The Wolverine

February 2014

The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports

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  michigan hockey Wolverines Mired In Team Slump T he first two months of the 2013‑14 season could not have gone much better for the Maize and Blue. A young team with 10 freshmen (six to eight regularly in the lineup), Michigan raced out to a 10-2-1 start, beating such hockey stalwarts as Boston College, New Hampshire and Boston Univer‑ sity. Everything was clicking for the Wol‑ verines — timely offense, shutdown defense and outstanding goalie play. Over its last five games, though, U-M is 0-4-1 and has dropped from fifth to 14th in the Pairwise rankings and third to 13th in the USCHO.com top 20. Dur‑ ing that stretch, Michigan netted only seven goals (1.40 per game) and al‑ lowed 16 (3.20 per contest). "You're not going to win many games with that kind of offense, but we have to be stingier defensively," head coach Red Berenson said. "To give up the kind of goals we've given up — soft goals, unearned goals, fluky goals. Right now, we don't have the answer for that. We have to play better defen‑ sively, and then better offensively." "It's the defense," senior captain Mac Bennett iterated. "That's what we're worried about first and foremost. Time and time again, Red has said, 'Defense wins championships.' You look at the teams that make it to the Frozen Four and it's usually the teams with the least goals against. Head coach Red Berenson's team played just four games over a 41-day stretch in December and January, and lost all four contests. photo by Lon horwedel

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