The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Sports
Wednesday, November 18, 2020 — 17

Mira Shane aims to foster Michigan’s 

next generation in coaching role

For four years, Mira Shane 

was the best goaltender in 
Michigan women’s lacrosse 
history. And now, just 18 
months later, she’s making the 
return to Ann Arbor. 

Shane finished her career 

as Michigan’s all-time leader 
in 
career 
victories, 
saves 

and save percentage. Now, 
Shane is returning to her 
college town as a volunteer 
assistant coach to help out the 
Wolverines’ goalkeepers. 

After spending last season 

coaching at Harvard, Shane 
hopes to bring her “energy” 
and “good vibes” to Michigan. 
Aside from simply helping 
build enthusiasm on the field, 
Shane is looking forward to 
creating strong bonds with 
the goalkeepers, helping them 
improve both on and off the 
field. She also understands 
that her athletes have lives 
outside of their sport. 

“Every other coach told 

me that I wasn’t able to do 

my music,” Shane said. “I 
wouldn’t be the player that 
I had been without music. 
I (knew that I) would have 
support staff and a coaching 
staff that would see that 
(music) was important to me. 
I had other facets to who I was 
as an athlete.”

Now, as a coach, Shane 

recognizes that relating to 
the goalies and asking them 
how they’re doing is just 
as important as improving 
technical 
aspects 
of 

goalkeeping.

 “Going from Harvard to 

here, I’ve kinda taken the page 
of listening to my goalies,” 
Shane said. “I think it goes 
back to that point about really 
trying to relate with whatever 
the athlete is going through.”

At the end of the day, 

athletes walk away from the 
game 
with 
memories 
and 

feelings, not just the physical 
skills. 
It’s 
something 
she 

experienced first-hand during 
her collegiate playing career. 
In the last three minutes 
of her final game, a NCAA 
Tournament matchup on her 

home turf, Shane dove in 
an attempt to make a save, 
dislocating 
her 
shoulder 

on the play. By this time, 
the Wolverines were losing 
by an insurmountable goal 
differential.

With tears in her eyes — 

maybe due to her physical 
pain, 
maybe 
due 
to 
the 

sadness of her college career 
ending — Shane was flooded 
with 
the 
many 
memories 

of her time at Michigan: 
memories of making amazing 
saves on the field, of hanging 
out with the members of her 
a capella group, of advocating 
for mental health awareness 
across 
campus 
and 
of 

speaking up for social justice 
and opportunity for all. 

Mira Shane returns to Ann 

Arbor with years of playing 
experience and a season of 
coaching under her belt, and 
she’s ready to support her 
athletes both on and off the 
field. It was the support that 
made the difference for her 
as a player. Now, it’s the same 
support that will help shape 
Michigan women’s lacrosse.

HAYDEN GRIJNSZTEIN

For The Daily

Harbaugh’s message after blowout 
loss: ‘We’re not very good right now.’

Michigan handles Arizona State, 3-0, to 

sweep series
Kent Johnson already looks the part

When Jim Harbaugh spoke 

with 
the 
media 
following 

Michigan’s 49-11 evisceration 
at the hands of Wisconsin on 
Saturday night, his message 
was accountability.

“We were thoroughly beaten 

in every phase,” Harbaugh 
opened, still settling into his 
place at a lectern beneath 
Michigan 
Stadium. 
“Didn’t 

really do anything well. And 
did not play good, did not 
coach good.

“… Not a good place as a 

football team right now and 
that falls on me.”

For Harbaugh, it was a 

unique tone to match a unique 
low point of his tenure. In 
past defeats, his lesson has 
been myopic. Michigan has 
had 
bad 
games, 
showings 

where Harbaugh felt his own 
performance wasn’t up to 
snuff.

But rarely has he taken a 

macro view of his team and 
admitted that the Wolverines 
simply aren’t very good.

On Monday morning, that’s 

the message he carried into 
meetings with his players.

“We’re not very good this 

year, as our record shows,” 
Harbaugh 
said, 
according 

to junior cornerback Gemon 
Green.

Harbaugh 
wasn’t 
telling 

his 
players 
anything 
they 

didn’t 
already 
know. 
On 

Monday, 
both 
Green 
and 

sophomore safety Daxton Hill 
acknowledged that Michigan 
isn’t where it needs to be.

“This is really my first 

(time), having a losing record 
and all that,” Green said. 
“Even growing up in PeeWee I 
never had a losing record.”

But the point of Harbaugh’s 

message wasn’t to kick his 
team 
while 
they’re 
down. 

It was to tell them to take 
advantage of this adversity. 
It’s 
a 
situation 
Michigan 

didn’t expect to be in — its Big 
Ten title hopes, New Years’ 
Six Bowl hopes and more out 
the window by week four — 
but the Wolverines “still have 
the opportunity to be the best 
players we can be,” according 
to Green.

“It’s 
a 
faith 
in 
each 

individual player and each 
individual coach,” Harbaugh 
said. “And collectively as a 
team … keep pushing. You’re 
gonna find a way. You’re 
gonna find out what works, 
you’re gonna break through. I 
think there’s so many athletes 
that have realized greatness in 
athletic performance and in 
sports, a lot of areas of life isn’t 
perfection, 
it’s 
overcoming 

adversity and obstacles. That’s 
what we’re striving for.”

And for a team filled with 

underclassmen 
starters, 

proving yourself for the future 
— as a team and as individuals 
— means something.

“I wanna lead (the players),” 

Harbaugh said. “I want them to 
hear my voice and understand 
what the objectives are gonna 
be each and every day.”

Right 
now, 
the 
first 

objective 
is 
changing 
the 

energy 
surrounding 
this 

team. It’s painfully clear — 
to Harbaugh, to his players, 
to anyone watching on TV 
— that the Wolverines’ body 
language 
Saturday 
night 

embodied a losing team. From 
Joe Milton’s first interception 
on Michigan’s first offensive 
snap, Harbaugh stood with 
his hands on his hips, staring 
forward. His team reflected 
that energy, reacting to their 
rare 
positive 
plays 
with 

muted claps and to the far 

more common negative ones 
with drooped shoulders and 
silence.

“We came out flat, so just 

gotta 
continue 
changing 

the energy,” Hill said. “Not 
keeping the same energy but 
changing the energy on the 
sideline in the game, come 
out strong. That’s the biggest 
key of this game, whoever has 
the momentum first is gonna 
determine the outcome of this 
game.”

It’s 
jarring 
to 
hear 
a 

Michigan player say energy 
is key to the outcome of a 
looming game against Rutgers. 
In Harbaugh’s five years, the 
Wolverines 
have 
outscored 

the Scarlet Knights, 256-37.

This year is different. On 

the season, Rutgers has been 
outscored by five fewer points 
than Michigan has. Unlike 
the Wolverines, the Scarlet 
Knights beat Michigan State. 
Both schools have lost to 
Indiana, but Rutgers did so by 
one fewer point.

Still, Michigan is 81 spots 

higher in ESPN’s SP+ rankings. 
It opened as a 10-point favorite 
and a loss, even in Piscataway, 
would be somewhat shocking.

But it’s imminently possible 

in a way it never previously 
has been.

“Who knows what next 

Saturday (holds),” fifth-year 
senior defensive tackle Carlo 
Kemp 
said 
Saturday. 
“We 

might be in a dogfight, we 
might be winning by a lot, 
might be losing by a lot.”

To avoid the third option, 

Harbaugh knows his message 
needs to click.

“Eventually (the objective) 

is 
going 
to 
be 
Saturday, 

winning that football game,” 
Harbaugh said. “Everything 
that we can do by all means 
necessary to put ourselves in a 
position to win.”

Following an 8-1 win on 

Saturday in which the Michigan 
hockey team controlled play for 
nearly the entire game, it was fair 
to wonder if the Wolverines could 
do it again. 

The Wolverines put those 

questions to bed almost as soon as 
the puck dropped Sunday night.

It only took two and a half 

minutes for the Wolverines to get 
on the board. After they opened 
play controlling the puck in the 
offensive zone, freshman forward 
Thomas Bordeleau threw a soft 
backhand on net from the right 
circle. Sun Devils goaltender Cole 
Brady gave up a long rebound that 
freshman forward Kent Johnson 
quickly deposited in the back of 
the net. 

No. 
12 
Michigan 
(2-0) 

continued to dominate play in 
the offensive zone, resulting in a 
3-0 win over No. 15 Arizona State 
(0-2).

“Everything’s 
executed 

really well. Lots of skill,” junior 
goaltender Strauss Mann said. 
“Every team gets a certain 
amount of opportunities a game 
but when you have as much skill 
as we have offensively and also on 
the D end, it’s pretty likely to go in 
the net.”

The story for the Wolverines 

was once again their freshmen.

After Johnson tallied their 

first goal, he was crucial to 
their second. Over the final two 
minutes of the first period, the line 
of Johnson, freshman forward 
Matty Beniers and senior forward 
Jack Becker was dominant on 
the forecheck and spent over a 
minute controlling the puck in 
the offensive zone to wear down 
the Sun Devil defense. Eventually, 
with five seconds left in the 
period, Beniers found sophomore 
forward Eric Ciccolini in the slot 
from behind the net. Ciccolini 
made the most of the opportunity 
and wristed a shot past Brady.

“Matt and Kent really have 

some chemistry, and Jack does 
with the line too, but those two 
guys seem to have some special 
chemistry 
with 
each 
other,” 

Michigan coach Mel Pearson 
said. “But I like how they play. 
They’re good with the puck, but 
I really like how hard and what 
they’re doing and how smart 
they’re playing without the puck.”

The Wolverines spent little 

time in their defensive zone. The 
only time Arizona State sustained 
possession in its offensive zone 

was following Johnson’s goal. The 
Sun Devils challenged Mann with 
two shots while the Wolverines’ 
defensemen could not get the 
puck out of the zone, until junior 
defenseman Nick Blankenburg 
took a hooking penalty.

But on the ensuing power play, 

Arizona State failed to attempt a 
shot. The Sun Devils constantly 
turned the puck over, spending 
nearly no time in the offensive 
zone until too many men on the 
ice penalty negated the final 
minute of their power play.

“My team in front of me played 

really well, blocked shots,” Mann 
said. “Especially today, you could 
see that at the end.”

With Blankenburg’s penalty 

about to expire, Arizona State 
defenseman Jacob Wilson laid a 
big hit into sophomore forward 
Johnny Beecher, sending Beecher 

to the locker room. Beecher did 
not return, and while Pearson said 
he seemed fine after the game, his 
injury status is unknown. 

Wilson 
was 
called 
for 

a 
charging 
penalty, 
giving 

Michigan a five-on-three and a 
golden opportunity to extend its 
lead to two, but Brady came up 
with big save after big save for the 
Sun Devils. He robbed Beniers 
with a diving stop off a rebound 
and saved multiple one-timers 
from freshman forward Brendan 
Brisson from point-blank range. 

But despite not scoring on the 
power-play, the Wolverines had 
regained momentum and were in 
control the rest of the way. They 
outshot the Sun Devils 47-17 on 
the night.

Even though Michigan could 

not find the back of the net in the 
second period, it spent much of 
the frame on offense and outshot 
Arizona State 16-3 in the period. 
Johnson and Beniers led the 
way, regularly on the ice for long 
offensive zone shifts. It wasn’t 
until the third period that the 
Wolverines scored again, when 
junior forward Jimmy Lambert 
converted on a power-play to seal 
the game.

While the score didn’t reflect 

it, Michigan played nearly as 
dominant of a game on Sunday as 
it did on Saturday, with its highly-
touted freshmen leading the way.

An emphatic scream echoed 

throughout the mostly-empty 
Yost Ice Arena. 

Kent Johnson had glided into 

the offensive zone, picked up a 
rebound that floated into the 
slot and fired a puck into the 
back of the net. 

Before the goalie could even 

react, the freshman forward 
was already heading to the 
corner, cheering in jubilation 
with his hands in the air.

“It 
was 
just 
pure 
joy,” 

Johnson said. “It was just so 
much fun to play with the guys.”

Johnson’s first career goal 

capped off a memorable debut 
weekend for the winger. After 
totaling four assists in the 
season opener on Saturday 
— where Michigan blew out 
Arizona State 8-1 — Johnson’s 
goal set the tone early as the 
Wolverines 
captured 
their 

second win of the season, 3-0. 

Michigan looked like the 

stronger, 
faster 
team 
all 

weekend, and Johnson was 
emblematic of that on Sunday. 
He was flying around the ice 
displaying flashy dangles, and 
was a constant scoring threat. 

“Kent’s a hockey player, he’s 

a rink rat,” Michigan coach Mel 
Pearson said. “He enjoys being 
at the rink and works on his 
game a lot. He’s got very good 
hands and a high hockey IQ.”

The 
instant 
offensive 

explosion should come as no 
surprise. Johnson tallied 41 
goals and 60 assists last year in 
the British Columbia Hockey 
League — the most in the league 
by a wide margin. 

For 
most 
freshmen, 
the 

transition from juniors to the 
college level can be difficult. 
Even the most talented players 
can face some growing pains as 
they adjust to the physicality 
and speed of the college game. 
But Johnson already looks a 
step ahead of his competition. 
As a projected top ten pick in 
next year’s NHL draft, he’s 
starting to prove that the hype 
is real. 

“Obviously 
everything 

happens faster, and I won’t 
have as many scoring chances 
as I did last year,” Johnson said. 
“But I feel like I can just play my 
game, and it’s really fun.”

Johnson was also expected 

to be a boost to the Wolverines’ 
power play unit, which was 
middle-of-the-pack last season. 
He didn’t record any power 
play points on the weekend, 
but 
featured 
prominently 

throughout 
Michigan’s 
six 

man-advantage opportunities. 

Playing at left wing, Johnson 

spent most of the game on a 
line with another well-touted 
freshman: Matthew Beniers. 
The duo worked in lockstep 
and generated several scoring 
opportunities 
throughout 

the game. At one moment in 
the second period, Johnson 
corralled the puck behind the 
net and threw a behind the 
back pass to Beniers, who was 
sitting in front. Beniers’ shot 
was eventually blocked, but the 
play showed the potential those 
two have to be a special pairing 
all season. 

“I think we’ve got some 

great chemistry,” Johnson said. 
“Definitely really nice to play 
with him.”

Added 
Pearson: 
“They 

complement each other well. 
You got some size, you got some 
skill, you have some speed. 
Everything you’re looking for 
on a line.”

The Wolverines now turn 

their attention to Thursday’s 
matchup 
with 
Wisconsin. 

Johnson will hope to be a big 
part of the offense and find his 
way into the stat sheet again. 

“He’s a fun player, fun to 

watch,” Pearson said. “Probably 
not fun to play against.”

THEO MACKIE

Managing Sports Editor

JACK KINGSLEY
Daily Sports Writer

JOSH TAUBMAN
Daily Sports Writer

MADELINE HINKLEY/Daily

Michigan moved to 2-0 with a 3-0 win over Arizona State on Sunday.

MADELINE HINKLEY/Daily

In his debut weekend with the Wolverines, freshman forward Kent Johnson racked up five points.

FILE PHOTO/Daily

Former Michigan women’s lacrosse goalkeeper Mira Shane is returning to Ann Arbor as a volunteer assistant 
coach, following a season coaching at Harvard.

