The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Wednesday, April 13, 2022 — 11
Michigan cruises to 4-0 victory over Purdue
COLE MARTIN
Daily Sports Writer
Since 2000, the Michigan men’s
tennis team has posted a 20-4
record against Purdue. And on
Saturday, the Wolverines’ winning
ways over the Boilermakers con-
tinued:
They dominated.
For over a month, that word
has described the Wolverines who
entered Saturday having won 11
straight matches. And from the
match’s very start, it was clear that
that description would remain the
same.
Extending its win streak to 12
matches, No. 6 Michigan (15-2
overall, 5-0 Big Ten) defeated Pur-
due (8-10, 1-3), 4-0, behind a solid
all-around effort that left little
doubt surrounding the outcome.
Yet despite their impressive
accomplishments on the court, the
Wolverines are taking it match-by-
match.
“We don’t talk about a win
streak,” Michigan coach Adam
Steinberg said. “We talk about just
playing for each other and taking
this individual sport we have and
making it a team sport.”
And by playing as a team against
Purdue, the Wolverines were able
to enjoy great success in all aspects
of Saturday’s match.
In doubles play, Michigan set
the tone early thanks to a strong
effort from fifth-year senior Nick
Beaty and freshman Will Cook-
sey. Behind their impressive vol-
leys at the net, Beaty and Cooksey
imposed their will on their oppo-
nents, defeating them, 6-1, to earn
the Wolverines the first of two
wins necessary for the doubles
point.
“We put Nick with (Cooksey) to
lead him and show him the way,”
Steinberg said. “It gave Will a sense
of comfort.”
The tandem of junior Ondrej
Styler and sophomore Gavin Young
continued the Wolverines’ fero-
cious pace at the net, clinching
a victory through an impressive
overhead shot by Young that left
their opponents helpless.
Young
and
Styler’s
victory
clinched the second requisite
match for Michigan to win the
doubles point, the team’s 15th of
the season. And the Wolverines,
yet again, got off to a fast start with
a 1-0 lead.
In singles play, the thread of
dominance never faltered.
Styler quickly dispatched his
opponent, led by an impressive
shot out of his opponent’s reach
to win the first set, 6-1. In the sec-
ond set, Styler trailed, 2-1, before
propelling himself to a five-game
winning streak, clinching his ninth
straight victory and opening up a
2-0 lead for Michigan.
Beaty, fresh off of a decisive
doubles victory, captured his 11th
consecutive win in straight sets
over his opponent, controlling the
pace throughout the match. Beaty’s
opponent won three games total
over the two sets, and the Wolver-
ines jumped out to a commanding
3-0 lead.
To cap off Michigan’s outing,
sophomore Nino Ehrenschneider
emulated his teammates’ success.
Ehrenschneider made quick work
of his opponent in the first set,
blanking him, 6-0, before pulling
away in a closer second set for a 6-3
victory. That win earned the Wol-
verines the 4-0 victory and their
eighth shutout of the season.
But even throgh all its individual
success, Steinberg is adamant that
Michigan’s hot streak is in part due
to its identity as a team.
“We play the Michigan way …
(we) play for each other,” Steinberg
said. “And when we … play together
(as) a great team, we’re very, very
tough to beat.”
And with the postseason fast
approaching, the Wolverines have
a chance to prove that all the more.
JENNA HICKEY/Daily
Michigan continued its strong season with its win over Purdue.
Though the No. 6 Michigan
men’s tennis team started by win-
ning the doubles point, the true
start of Sunday’s match was high-
lighted by sophomore Nino Ehren-
schneider.
The Wolverines have been
steadily gathering winning streaks
throughout the season, including
five of their top players have ris-
ing streaks of five or more singles
matches. It’s safe to say that their
preparation for the Big Ten Tour-
nament is progressively reaching
its culmination, and their match-
ups against Indiana are proof of
that.
The Hoosiers learned how dan-
gerous it is to lose the first singles
match to Michigan. The Wolver-
ines gathered three team points
within minutes of each other and
rolled through the majority of its
individual matches to dominate
Indiana, 6-1, just weeks before the
Big Ten Tournament.
“Clinching the first point, get-
ting on the board, it’s a big confi-
dence boost for the whole team,”
Styler said. “On the other side (of
SportsWednesday: Frozen Four
loss marks the end of an era
LANE KIZZIAH
Daily Sports Writer
You can call it a squandered
moment, a string of unlucky
bounces or being at the wrong
place at the wrong time.
Whatever you want to call it,
Michigan’s Thursday night Fro-
zen Four loss marked the end of
an era.
Going into the beginning of
the season, the Wolverines were
hailed as one of the top contend-
ers for a national championship.
Michigan had four of the top five
NHL Draft picks on its roster. It
was ranked third in the USCHO
preseason poll.
And, for the most part, the Wol-
verines seemed poised to live up
to those high expectations. They
finished the season with a 16-8
conference record and a Big Ten
Tournament title. Michigan skat-
ed past American International,
5-3, in the first round of the NCAA
Tournament and dropped Quin-
nipiac, 7-4, in the second.
“When you fast forward the
tape here, in five or seven years,
when you can see this thing play
out, you may be looking at one of
the best college hockey teams ever
assembled,” American Interna-
tional coach Eric Lang said after
losing to Michigan in the first
round of the Tournament.
You might not have to fast for-
ward all that far to see how rare
— and fleeting — this team’s talent
really was.
Following last season, specula-
tion arose over whether sopho-
more forwards Matty Beniers and
Kent Johnson would come back to
Michigan, along with sophomore
defenseman Owen Power, who
would become only the second
No. 1 draft pick to defer the jump
to the NHL since 2000. But all
three returned, helping build one
of the most lauded college hockey
teams ever assembled.
Now, all three have signed NHL
contracts. Though next year’s ros-
ter could still feature a wealth of
NHL-level talent, it won’t be the
same generational lineup that took
the ice this year.
Even beyond that roster shake-
up, the Wolverines stand on shaky
ground this offseason. Michigan
coach Mel Pearson’s five-year
contract expires on April 30. Over-
shadowing the contract negotia-
tions is the pending investigation
for toxic workplace culture, gen-
der-based discrimination, retalia-
tion against a student athlete and
COVID-19 deception.
Despite Pearson’s impressive
resumé — which includes two Fro-
zen Four appearances and a Big
Ten Tournament win — the alle-
gations may prove too serious to
overcome.
“I work under the direction of
the athletic director (Warde Man-
uel) and the Board of Regents,”
Pearson told the Daily. “So if
they’re willing to have me back,
that’s the plan.”
The investigation, which began
in October 2021, didn’t seem to
impact the team’s performance
this season, but it remains to be
seen whether the controversies —
or Pearson’s potential departure
— will have an impact on players’
decisions of whether or not to stay
with the program. None of the
drafted players were made avail-
able after Thursday’s loss.
There are certain Michigan
teams that set the bar for all to fol-
low: the Fab Five in 1991, the soft-
ball team in 2005, the 1997 football
team, last season’s women’s gym-
nastics team.
When you fast forward not-
so-far down the line, you’ll likely
be adding the 2021-22 Michigan
hockey team to that list. Despite
the fact that the Wolverines
failed to live up to their mile-high
expectations — expectations they
undoubtably had the talent to meet
— they’ve still set a bar unlikely to
be met by the currently shaky pro-
gram anytime soon.
the court) too, seeing it on the
board — it helps everyone.”
This accomplishment is made
possible because of the Wolver-
ines’ depth, which is illuminated
by the bountiful win streaks sur-
rounding the team. Ehrenschnei-
der and senior Ondrej Styler were
perfect examples of the high-level
competition. It was these two wins
that truly set the team on the path
it needed to clinch the win against
the Hoosiers, elevating Michigan’s
winning streak to 13 matches.
Ehrenschneider, who won the
first match, was playing off of the
momentum of Styler from the
start. Side-by-side, the two of them
swept through their first sets. Of
the two, Ehrenschneider (with
a six-game streak) was the first
to finish with a decisive 6-2 set,
which paved the way for the rest
of the match and set the stage for
Styler (with a 10-game streak), who
found victory in his match mere
moments after.
With the two individual win-
ning streaks elevated once more,
they were able to gather the
momentum they needed to uplift
the rest of the team and guarantee
success against the Hoosiers, only
losing the one singles match.
“It’s not a surprise to us that
we have a winning streak,” Styler
said.
The Wolverines are confident
in their ability to dominate their
opponents, and have found a large
amount of success doing exactly
that throughout the season. No
matter what opponent they have
faced, they have undoubtedly
shown that they are prepared to
find postseason success.
The ability to gain confidence
off of each other has led Michigan
to multiple triumphs over high-
level competition. Its wins against
No. 1 Texas Christian and No. 2
Ohio State are a testament to that.
Coach Adam Steinberg believes
that the current team is stepping
up its game. Following the wave of
achievements, there is no reason
to change the formula. Instead,
the Wolverines need to keep mov-
ing forward one game at a time.
“Every match in the Big Ten
is like a tournament,” Steinberg
said. “Now, we’re in the seventh
round.”
And as the rounds get deep-
er, Michigan’s singles winning
streaks continue to grow longer.
JENNA HICKEY/Daily
Michigan dominated in singles play.
Wolverines flaunt singles
strength, advance win streaks
Riding a three-game losing
streak, the No. 14 Michigan wom-
en’s lacrosse team was looking for a
chance to end its skid Friday night
against rival Ohio State.
After a slow start that led to a
four-goal deficit at the end of the
first period, the Wolverines needed
a spark. And with two captains out
with injuries, they found energy
from their bench.
But the comeback led by fresh-
man midfielder Jill Smith and
senior attacker Claire Galvin fell
short as Michigan (9-5 overall, 1-3
Big Ten) lost to the Buckeyes (9-4,
2-1), 9-7.
After a disappointing loss against
Southern California last weekend,
the Wolverines were hoping to play
four periods of consistent lacrosse
— something that has been a bit of a
struggle lately.
“You can’t expect to play 45
minutes and win in the Big Ten,”
Michigan coach Hannah Nielsen
said. “Last game we started fast and
ended slow, this game we started
slow and ended OK. The message
is to figure out what you got to do to
maintain a consistent level, whether
it’s mental lapses or if it’s physical
fatigue.”
That slow start was a scoreless
first six minutes until Ohio State
broke the game open and Michi-
gan, looking lost, couldn’t match the
Buckeyes’ production. The Wolver-
ines were outshot 11-5 in the first
period and they needed someone to
step up.
That appeared to be Smith and
Galvin.
After a goal from freshman mid-
fielder Julia Schwabe got Michigan
on the scoreboard, Smith added
one of her own, waking up both the
crowd and her team as momentum
started to shift.
But down 5-2 going into the half,
the Wolverines needed more.
Smith scored her second goal
three minutes into the half, and
after Ohio State answered, Galvin
chipped in with two of her own,
trimming the Buckeyes’ lead to one.
As the Wolverines narrowed the
gap, the tension on the field ampli-
fied and players started getting
chippy. In the final six-and-a-half
minutes of the third period, each
team had a yellow card while trad-
ing a total of five fouls.
A Buckeye goal with 90 seconds
left before the break brought Michi-
gan’s deficit back to two heading
into the final period of play.
Intense Wolverine defense kept
Ohio State at bay for the first few
minutes of the fourth period, but
the Buckeyes scored another goal,
widening the gap Michigan was
hoping to close.
Just three minutes later, Galvin
scored her third goal of the game,
her second hat trick of the season
and her first during conference play,
bringing the deficit back to two. As
yet another key goal from a bench
player gave the Wolverines a much-
needed spark, Ohio State called
timeout, fearing a momentum shift.
Out of the timeout, the inten-
sity of both teams increased as they
traded shots, defensive stands and
fouls.
The Buckeyes struck next with
a man-up goal after a Michigan
yellow card, but the Wolverines
answered two minutes later with a
goal from senior midfielder Kaitlyn
Mead, a consistent force for Michi-
gan all season.
The Wolverines played the final
100 seconds of the game with an
intensity that had been lacking
earlier. They got a couple of good
opportunities out of the free posi-
tion, but they just couldn’t capital-
ize.
As Michigan hopes to get back to
the dominance it started the season
with, its bench production provides
a potential blueprint.
“(Galvin) does really well against
zone; she’s a very smart player, a
great off-ball player, sees lanes and
had a great day shooting today,”
Nielsen said. “Jill (Smith) as well,
really in one of her first games play-
ing two-way midfield, for her to step
up in the absence of some key play-
ers I thought was a positive sign.”
But for the team to get back into
the win column, the Wolverines
will have to get back to playing four
consistent periods of lacrosse.
TESS CROWLEY/Daily
Mel Pearson’s contract expires April 30.
Bench-powered comeback falls short as Michigan loses to Ohio State
LIZA CUSHNIR
Daily Sports Writer
SELENA SUN/Daily
Missing two of its captains, Michigan’s comeback fell short against Ohio State despite
strong bench play.
KELSEY RUFF
Daily Sports Writer