The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
Spo rt Io" dy
September 23, 2013 - 3B
GAME
STATISTICS
T.eamStb
Frst DSons
Ruish/Yards
PssingeYards
OffensvePlays
Totl Offense
Kick retim/yds
Putreturs/yds
Cmp/Att/Int
Punts/Avg
Fmbls/Lst
Penaltis/Yards
Tie fPssssion
Michigan
19
49/192
97
72
289
2/45
4/22
11/23/2
5/424
4-2
5-45
35:47
UCONN
12
25/47
159
57
206
0/0
5/20
16/32/1
8/38.1
2-0
6-70
24:13
PASSING
Player
Gardner
Totals
M I C H I G A N
C-A Yds TD Int
11.23 97 0 2
11.23 97 0 2
RUSHING
Player At Yds Avg Lg TO
Toussaint 24 120 5.0 35 2
Gardner 19 64 3.4 19 1
Norfleet 2 14 7.0 13 0
Chesson 1 2 2.0 2 0
TEAM 3 -5 -1.7 0 0
Totals 49 192 3.9 35 3
RECEIVING
Player No. Yds Avg Lg TO
Dileo 1 13 13.0 13 0
Totals 11 97 88 17 0
PUNTING
- Player No. Yds Avg Lg
Wile 5 21 42.4 47
Totals 5 212 42.4 47
KICKOFF RETURNS
Player No. Yds Avg Lg TD
Norfleet 2 45 225 29 0
Totals 2 45 22.5 29 0
PUNT RETURNS
Player No. Yds Avg Lg TD
Dile 3 2 7.3 24 0g
Tota 4 22 s.50 24 0
Senior forward Nkem Ezurike scored the 35th goal of her Michigan career with a strike in the 22nd minute Sunday against Iowa. Ezurike is now four short of the Michigan all-time scoring record.
Ezurike leads 'M' to first Big Ten win
By FREDDY KASTEN
For The Daily
In what was a defensive, back-
and-forth battle, the Michigan
women's soccer team opened
up Big Ten play with a stout 2-1
win over
previously MICHIGAN 2
undefeated IOWA 1
Iowa.
Senior forward Nkem Ezurike
opened up the scoring for the
Wolverines on their first shot of
the game in the 22nd minute.
After creating her own space,
Ezurike was able to strike home
her sixth goal of the season into
the right corner of the net. The
goal - Ezurike's 35th of her career
- leaves her just four short of
becoming Michigan's all-time
scoring leader.
While noteworthy, Ezurike
isn't letting it get to her head.
"I don't think about it that
much at all," Ezurike said. "If I get
goals, I get goals. We just kind of
play, and no one really mentions
it to me."
The story of the game was the
Wolverines' aggressive and active
defense, often stacking up play-
ers in the box and containing the
Hawkeye offense to the outside.
One of the keys for Michigan
coming in was to contain Iowa's
leading goal scorer, midfielder
Chloe Lacosse.
"We basically tried to keep one
player putting pressure on her,
and then another player on each
side of that player to pick her up
if she were to get beaten because
she's so good on the dribble," said
Michigan coach Greg Ryan.
In the 56th minute, senior
midfielder Meghan Toohey used
her speed to make a nice play to
get the ball into the box to senior
forward Shelby Chambers-Garcia
who hit the post. Ezurike followed
up the play and looked poised to
put the Wolverines ahead but was
pushed down from behind by an
Iowa defender and unable to get
a shot off.
Michigan (1-0 Big Ten,7-lover-
all) let itself get a little down after
that no-call, and it proved costly.
Just two minutes later, Iowa (0-1,
6-1) evened up the score with a
weak goal from Bri Toelle in the
58th minute. It was the second
goal of her freshman campaign on
a cross that freshman goalkeeper
Taylor Bucklin misplayed from
the left side of the box.
However, the Wolverines
didn't let themselves get down
again after that rare defensive
mishap.
A mere two minutes after the
Hawkeye goal, senior midfielder
Kayla Mannino scored her first
goal of the season on a beauti-
ful chip from the left side of the
goal off a creative header from
Ezurike.
"At that point we were tied, so
the whole team's mentality was to
score," Mannino said. "Nkem had
a great flick on it, and I just hap-
pened to be there and finished it."
Before Mannino's goal, Ryan
switched from playing a 4-2-3-1
formation to a more offensive 3-5-
2. This alteration instantly proved
to be an effective one as Mannino
scored in the 70th minute. The
team then switched again to a
more defensive formation, a5-3-2,
which kept Iowa in check for the
rest of the game.
For the final 20 minutes the
Hawkeyes fought back hard, but
Michigan's back line once again
showed its experience, forcing
Iowa to settle for unsuccessful
corner kicks.
Bucklin bounced back nicely
after her mistake that almost cost
the Wolverines their win, record-
ing one of her two saves soon after
in the 59th minute.
Michigan's next contest is at
home against Wisconsin on Fri-
day as the team looks to improve
on its already impressive start to
Big Ten play.
Player
Bolden
Taylor
Mlckge
SCr
Couess
Wilson
Gordone
wRoss,
Morganec
Solo
2
2
1
3
3
2
1
0
0
2
0
0
0
0
1
1
1
0
0
0
0
19
Asst
4
4
5
2
1
2
3
4
4
1
2
2
2
2
0
0
0
1
1
i
1
42
Tot
6
6
6
5
4
4
4
4
4
3
2
2
2
2
i
t
t
i
i
i
t
61
WOMEN'S GOLF
For women's golf team, new faces and old places
U C 0 N N
PASSING
Whitmer
Totals
RUSHING
Player
McCombs
Hyppoiite
Team
RECEIVING
Player
Foxx
Davis
Pae
Totals
C-A Yds
16-32 159
16-32 159
TD int
2 1
2 1
Att
1
Yds
38
23
16
7
.2
-35
47
Yds
60
52
3
27
17
159
Avg
4.8
7.0
-20
Avg
12.0
9.94
Ls
16
7
L9
26
18
26
TD
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
TD
0
0
1
0
1
2
By ELI SPARKMAN
Daily Sports Writer
Rain, rain, go away. There's a
new head coach, and she's here to
stay.
Over the weekend, the Michi-
gan women's golf team kicked off
its fall season by returning to the
Mercedes-Benz Amateur Cham-
pionship in Knoxville, Tenn., for
the first time in seven years. The
tournament - which was sched-
uled for three days and 54 holes
- was soon reduced to a 36-hole
event after heavy rains canceled
Saturday play. The tournament
marked not only the debut of the
women's golf team for the 2013-
2014 season, but also for new
Michigan head coach, Jan Dowl-
MICHIGAN
From Page 1B
digits to Towson and Mary-
land. They ranked worse than
100th in the nation in scoring
offense, rushing offense and
total offense. Same for rushing
defense and total defense. They
ranked 95th in scoring defense.
Under Hoke, Michigan has
struggled on the road. At his
Wednesday press conference
earlier this week, Hoke said the
reason was simple.
"Turnovers, turnovers, turn-
overs," he said. "That's what's
plagued our team."
Michigan committed . four
ing.
The 17-team tournament called
for five starting golfers from each
program. In Dowling's first event,
she selected two experienced
seniors in Yugene Lee and Alyssa
Shimel, as well as junior Lauren
Grogan, sophomore Catherine
Peters and freshman Grace Choi.
The tournament marked Choi's
collegiate debut.
"It was a pretty special event
for the whole team because it
was my first event and our assis-
tant coach's first event with the
group," Dowling said. "But we
implemented a lot of tactics as
far as the practice round goes,
pre-shot routine, and the team
implemented the changes the best
I could have imagined."
turnovers against UConn. Three
came from Gardner. On Michi-
gan's first drive of the second
half, he fumbled on a quarter-
back sneak. UConn's Ty-Meer
Brown scooped it and scored to
put the Huskies ahead 21-7. He
also threw two interceptions.
Gardner has now had a turnover
returned for a touchdown in
three straight games.
Gardner finished 11-of-23 for
97 yards and zero touchdowns
passing. He also rushed for 64
yards on the ground (he lost 24
yards on sacks) with one touch-
down.
"There's a lot of learning
going on," Hoke said, referring
to Gardner. "And there's a lot
The Wolverines found them-
selves sitting in nth placeafter
the first 18 holes on Friday, right
in the middle of the pack with 296
strokes, 12 over par, but still 17
strokes behind first-place South
Carolina. The scoring for the
championship counts the four
best golfers from each team.
The second day was canceled
because thunderstorms hit the
Knoxville area earlier that morn-
ing, and the grass was too wet for
action.
"I think the team could've used
the experience and the competi-
tion but, you know, you can't con-
trol the weather," Dowling said.
"(The team) handled the day off
well. We just tried to relax."
The scoring over the 36 holes
that we put on his shoulders,
and I think that he keeps learn-
ing every time he goes out."
Earlier in the second quarter,
UConn took a 14-7 lead after a
punt hit freshman wide receiver
Da'Mario Jones deep in Michi-
gan's own territory. UConn
needed just two plays to convert
the touchdown.
Michigan's defense and the
play of fifth-year senior running
back Fitzgerald Toussaint kept
the Wolverines in the game.
With about 10 minutes remain-
ing in the game and Michigan
trailing by a touchdown, Mor-
gan made his leaping one-hand-
ed interception and returned it
to UConn's 12-yard line.
was dominated by Arkansas and
South Caroira, Ihaled the field,
shooting a 5-under-par 563 and a
3-over-par 571, respectively. The
next best team, Tulane, finished
10 strokes behind the leaders with
an 11-over-par 579.
Michigan shot 21 over par for a
total of 593 strokes to finish tied
for ninth with Mississippi State.
Grogan led the Wolverines in
scoring with a low of a 4-over-par
147, a score including five birdies.
Next was Peters at six over par,
followed by Shimel at seven over,
Choi at eight over, and finally Lee
with a team high of 11 over par.
The ninth-place finish represents
a jump of two places from Fri-
day. Emily Tubert of Arkansas
finished in first place on the indi-
Toussaint scored on the next
play to tie the game. Toussaint
had his best game of the sea-
son, rushing for 120 yards in 24
attempts with two touchdowns,
both while Michigan trailed in
the second half.
But Michigan's offense again
failed to establish the line of
scrimmage. Hoke said the line
improved late but still didn't
generate enough push. Most
inside runs were doomed before
Toussaint hit the hole.
And again, Michigan's offense
had to rely on Gardner's legs.
Michigan turned to the quarter-
back run multiple times on third
and fourth downs. With 11:30
remaining in the fourth quarter,
vidual player leader board, with a
final score of 137 at one under par.
Grogan finished the highest indi-
vidually for the Wolverines, plac-
ing in a tie for 25th.
For Michigan - a team that
finished in 10th-place in the Big
Ten Tournament last year - a top
10 finish in the Mercedes-Benz
Championship can be seen as a
promisingsuccess.
"Obviously, the aspirations are
higher than that," Dowling said.
"But I have to say that there are
quite a few very strong teams, his-
torically strong SEC teams, in the
field that we beat. I learned a lot
from watching this team compete
for two days, and I can't tell you
how excited I am for the future of
this program."
Michigan opted for a Gardner
run once more on fourth-and-2,
instead of a field goal.
Michigan trailed by seven
points, and had the ball on UCo-
nn's 23-yard line.
The Huskies made the stop.
It was another embarrassing
moment for Michigan in a night
full of them. And without the
momentum-changing intercep-
tion from Morgan, it could've
been fatal.
"We're Michigan, though,"
said junior defensive end Frank
Clark. "We don't settle for less.
We don't play to anyone else's
level. And for the last two weeks
we have. But we're going to step
it up."
No.
5
4
2
16
PUNTING
Player No. Yds Avg
wagner 8 305 381
Totals 8 305 38:1 5
KICKOFF RETURNS
Player No. Yds Avg
TACKLES
Plaer Solo Asst Tat
Ashiru 5 3 8
Brown 5 3 8
Jones 4 1 s5
Wilims 3 1 4
Stephen 1 3 4
Joseph 1 3 4
Frank 2 1 , 3
Hyppoite 2 0 2
Wagner 1 0 1
Myers 1 0 1
Vann 1 0 1
Donohue 0 1 1
Mack 0 14 74
L
50
.0
LIKE US ON
FACEBOOK
www.facebook.com/
michigandaily
BYE WEEK
From Page 1B
to doubt themselves when they
played their first road game of
the season against the Huskies.
Even the narrow escape the
week before, though, wasn't
enough to keep Michigan from
looking like a shell of the team
that beat Notre Dame on Sept.
7 under the lights.
"Every opponent, we expect
to play a tough game. We're
Michigan, though," said junior
defensive end Frank Clark.
"We don't settle for less. We
don't play to anyone's level.
And for the last two weeks, we
have."
The schedule doesn't get dis-
cernibly harder for a few weeks
now, which might actually be
a bad thing if the Wolverines
continue playing down to their
opponents.
Two of the next three
games, Minnesota on Oct. 5
and Indiana on Oct. 19, are
against teams that were picked
to finish in the bottom half of
the Big Ten standings before
the season.
The other game before the
schedule becomes increasingly
difficult, Penn State on Oct.
12, will give the Wolverines a
chance to show they can win
an important conference road
game - last season, they beat
only Purdue and Minnesota
away from home.
First up, though, is the bye
week, and it couldn't possibly
come at a better time.
Unlike last week, there will
be no surprise Sunday full-pads
practice to try and get the lat-
est debacle out of the heads of
the players.
Also unlike last week, the
chance for redemption won't
come for two weeks. Redshirt
junior quarterback Devin
Gardner said midway through
the week of preparations for
Connecticut that when you
play poorly, the following Sat-
urday takes forever to arrive.
Gardner topped his abysmal
Akron performance, which
he called possibly his worst
game ever at any level, with
three more turnovers against
the Huskies. It's safe to say the
next two weeks will crawl for
him.
And it's certainly best
that they do. The reason why
Michigan so desperately needs
this early season bye week isn't
to recover physically and get
healthy, though that is a happy
side effect.
The bye is most crucial now
because this team has a bruised
psyche. Two weeks from now,
fewer teams will be among the
unbeaten, but Michigan will
still be one. Perhaps a week
without a game is exactly what
the Wolverines need to begin
playing like it.
Slovin can be reached at
mjslovin@umich.edu or on
Twitter @MattSlovin.
MEN'S SOCCER
From Page 1B
season and the course of games."
After the first few minutes of
back-and-forth overtime play, the
Wolverines finally struck again,
92 minutes after their opening
goal. McAtee received the ball
along the line after being set up
by senior forward Malcolm Mill-
er. McAtee evaded his defender
and found open space to launch
the shot that gave Michigan the
victory. Minutes after giving up
a crushing goal, the Wolverines
dramatically captured a road win.
"A lot of teams, if they conced-
ed so late, probably would have
folded," Daley said. "But our guys
refused to let that happen to them
tonight."