The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/447116
BY BOB MILLER P rior to the start of the 2014‑15 season, head coach Red Be‑ renson made it clear the Wolverines' intended path to success during the season was one that would be based on improved de‑ fensive play. A year ago, the Maize and Blue ranked 18th nationally in allowing 2.54 goals per game while surrender‑ ing 32.8 shots per contest. "If you looked at our season last year, we thought we were competitive offensively, but defensively we weren't — and I think it starts there with our team," Berenson said. "We were below the middle of the pack in goals against. "That wasn't just our goalies. That was our team, whether it's your pen‑ alty killing or your back checking or defensemen. We have to be better defensively." That expectation was most reliant on the improvement and maturation of a talented, but youthful corps of de‑ fensemen. Charting the path of how that strat‑ egy played out during the first half of the campaign shows the progress has been imperfect, but steady. The Wolverines stumbled somewhat out of the gate, losing five of their opening seven games and allowing 3.86 goals per contest. "Going into the season, I would have told you we were thin on defense," Berenson said. "We had [senior, and converted forward] Andrew Sinelli slated to play defense. With [17‑year‑ old freshman] Zach Werenski coming in, [sophomore] Michael Downing coming off a good freshman year and [sophomore] Kevin Lohan healthy, I thought we'd have a deep defense. "But right away Sinelli got hurt, which took him out of the mix for a while. Our schedule didn't help us. We only had two games out of our first seven at home, and we only won one of those. We went on the road and only won one of those. So, we got off to a poor start. "Whether it was our schedule or MAKING STRIDES The Defense Is Demonstrating The Improvement Necessary For U-M To Compete For A Big Ten Title