MADISON – When Michigan coach Steve Burns sat his players down at halftime of their Big Ten semifinal playoff loss to No. 18 Indiana on Friday, he asked them three questions.
What do you want?
What does it cost?
Are you willing to pay the cost?
Despite the outcome of the game, a 1-0 upset loss, he was pleased with their responses. Burns believes a hard-fought loss to a great team won’t affect No. 10 Michigan that much because the season isn’t even close to being over.
The Wolverines (5-2-1 Big Ten, 12-5-3 overall) are now focused on answering those three questions as they head into the NCAA tournament.
They want to make it to the College Cup, the tournament’s final four.
It will cost everything they have.
And yes, they’re willing to do anything to get there.
“If anything, this just gives us a lot of hunger,” Burns said after the loss. “Now the boys have felt what its like for a run to end, and so now I think that they’re going to find everything within themselves to keep this run going, all the way to a final four.”
The team’s main goal right now is to learn what it can from the loss to Indiana (5-3-0, 12-5-3), but not dwell on the defeat. The Wolverines are looking to the NCAA tournament pairings and seedings, which will be announced tonight, with the team concentrating only on whoever they draw for the first round.
“What can you do about it now?” junior forward Peri Marosevic asked after the loss. “It is in our past. We are going to have to take a look at this game – the good things and the bad things – and put them into perspective as we head into the NCAA Tournament.”
During the Big Ten Tournament, Michigan struggled to score during regulation play.
In the final three games of the regular season, the Wolverines found the back of the net six times off 14 shots on net. But in the 200 minutes they played in Madison, they were held scoreless, despite 11 quality chances.
Marosevic, the team’s leading scorer with 12 goals, and the rest of the Michigan offense were stifled by the four-man defenses of Wisconsin and Indiana. The Wolverines need to improve in that area so it won’t plague them during the NCAA tournament.
“We are going to work on finishing in practice and making sure we can put those chances away next time,” Marosevic said. “As a forward, you will have those games when you score five, and you have those where you are just unlucky and it seems like you can’t get anything into the back of the net.”
The underclassmen are looking forward to sending their seven seniors out on a high note.
“Obviously, they’re the heart of the team and they’re feeling the urgency, and the rest of the team will rally behind them,” redshirt junior Danny Gray said.
With the first round of the NCAA Tournament starting Friday, Michigan will have a definite focus for the next week.
And with something to prove after falling short of their Big Ten Championship goals, the Wolverines will be a dangerous opponent for anyone who has to take the field against them.
“We’re going to be a team that nobody wants to play,” Burns said.
He knows Michigan is ready to answer his three questions.