Beniers, Power selected to play in World Championships
Michigan falls to Pepperdine 4-0 in round of 16
Michigan will have the chance to
see a couple of its young stars compete
for their national teams later this
month.
On Thursday, it was announced
that
freshman
forward
Matty
Beniers would be suiting up for Team
USA at the 2021 International Ice
Hockey Federation (IIHF) World
Championships — taking place in
Riga, Latvia. Beniers will be joined
at the tournament by freshman
defenseman Owen Power, who was
named to Team Canada’s roster.
The collegiate teammates will now
face-off as international rivals.
Beniers
has
prior
experience
playing for Team USA, as he was
part of the World Juniors team that
won gold in January. Beniers had a
quiet tournament, with just one goal
and two assists, but the experience
is something that will stick with him
forever.
“I think that’s one of the best
moments of my life so far, definitely
the
best
hockey
moment
I’ve
experienced,” Beniers said in January.
“It was just an awesome experience
to play with such great players on
my team and definitely an awesome
experience to play with such great
players against us.”
After helping Team USA win gold
at World Juniors for the first time
since 2017, Beniers is hoping to help
the team end a much longer medal
drought at the World Championships.
Team USA has not won gold since
1960, and most recently won Bronze
in 2018.
At just 18 years old, Beniers will be
the youngest member of Team USA.
Youth was no issue for Beniers during
his freshman campaign with the
Wolverines, as he racked up 10 goals
and 14 assists on the year and earned
a spot on the Big Ten all-freshman
team. He’ll hope to build on his
Juniors performance and collect the
second gold medal of his young career.
Power, meanwhile, will make his
long-awaited debut for Team Canada.
The defenseman was expecting to
compete with Beniers while playing
for his country at World Juniors but,
facing the prospects of missing the
first half of the collegiate season due
to COVID-19 protocols with the
Canadian team, Michigan coach
Mel Pearson made a controversial
decision to hold Power out of the
tournament.
“I think the decision to have me
stay here and play was fine. I think
either way it was a good decision,”
Power said after not going to Juniors.
“I think just being able to stay here and
just develop with the team was a good
decision.”
Chiara Lommer felt the weight of
the world on her shoulders.
After dropping her first set 6-1, the
fifth-year senior was down 5-3, 40-0
— one point away from Michigan’s
season and her illustrious career as a
Wolverine coming to a close.
Lommer would not go away,
playing relentless defense to eek out
two straight points to chip away at a
nearly insurmountable lead.
In
the
following
point,
her
outstretched backhand sailed just
wide, giving No. 5 Pepperdine (22-3) a
4-0 victory over the Wolverines(19-3)
in the round of 16 at the NCAA Team
Championship.
Up against a deep, talented singles
lineup from Pepperdine, the doubles
point offered the Wolverines the
opportunity to take an early lead.
When the No. 3 doubles tandem
of sophomore Andrea Cerdan and
senior Bella Lorenzini jumped out
to a 4-1 advantage, it looked like
Michigan could do just that.
Yet
the
Wolverines’
lead
evaporated, as the Wave’s Jessica
Failla and Anastasia Lamachkine
rattled off six straight games to
steal the doubles point from the
Wolverines and take a 1-0 lead.
“I thought Pepperdine played
really well,” Michigan coach Ronni
Bernstein said. “That’s a team I
think that could possibly win (the
Championship). We needed to play
a perfect match and we did not do
that.”
At No.1 singles, freshman Kari
Miller was stacked up against three-
time All-American Ashley Lahey.
While Miller took advantage of errors
from Lahey to take an early lead,
Miller was unable to close, as Lahey
staved off multiple breakpoints to
scrap her way to a 6-4 victory in the
first set.
Despite a deflating loss in the first
set, Miller came out with vengeance
in the second set and took control.
“Kari is in every match she plays,”
Bernstein said. “It’s a little bit that
she’s young because she was up 40-0
a couple games in the first set and had
a lot of opportunities. But Kari at the
top of the lineup has been incredible
for us. She’s up in the second set and
still fighting and the kid she’s playing
is a fifth-year and was number one in
the country last year. That just shows
you what Kari Miller is going to be for
Michigan.”
Fellow freshman Jaedan Brown
found herself in an early 3-0 deficit at
No. 4 singles against Shiori Fukuda.
After strong play from the baseline
got her back in the match, Brown’s
struggles serving lead to a 6-4, 6-1
defeat.
The Waves’ Taisiya Pachkaleva
moved Cerdan all around the court
to take a dominant 6-0 victory in the
first at No. 3 singles.
Cerdan
kept
her
composure,
jumping out to a 2-0 lead in the
second set, but Pachkaleva quickly
retook the lead en route to a 6-3 win.
At No. 5 singles, Senior Alyvia
Jones found herself in a back-and-
forth affair against Lisa Zaar. With
her team falling behind, Jones
delivered
a
dominant
serving
performance complemented by 5 aces
to earn a 6-4 first-set victory, hoping
to be a catalyst for the rest of the team.
Jones’ success continued as she
was leading 5-1 in the second before
Pepperdine clinched the victory.
“She was so close to getting us a
point there,” Bernstein said. “She’s a
great kid and she cares so much about
our program and fought hard today.
She’s one that’s asking the score and
wants to know what’s going on (with
her teammates).”
As
Michigan’s
three
seniors
continued to fight to close the Waves’
3-0 lead, the weight of the moment
set in.
“These guys play tennis for I don’t
know how long,” Bernstein said. “I
think they realize it’s the end at some
point. They’ve done so much for our
program. They’ve brought so much
leadership. Bella, Chiara, and Alyvia
were great Michigan players and are
going to be part of our program for a
long time.”
While the seniors will move on, the
exceptional play from the Wolverines’
freshman players throughout the
season put the rest of women’s tennis
on notice. This team is young and
getting better.
JOSH TAUBMAN
Summer Managing Sports Editor
ALEX WALKON
Daily Sports Writer
MILES MACKLIN/Daily
Matty Beniers, along with teammate Owen Power, will compete in the IIHF World Championships later this month.
Thursday, May 20, 2021
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com SPORTS 15
Read more at michigandaily.com
Read more at michigandaily.com
GRACE BEAL/Daily
Michigan battled but came up short in its Sweet 16 matchup with
Pepperdine.