KALAMAZOO, 
MICH. 
— 

Senior forward Jimmy Lambert 
stood anxiously in the box, 
primed to bolt onto the ice as 
his minor penalty expired. As 
his skates hit the ice, the puck 
careened off the boards in front 
of him and he found himself in 
the play just like he’d prepared 
for.

But as he found the puck on 

his stick, the imposing figure of 
Western Michigan defenseman 
Aidan Fulp loomed over him. 
Taking the hit and passing the 
puck out behind him, Lambert 
connected 
with 
sophomore 

defenseman Owen Power, on 
a breakaway with a golden 
opportunity.

“Just 
chip 
the 
puck 
by, 

absorb the hit, take the hit, keep 
the puck moving,” Michigan 
coach Mel Pearson said. “We 
talked about that a lot today … 
Western’s gonna step up and hit 
you, you had to just make sure 
you kept chipping.”

Power’s shot rang off the post, 

but it marked a turning point in 
the Wolverines’ approach to 
facing the Broncos’ physical 
game. They forged a newfound 
poise 
against 
Western 

Michigan’s heavy checking in 
Saturday’s overtime win

Michigan 
hadn’t 
faced 
a 

true, grinding performance all 
season. The closest it came was 
against Minnesota-Duluth, but 
that faded after the first period. 
The Broncos kept it up all 62 

minutes of the game.

Western 
Michigan’s 
play 

centered around its ability to hit 
hard and often, many of those 
coming from its big defensemen. 
For a speedy, finesse-oriented 
group like the Wolverines, the 
Broncos’ disruptive presence 
proved a significant challenge.

Some 
of 
Michigan’s 

adaptation came from the units 
Pearson put on the ice. After 
the Wolverines’ highly skilled 
forwards 
like 
sophomore 

forwards Matty Beniers and 
Kent Johnson struggled to find 
space in the first period, Pearson 
sent the bottom six out to wear 
down the Broncos.

Two key players in this were 

senior forwards Garrett Van 
Wyhe and Nolan Moyle. Two 
of the most physical presences 
on the Michigan roster, they 
absorbed 
many 
of 
Western 

Michigan’s hits and threw a few 
of their own. After countering a 
zone entry from the Broncos by 
standing up their forecheckers, 
the duo opened up space for the 
Wolverines’ second goal.

“Coming into their barn, we 

knew it was gonna be a physical 
one, especially after last night,” 
Moyle said. “We’ve got a lot of 
skill on this team, but just giving 
it right back to them, trying to 
grab as much as we could is what 
we tried to stick with.”

The Broncos’ early hits caught 

the Wolverines off guard, but 
as the game progressed they 
became 
more 
comfortable 

taking them. Like the Lambert 
play, they held the puck long 
enough to make a play and paid a 

physical price for that additional 
time. Making that trade paid off 
as Michigan created high danger 
chances when it got the puck.

That comfort also limited the 

grade-A chances that Western 
Michigan tried to force through 
its hitting. With eight minutes 
left in the second period, two 
Broncos 
chased 
sophomore 

defenseman 
Jacob 
Truscott 

behind the Wolverines’ net. 
Truscott cradled the puck while 
taking a hard hit, buying time 
for a teammate to grab the puck 
and clear it. What could have 
been a goal against turned into 
nothing.

“It ultimately comes down 

to compete, your will and want 
for it,” Moyle said. “We really 
settled in and started competing 
and taking some hits from them. 
And at that point, working hard, 
our skill will take over.”

But Michigan still struggled 

with 
Western 
Michigan’s 

checking. On both power play 
goals for the Broncos, they 
battled for territory in front of 
the net. Sophomore goaltender 
Erik Portillo couldn’t see the 
puck through these screens, and 
Western capitalized with goals. 
The same screens almost cost 
the Wolverines the game with 
1:42 left, but the goal was called 
back for a high tip.

Michigan fared poorly against 

Western Michigan’s physicality 
early on, but it adjusted on the 
fly to counter their aggressive 
style. Its performance was far 
from perfect, but it’s a step in 
the right direction to round out 
its skilled style.

Entering the overtime period 

in Sunday’s matchup between the 
Michigan women’s soccer team 
(12-3-3 overall, 6-2-2 Big Ten) 
and Maryland (4-9-5, 0-7-3), it 
seemed as if the Wolverines had 
been cursed. In its final regular 
season game, Michigan nearly 
tripled the Terrapins’ shot total 
and quadrupled their shots on 
target. They dominated possession 
and created opportunity after 
opportunity in Maryland’s box. 
They even hit the goalpost on 
three separate occasions.

Despite controlling play, the 

Wolverines found themselves on 
the verge of losing both the game 
and their home field advantage 
in the upcoming Big Ten playoffs. 
But, these fears were soon quelled, 
as Michigan emerged victorious 
with a goal just thirty seconds into 
sudden death overtime, winning 
2-1.

“I thought we played really 

really well today,” Michigan coach 
Jennifer Klein said. “It’s nice to get 
the result and get a goal for all of 
the opportunities and really nice 
soccer that we had.”

On paper, the game didn’t look 

like it would require overtime. 
The Terrapins entered Sunday’s 
matchup winless in conference 
play and in last place in the Big 
Ten. Yet despite their lackluster 
season record, Maryland started 
the game strong and put Michigan 
on the back foot early. 

After 
about 
10 
minutes, 

however, the game began to ebb 
in the Wolverines favor. Michigan 
looked 
dominant 
offensively, 

forcing the Terrapins deep into 
their own half. The game’s scoring 

opened in the 30th minute when 
graduate defender Alia Martin 
played a ball to senior midfielder 
Raleigh Loughman in the right 
side of the box. Loughman took 
the ball, and casually approached 
Maryland goalkeeper Liz Brucia 
before chipping it over her head 
and into the left corner of the net 
for her second goal in two games.

“Raleigh’s a player that has a 

good work rate,” Klein said. “But 
she also organizes and has good 
sophistication. 
I 
think 
you’re 

starting to see those goals because 
of the places she’s getting into and 
the quality of her execution.”

After the goal, the Wolverines 

maintained 
their 
momentum, 

nearly adding to their lead in 
the 32nd minute when senior 
midfielder Meredeth Haakenson 
fired a shot from close range 
that rammed into the crossbar 
before bouncing harmlessly away. 
Just a minute later, another ball 
was crossed to Haakenson, who 
headed it directly towards the 
goal, where it once again hit the 
woodwork, this time bouncing off 
of the left post.

Michigan entered halftime up 

only one goal, though clearly the 
game’s aggressor. But Maryland 
didn’t give up easily and opened 
the second half with an early goal 
from forward Mikayla Dayes, 
tying the game at one all. The 
Wolverines bounced back and 
regained control of the contest, 
putting 
intense 
pressure 
on 

Maryland and creating several 
major opportunities. 

In the 58th minute, sophomore 

forward Kacey Lawrence received 
a 
ball 
from 
Loughman 
and 

rocketed it off of the crossbar. 
In the 63rd minute, freshman 
midfielder Avery Kalitta collected 
a rebound with Brucia out of 

position and shot at a wide open 
net, but the Terrapins defenders 
stopped the ball on the goal line to 
keep the game tied. 

The remainder of the second 

half played out with the Wolverines 
thoroughly in control and getting 
ever closer to putting the ball in 
the back of the net, but never quite 
being able to finish the job. Time 
after time, the Wolverines put 
themselves in excellent positions 
to score, only to be denied by 
either luck, miscommunications or 
brilliant last-second defensive play 
from the Terrapins.

 “I think we did a really 

good job with our one touches 
throughout the box, but we also 
need to capitalize on just shooting 
it,” fifth-year midfielder Nicki 
Hernandez said.

Despite 
their 
dominance, 

Michigan was forced to enter a 
sudden death overtime period 
and face the possibility of losing 
its home field advantage in the 
conference tournament. 

This fear lasted exactly thirty 

seconds, 
before 
Hernandez 

charged down the left sideline and 
fired a shot from distance that flew 
into the right corner of the net over 
a diving Brucia, ending the game 
and giving Hernandez her sixth 
goal of the season and her first goal 
in 10 games.

Ironically, the shot that won the 

game for the Wolverines wasn’t 
even intended to be on net. 

“I was actually trying to cross 

it,” Hernandez said, “So it had 
a little bend into the goal, but it 
worked out.”

Much like Hernandez’s shot, 

the matchup didn’t go exactly 
as expected for Michigan. But 
worked out in the end, giving the 
Wolverines a boost heading into 
the postseason.

With the game fully in hand 

midway through the fourth quarter, 
the Michigan defense lined up for 
one last 4th-and-1. 

In a microcosm of Northwestern’s 

offense for the day, quarterback 
Carl Richardson fumbled the snap. 
Out of the ensuing scrum, senior 
edge rusher Aidan Hutchinson 
emerged with the ball, celebrating 
as if he’d just won the game for the 
Wolverines. 

The recovery, of course, had no 

impact on the game whatsoever. 
Michigan already led, 33-7 — which 
would ultimately be the final score 
— and the fumble occurring on 
fourth down meant the Wildcats 
couldn’t advance the ball anyway. 

But for Hutchinson, that didn’t 

matter. The recovery reflected 
his play on every down: fierce, 
unrelenting and mind-bogglingly 
quick for his size. His unique level 
of talent makes him a nightmare for 
any opposing offense, whether or 
not he’s actually dragging down the 
quarterback on any given down. 

Against Northwestern, that was 

no different. 

“I know he’s gonna be at the — 

you all know — he’s gonna be at the 
quarterback,” junior David Ojabo, 
Hutchinson’s counterpart on the 
edge, said. “ … It’s a lot of comfort 
having Aidan Hutchinson, knowing 
that he’s gonna do what Aidan 
Hutchinson does.”

For anyone watching the game, 

that impact is most clear when 

he’s in the backfield — and he’s in 
the backfield pretty often. On a 
third down in the second quarter, 
with the Wolverines nursing a 
seven-point 
lead, 
Hutchinson 

barrelled through the line and 
sacked Wildcats quarterback Ryan 
Hilinski, all while having one arm 

held by a blocker. 

But focus on Hutchinson every 

down, and his influence is equally 
visible even when he’s not making 
tackles. Much of that comes from 

effective scheming from Michigan’s 
coaching staff. 

Two plays before the sack, with 

Hutchinson on the weak side, 
Northwestern motioned two tight 
ends to try and flip sides. Hutchinson, 
given the trust of the coaching staff 
to adjust his own positioning, shifted 

back to the weak side, blew up a 
crack block and hurried a rolling-out 
Hilinski into a bad pass. The next 

play, the Wildcats rushed to the side 
opposite Hutchinson, right into the 
teeth of the defense. 

The rest of the Wolverines’ 

defense is tough enough to scheme 

against. 
It’s 
made 
infinitely 

more difficult when an athletic 
juggernaut 
like 
Hutchinson 
is 

waiting on one end of the line. 

“Making the ball come out quick 

is even more valuable than sacks 
a lot of the time,” Michigan coach 
Jim Harbaugh said. “So you can’t 
just go by sacks — though he did 
have a sack and a fumble recovery — 
he’s making the ball come out fast, 
and imagine what that does for the 
secondary.”

It’s not hard to imagine, because 

it’s clear on every pass play. As 
Hutchinson 
continued 
to 
find 

the backfield on passing downs, 
Northwestern was forced to adjust 
to a much shorter, quicker passing 
game. Having the ball come out 
mere moments after the snap 
made it difficult for its receivers to 
create any separation and allowed 
the Wolverines’ defensive backs to 
anticipate where the ball would be. 

On 
junior 
cornerback 
D.J. 
Turner’s 

fourth quarter interception, that 
anticipation paid dividends. Hilinski 
tried to hit a receiver on a quick hitch 
route to the outside, where Turner 
— trusting that Hutchinson and the 
rest of Michigan’s pass rush could 
stop any deep balls before they were 
even thrown — was waiting to jump 
the route. 

“It makes it so much easier,” 

Turner said. “The ball has to come 
out quick. I know they don’t have all 
day in the pocket. Just like on the 
pick, it was a hitch, and I just know 
you can’t just sit in the pocket all day 
with Ojabo, and Aidan, and all kinds 
of dudes up there. A D-line is a DB’s 
best friend.”

In effect, fear of Hutchinson 

is almost as valuable a weapon as 
Hutchinson himself.

Michigan responds to physical challenge
Michigan narrowly defeats Maryland in 

a 2-1 overtime affair

GABBY CERITANO/Daily 

The Wolverines overcame a slow start to secure a comeback victory in overtime.

CONNOR EAREGOOD

Daily Sports Writer

CHARLIE PAPPALARDO

For the Daily

EMMA MATI/Daily 

Aidan Hutchinson epitomized the Wolverines energy in Saturday’s matchup against Northwestern. 

On every down, Aidan Hutchinson makes his presence felt

JEREMY WEINE/Daily 

The Wolverines matched Western Michigan’s physicality to win Saturday’s contest and split the weekend series.

BRENDAN ROOSE
Daily Sports Writer

The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com 
Sports
10 — Wednesday, October 27, 2021

