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

