Tuesday Morning Brews: Let’s see how far we’ve come

Happy Tuesday, folks. Welcome to Morning Brews. I’m a bit pressed for time writing this, so we’re going to have a link roundup today. Not to worry, though. Brews will be back to its regular format for Thursday.

This morning we have a pretty good collection of news from around the Michigan sporting world. First, we have some news from Rashan Gary. The dynamic sophomore spoke to reporters yesterday and he made clear when he will be returning to the field. After that, we briefly talk recruiting before checking in with some non-rev. teams who are finding success.

Let’s get to it:

One of the more concerning moments of the second half against Maryland was when Rashan Gary was injured. Watching from the stands, I initially thought Gary had injured his hand or arm. He was obviously in a good deal of pain, but hand and arm injuries aren’t particularly problematic for offensive and defensive linemen (you see people play with the ‘club’ all the time). However, my concern—and I suspect the concern of the Michigan faithful—deepened when I saw the trainers testing his shoulder strength. Luckily, Gary was made available to the press on Monday and reassured fans. He said, “I'm going to play Wisconsin and I'm going to go have a good time.” Whatever the injury may be, it appears that it won’t keep him off the field.

I don’t usually utilize my own tweets in Morning Brews, but there’s a point here that I think Michigan fans should keep in mind - turmoil leads to opportunities. At this point in the season, there have been several high-profile coaching removals that could benefit Michigan when it comes to recruiting (Florida, Tennessee, and Ole Miss). Florida has a Top-10 recruiting class as things stand now, and their recruits could be looking at other options now that Jim McElwain is no longer the head coach. Seven of the nine highest rated recruits in the class hold offers from Michigan. As the coaching carousel picks up speed, look for the Wolverines to be among those benefiting on the recruiting trail.

Michigan field hockey’s winning streak is still intact, and that means the Wolverines are in the Final Four. On Saturday, Michigan topped No. 13 Syracuse by the score of 1-0 in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. The Orange controlled the first half, outshooting the Wolverines 4-2, but failed to score. Michigan returned the favor in the second half, outshooting Syracuse 6-1, but also failed to find the net. Meg Dowthwaite scored the winner for the Wolverines 1:24 into the OT period. In the second round, Michigan cruised to a 3-0 win over No. 10 Northwestern on a hat trick from Emma Way. Michigan will play Maryland on Friday in the national semifinal.

Women’s basketball is off to a quick start to the year. The Wolverines have comfortably won their first two games, which were also their first two games in the preseason WNIT. On Friday, Michigan topped George Mason by the score of 75-61 behind strong performances from the familiar trio of Katelynn Flaherty, Hallie Thome, and Nicole Munger, who had 20 pts., 16 pts., and 13 pts., respectively. On Sunday, Michigan bested Liberty University be the score of 74-50. The Wolverines were against led by Flaherty (29 pts.), Thome (15 pts.), and Munger (14 pts.). Michigan will next play Toledo or Louisville in the WNIT semifinals on Thursday.

No. 4 Minnesota came to town last weekend and the Wolverines emerged with a victory and a well-earned tie. On Friday, Minnesota scored the first three goals of the game before Michigan scored the next three to equalize. When Minnesota scored a fourth in the third period, Michigan again equalized just under three minutes later. In overtime, Alex Roos found the net for a game-winning powerplay goal. On Saturday, Minnesota scored the first four before Michigan responded by outscoring Minnesota 6-2 over the final 35 minutes to force overtime. This time, the overtime period passed without a goal, leading to the game ending in a tie (Minnesota won the shootout, which doesn’t affect a team’s record but matters for conference standings). The weekend was also good enough for the Wolverines to break into the rankings at No. 17.