The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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most of them? Yeah." Though Rutledge did not experi- ence the start he envisioned when he pledged to wear the winged helmet in the fall of 2011, he is not alone in his first-game struggles; the last 10 goalies to start at least one game for Michigan went 5-4-1 in those con- tests, yielding 2.50 goals per game. Both Steve Jakiel (a 6-5 win in 2007) and Shawn Hunwick (a 5-3 loss in 2010) allowed five goals in their start- ing debuts. Michigan's Two-Goalie Platoon Seasons "How I view it is it's the first game of the season and there's going to be a lot more opportunities, and I don't think that displayed my best ability," said Rutledge, who didn't make excuses. "My team backed me up enough and I didn't back them up enough. That's something that hap- pens being a goalie. You just have to forget it and move on." The 5-11, 170-pound Chicagoan had a legitimate justification for his performance — during routine phys- icals in September, U-M's medical staff discovered an issue with Rut- ledge's eyes, requiring surgery to re- pair the defect. Rutledge missed two weeks of practice, returning Oct. 4 to the ice. He played in Michigan's two exhibitions and started exactly one week after he began facing live shots. "In his case we probably put him into the game sooner than he may have been ready for," Berenson said. "Here's a freshman goalie coming in and then he misses the better part of two weeks skating, and then he skates for a week, and we expect him to play well." Racine started in net for the Wol- verines against Bentley Oct. 19, pre- vailing 6-3 after making 22 saves, and the classmates split starts against Miami (Ohio) Oct. 26-27 — Racine earned a 4-2 win while Rutledge fell 4-3 — and that's the way it could be for the foreseeable future, with Berenson letting the two decide who starts. "If they're both really competitive and both right there, you have to play both of them," Berenson said. "If one isn't, and one is, you'll play one more than the other. It's going to go week to week right now. I'm not in a rush to make any predictions, but I have a feeling down deep they're both ca- pable of being our starting goalie. "Miami has had two goalies play back-to-back for four years, and now 102 THE WOLVERINE NOVEMBER 2012 Freshman Jared Rutledge's opening- game struggles opened the door for class- mate Steve Racine, who stepped through to earn the win in his starting debut. Af- ter having time to digest the Wolverines' weekend, head coach Red Berenson said it is possible the Maize and Blue will rotate the two netminders until one clear-cut starter emerges. "There are positives from it because they're pushing each other and you get the most out of both guys, Josh Blackburn said. "They both want to play, they're both working really hard. "It's a good thing, and what will happen will happen." Here is a look at three previous instances of U-M rotating goalies. " goalie coach Goalie Noah Ruden (above) split time in the 2005-06 season with Billy Sauer, but Ruden ended up earning the nod to start in the postseason. PHOTO BY WOLVERINE PHOTO 2006 Noah Ruden 19 10-9-1 2.97 .904 Ruden Billy Sauer Year Goalies 2009 Sauer 2011 Hogan Bryan Hogan 30 24-6-0 1.97 .914 Shawn Hunwick 35 22-9-4 2.21 .925 one might have turned out better than the other in a given situation, but if you have two goalies that are equally competitive, that can work. But if you have one goalie way above the other one, I'm going to play that goalie. "I don't have a closed door on the goalie thing. I have an open mind, and I want to do what's right for the team, and I also want to help these goalies develop, and I'll never give up on them." parture before his senior year put the Wolverines in a bind. Sauer ac- celerated his arrival — he was sup- posed to have another season in ju- nior hockey — and came to Michigan a 17-year-old kid not quite ready for the grind of college hockey. From time to time early in the year with Sauer struggling, U-M's coaching staff, not wanting to ruin route, it wouldn't be the first time Berenson has employed this strat- egy. He first introduced the goalie- by-committee approach in 2006 with Billy Sauer and Noah Ruden, and then in 2009 with Sauer and Bryan Hogan, and most recently with Ho- gan and Shawn Hunwick in 2011. 2006: Al Montoya's summer de- If Michigan does indeed go that GS Rec. GAA Save Pct. Postseason Goalie 22 11-6-4 3.04 .898 11 5-6-0 2.02 .921 Hogan 9 7-2-0 2.08 .924 Hunwick the rookie's confidence, turned to Ruden, who was a senior and a three- year understudy to Montoya. They made the move permanent in Febru- ary, starting Ruden in 11 of Michi- gan's final 13 games, including five postseason contests. He went 3-2-0 with a 3.40 goals- against average and an .880 save per- centage in the playoffs, with a first- round NCAA loss. Sauer would take over full time in 2007, going 25-14-1, and would lead the Maize and Blue to league regular- season and conference-tournament titles, two NCAA wins, and the Fro- zen Four in 2008. 2009: After Sauer struggled in a 5-4 overtime loss to Notre Dame in the 2008 national semifinals — he was benched after allowing three goals on nine shots in the first period — Be- renson opened up the competition in Sauer's senior year, rotating him and Hogan every weekend; Sauer started Friday nights and Hogan Saturdays. Though Sauer played well, post- ing a .903 save percentage in his first eight starts, U-M went just 2-6-0, pro- viding Sauer with just 12 total goals or 1.50 per game — the Wolverines were shut out three times. Hogan, meanwhile, was stopping