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.