in three of the other four wins, helping the Wolverines improve to 5-0 on the season. There was no debate over whether Storako was going to be a starter after coming off a suc- cessful freshman campaign that ended in a 14-6 record and a 2.02 ERA. She and junior left-hander Meghan Beaubien were locks in the pitching rotation entering the season. But Storako’s performance in the Wolverines opening weekend at the USF-Rawlings Invitational warrants a new question: Does Michigan have a clear No. 1? The short answer: no. When asked, Michigan coach Carol Hutchins praised both pitchers, not naming one ace, but rather treating the two as a pair. Beaubien was the first pitcher in last year’s rotation. After all, Storako was only a freshman and Beaubien was coming off a cam- paign that saw her win Big Ten Freshman and Pitcher of the Year. And over the weekend’s games, Beaubien in no way played poorly. She finished with an ERA of 1.75 and a 1.13 WHIP. But Storako excelled. This was her weekend, and Storako showed just how good she can be. “Well, I thought our team had a great weekend and Alex certainly was a big part of that,” Hutchins said. “Last year, at this time, she couldn’t get through entire games, and now she’s doing a heavy load for us. I’m very pleased with that.” Storako pitched in four of five games over the three-day slate, only sitting against South Florida. This included her record-setting start against Georgia State, a relief performance against Illi- nois State, a zero earned-run outing against Fresno State and a complete game against the Wolverines’ best opponent of the weekend — No. 7 Florida — where she held the Gators to just two runs on six hits. “I think it speaks for itself,” Hutchins said. “Now she’s carry- ing the bulk of the load and she’s someone that we count on to be consistent and to be competitive.” Storako came out of the week- end boasting a 1.00 ERA and 1.10 WHIP, while averaging 1.81 strikeouts per inning and 12.67 per game. “I felt really good,” Storako said. “I was able to throw one pitch at a time.” It’s a small sample size — just three starts and four games — but the numbers don’t tell a lie. Stora- ko dominated. Her pitching took over each game, paralyzing opposing offenses. Out of the 23 players she let on base over four games, 20 were stranded. Storako came out this weekend and pitched like an ace. Like a true number one Hutchins trust- ed with the first game, last game and hardest game of the weekend. At the same invitational last season, Hutchins noted Storako surpassed then-sophomore Sarah Schaefer as the No. 2 pitcher in the rotation. This year, Storako made her case again — this time for a share of No. 1. Stoll can be reached at nkstoll@ umich.edu and on Twitter @nkstoll. Notebook: Faceoffs, line chemistry, penalties important for Wolverines The past two weekends — more than any others — exemplified the importance of winning faceoffs for the Michigan hockey team. The Wolverines won a couple key faceoffs, at home against No. 13 Ohio State and Wisconsin, that helped fuel wins. In Friday’s game against the Buckeyes, a crucial faceoff victory came late in the second period. The score was tied at one a piece and sophomore forward Jimmy Lambert got ready to take a draw at the right circle of the offensive zone. Lambert won it and quickly sent it behind him to freshman defenseman Cam York. York hustled toward the left circle and found a window between defenders to rifle the puck into the net. That goal came at a turning point for the eventual 3-2 victory. Then Saturday against the Badgers, senior forward Nick Pastujov won another important draw early in the first period of a then-scoreless game. Pastujov won the faceoff at the right circle of the defensive zone and soon connected with freshman forward Eric Ciccolini who sent it to freshman defenseman Keaton Pehrson near center ice. Pehrson did the rest, putting Michigan on the board in a 5-3 win that secured the weekend sweep. These plays show just how much of an advantage winning a faceoff can be. It puts the opposing players on their feet, as they have to quickly get set in a defensive position and figure out what they’re going to do. A split second hesitation from the opposing defense in making that transition is all it takes to spur an offensive burst. And that was the case the past two weekends. There’s plenty of room for the Wolverines to improve on faceoffs, as they’ve won 49.8 percent to date. That said, the results from the weekend could provide Michigan enough of an incentive to bear down on the draws. When it comes to the drop of the puck, Pastujov is the Wolverines’ most talented player. He has taken close to 22-percent of his team’s faceoffs and is winning nearly 57 percent of the time. Slaker, Lambert, Granowicz line finding success With freshman forward Johnny Beecher out during last Friday’s game due to a one-game suspension, the lines were changed up a bit. For the first time, the combination of senior forward Jake Slaker, freshman forward Nick Granowicz and Lambert found its way onto the ice. “I thought that we were good on the forecheck,” Lambert said of the line. “We were just going to the net. A lot of the times, the goals are scored just within 10 feet of the net and that’s where we scored pretty much all of them, so we clicked well, but we were skating and we were moving it and communicating and that was big out there tonight. ” And it worked for Michigan. The line helped churn three goals in the 8-4 win. “I’ve been playing with Jimmy on and off for the last two years, so we have good chemistry,” Slaker said. “It was our first night with (Granowicz) and we had really good practices this week. We kind of went in with a game plan and it ended up working out.” Despite Beecher’s return to the ice on Saturday, the Wolverines stuck to what worked — letting Slaker, Lambert and Granowicz continue to stick together. And once again, the results were positive. In the 5-3 victory, the line was on ice for two of Michigan’s goals. Lambert left the game in the third period due to an undisclosed injury after sliding into the boards. If he can make a timely recovery, though, he and his new linemates could help the Wolverines continue their offensive strides that they’ve searched so long to find. Penalties dwindling away While hosting Wisconsin, Michigan significantly limited its penalties. Heading into the weekend, the Wolverines were averaging 8.96 penalty minutes a night. That figure wasn’t too much of an issue due to the group’s skillful penalty kill unit. But in the two games against the Badgers combined, Michigan served just six total penalty minutes. “Honestly, I think it’s just the point in the season,” senior forward Jacob Hayhurst said of the drop. “It’s late. Everyone knows what the refs are gonna call and what they’re not gonna call. I think there’s gonna be a little more leeway each night, just because it’s getting that much closer to playoff hockey.” However, if such improvement is here to stay, it could pay dividends down the road. NICHOLAS STOLL ALEC COHEN/Daily Alex Storako showed this weekend that she can be a second ace for Michigan. ROHAN KUMAR Daily Sports Writer NATALIE STEPHENS/Daily Senior forward Nick Pastujov won key faceoffs in Michigan’s weekend sweep. Fresh faces Five minutes into the first quarter, freshman midfielder Jake Bonomi glided across the left side of the field, tucking his crosse to his side as he face-dodged past a flurry of defenders. With his hands free, Bonomi then smoothly placed his shot right past the left shoulder of Cleveland State goalkeeper Gareth Haigh to net the Michigan men’s lacrosse team’s first goal of the 2020 season and his first goal as a Wolverine. Alongside Bonomi, who recorded one other goal and one assist on Saturday, fellow freshmen attackman Josh Zawada and defenseman Dylan Gardner, who both found the back of the net twice, had impressive debuts as the Wolverines (1-0) defeated the Vikings (0-1), 16-9, in their season opener. With senior midfielder Avery Myers out due to injury, three freshmen found themselves in the Wolverines’ starting offensive rotation: Bonomi, Zawada and midfielder Jacob Jackson. And they all proved why they deserve to be starters, seamlessly integrating themselves into a fierce unit of goal-scorers that includes junior attackman Kevin Mack and sophomore attackman Bryce Clay. “Playing alongside Kevin and Bryce, I have to work off them,” Zawada said. “Every time they dodge, I’m there. I gotta just know my place and what to do. Everything will fall into place after that.” “We have some firepower with our offensive unit, but it’s more about leadership,” Michigan coach Kevin Conry said. “It’s just the quiet confidence in this group that they know that they have the ability to go on some of these runs.” Bonomi and Zawada’s goals were paired with a set of opportunistic goals from junior midfielders Alex Buckanavage, after a man-up possession, and Steven Schnieder, following a lengthy ground ball scrum. By the end of the first quarter, Michigan extended its lead to 4-1. “It was more about just understanding and knowing that they could do it,” Conry said. “It’s great to see them actually perform. They’ve had such good preseasons that we weren’t very surprised.” Three minutes into the second quarter, Vikings’ attackman Tristan Hanna found teammate Ryan Haigh streaking through the Wolverines’ defensive unit. Haigh then fired a shot past senior goalkeeper Matt Trowbridge to cut Michigan’s lead to two goals. But just two minutes later, Clay bulled his way through a Vikings’ defenseman and fired a shot past Haigh to re-extend Michigan’s lead to three. The Wolverines didn’t look back from there. Highlighted by a ferocious time-and-room goal scored by fifth-year senior Rocco Sutherland and an open-net goal from near midfield by Gardner, Michigan piled on four more goals throughout the quarter. At halftime, the Wolverines stood tall with a commanding 9-3 lead. In last season’s contest against Cleveland State, Michigan found itself in a similar situation, up 7-0 halfway through the second quarter. The Wolverines let the Vikings back into the game and barely escaped with a victory, 10-8. This season, although Michigan was able to hold onto a healthy- sized lead throughout the second half, Cleveland State never folded and scored twice as many goals in the second half as it did in the first. Led by Hanna, who scored two of his three goals in the second half, the Vikings capitalized on a young Wolverines’ defensive unit’s miscues on transition defense and positioning several times. “You have to look and give Cleveland State a lot of credit,” Conry said. “Tristan Hanna is slippery. He’s got incredible hands and moves really well off the ball. A lot of it is the speed he was working at. … You look at those guys who are all freshmen getting back in the hole. A lot of times you get back in the hole, you rest. (And) you can’t rest. So that’s really the message that we have to continue to hammer into them.” Despite occasional lapses, Michigan’s defense stood its ground for the most part and took advantage of numerous missed opportunities ceded by the Vikings. In addition to his two goals, Gardner scooped up seven ground balls and caused one turnover. Sophomore defensive midfielder Andrew Russell and sophomore defenseman Drake Schaffner each picked up three ground balls to award the Wolverines’ offense the possessions they needed to maintain their lead. In spite of Cleveland State’s offensive efforts, its defense was unable to contain Michigan’s offensive weapons throughout the second half. Forty-five seconds into the third quarter, Jackson netted his first goal as a Wolverine. Following an unreleasable unnecessary roughness penalty by the Vikings, Buckanavage and Mack scored goals within a minute of one another to extend Michigan’s lead to eight, 12-4. Whenever Cleveland State was able to score, the Wolverines had an answer. And on Saturday, that was all they needed. Freshmen lead Michigan past Cleveland State in dominating, 16-9, win Saturday, the Michigan men’s lacrosse lineup was missing some familiar faces. Seniors Avery Myers — a starter in the midfield last season — and Finn Goonan were out with injuries. So, Michigan coach Kevin Conry turned to his youngest players. They did more than heed his call. Freshman midfielder Jake Bonomi broke the seal for the Wolverines with his first career goal. Scoring within the first five minutes of play, Bonomi set the tone for the offensive core, and finished the game with two goals and one assist in a 16-9 win over Cleveland State. “He’s a missile,” Conry said. “He’s like the Energizer Bunny coming out of the box. We knew that we could surprise some people. The key with Jake is to continue to develop and keep playing as hard as he does.” Bonomi is not the only weapon in Michigan’s offensive unit. Sophomore attackman Bryce Clay led the team with three goals and junior attackman Kevin Mack put up two goals. With Myers — who was second in goals last year — set to return any week, the offensive unit will be a balance of upperclassmen who can lead the team and young players with a lot of potential. “We have some firepower with our offensive unit, but it’s more about the leadership,” Conry said. Freshman attackman Josh Zawada had an impressive start to his career as well, leading the team with three assists and putting up two goals, matching fellow freshman defensemen Dylan Gardner in scoring. “It felt awesome,” Zawada said. “It’s a dream come true wearing the Michigan uniform and wings on our helmets.” “ … I get a lot of support from the upperclassmen. Every time I don’t know the plays and I don’t know where to go on the field they guide me through it and then the next rep I know what to do.” The Wolverines hope leadership and team chemistry will lead them to a strong season. The team struggled last year to a 4-9 record overall and went 1-4 in the Big Ten. And considering how injury- prone the team was last season, being able to rely on younger players that have the ability to step up and perform will be important for Michigan. Veteran Wolverines have now seen they can trust the freshmen to hold their ground at a high level. “It’s huge,” Clay said. “We know they can play, and that’s why they’re on the field.” BECCA MAHON/Daily Freshman attackman Josh Zawata had three assists and two goals in his Michigan debut as the Wolverines beat Cleveland State, 16-9, in their opener. DREW COX Daily Sports Writer MAX WADLEY For The Daily They can play, and that’s why they’re on the field.