September 15, 2014 - 3B
The Michigan Daily -- michigandaily.com
The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom September15, 2014 - 38
'M' stuns Badgers in last second
By MITCH BECKMAN
Daily Sports Writer
The clock showed :01 left as
the ball found the back ofthe net.
The Michigan women's soccer
team had stormed the field,
jubilantly
celebrating WISCONSIN 1
what it MICHIGAN 2
believed
to be the winning goal while
the referees sat huddled in the
corner, discussing the call.
The season is young, but the
Wolverines have already packed
a full season's worth of drama
into it.
Following their controversial
2-1overtimewinoverMinnesota
on Friday night, the Wolverines
upended No. 9 Wisconsin on
Sunday afternoon, 2-1, scoring
with only one second left in
regulation.
For the second straight game,
a free kick and an errant whistle
decided the ending. Freshman
forward Taylor Temko fired
a free kick toward the goal as
time wound down, but it was
deflected away. However, the
ball found its way to the foot
of sophomore defender Bailey
Haydock, who volleyed a cross
that was redirected into the goal
by redshirt freshman forward
Ani Sarkisian.
For a moment, it seemed
like the perfect ending for the
Wolverines
(5-2). However,
the side judge gc
had his flag It Wc
aloft, signaling £4.
offside. While aflL
the team was
herded back to
the bench, the
referees conferred, eventually
waiving the offsides call and
upholding the goal.
Both teams realigned for the
last second of play, but it was a
mere formality. Michigan had
won, its first victory over a top-
10 team in 11 years.
"We worked too hard not
to get a win out of this game,"
Michigan drops
pair in Ore gon
TERESA MATHEW/Daily
Redshirt freshman AnISarkisian scored with only one second remaining in Sunday's game to give Michigan the win.
Sarkisian said. "It was a big
mish-mosh in the box and Bailey
sent it across and I finished. It
was a great pass."
Wisconsin entered the game
undefeated and the clear favorite,
but the Wolverines never played
like the
underdog.
The Badgers
as juSt (7-1) couldn't
get behind
3.Stie. the Michigan
_back line and
were forced
to play on the
periphery in Michigan's half of
the field, often resorting to long
shots or driving down the wing.
The tight defense paid
dividends for the Wolverines
offensively. Despite a lack of
offensive possession in the first
half, Michigan had multiple
strong counterattacks stem from
smart, responsible defense.
"The whole team played really
good defensively," said Michigan
coach Greg Ryan. "Wisconsin
never had those clear-cut
chances behind our line. They
had the ball a lot, but we didn't
give away many chances. It was
just fantastic."
After several minutes of
Badger possession early, the
Wolverines capitalized on a
counter. Finding space down
the sideline, junior forward
Corinne Harris launched a
cross that was headed on goal by
junior forward Nicky Waldeck.
Wisconsin's keeper made the
save, but Sarkisian beat her
defender to the net and knocked
in the waiting rebound.
Michigan's only glaring
defensive mistake came with 10
minutesleftinthe firsthalf.Abad
pass and turnover left Haydock
in poor position, leading to her
taking a yellow card just inside
the box. Wisconsin converted
the penalty kick and evened the
game, but the play seemed to
wake up the Michigan offense
again.
In the second half, the
team that was unranked was
indistinguishable from one in
the top 10. The Wolverines went
stride for stride and shot for shot
with the Badgers, with both teams
having opportunities to score.
The performance gives
Michiganahugeconfidenceboost
early in the season and proves to
the rest of the conference that itis
aviable threat.
"We said at halftime, whether
we win or lose, let's go out there
and just play," Ryan said. "We
hung around long enough to give
us a chance to win, and it gives
us a real confidence. It's not a
soft nonconference win - we go
into the next games saying we
have a shot against anybody."
W(
fi
blov
A qu
volley
the B
might
excelle
Wit
20 kill
record
in Fr
Wolve
runnin
Pacific
Un
numbe
victori
perfor
State<
to win
Wolve
17-25,
They
No. 18
match
19-25,.
Mic
it live:
which
victor'
but w
weeke
and i
Saturd
match
with]
Caroli
"I
thoug
we 1
very
defens
said
Michit
coach
unacce
a gy
and e
succes
poor le
The
had
Wolve
in the
.346 f
Michi,
to ke
were i
until e
they w
run. D
with,
could
dropp
Stru
Pac-12
have I
the W
outsta
playin
the ut
Friday
"(O
runni
be eff
unfort
that w
on the
becau
pretty
lverines fall in Michigan allowed 10
Oregon State service aces and
ve sets Friday, committed 17 errors, spoiling
a match in which several
wn out Saturday players set or matched career
highs. Junior outside hitter
ByJACOBGASE Ally Davis, playing her third
Daily Sports Writer match' of the season after
returning from injury, led the
nick glance at the Michigan offense with 33 kills over the
ball team's statistics from weekend. Freshman opposite
ig Ten/Pac-12 Challenge hitter Katherine Mahlke and
suggest that it put on an freshman defensive specialist/
mt performance. outside hitter Caroline Knop
h four players exceeding also reached career-high kill
s this weekend and three totals on Friday, with 20 and 14,
ing double-doubles respectively.
iday's match alone, the "Offensively, we were flowing
rines' offense was nearly pretty well," Davis said. "The
ag on all cylinders in the connection between the setters
Northwest. and the hitters - we did a good
ortunately for them, the job with that. But obviously there
rs didn't translate into are other areas of the game that
es. Michigan's stellar we need to work on.You can'tjust
mance against Oregon win with purely offense."
on Friday wasn't enough Playing with a very fluid
a five-set slugfest, as the lineup and using numerous
rines dropped the match substitutions, the Wolverines
25-21, 22-25, 25-22, 13-15. still seemed to be searching for
fared even worse against the best way to use their young
Oregon, losing Saturday's players. Rosen tried something
in straight sets (17-25, new at the setter position this
25-27). weekend, still trying to fill the
higan (3-4) proved that void leftbysenior co-captainLexi
s and dies by its defense, Dannemiller, who is sidelined
held its own in a strong with mononucleosis. Junior
y over Duke last week Carly Warner, the only setter
as overwhelmed both this Michigan had used this season,
nd found
n last herself
lay's rotating
North "Ithought we with
redshirt
na. played very poor freshman
Cindy Zhou
ht defense, and that's againt
played oregon.
epOr unacceptable." Zhou
e,"made her
collegiate
gan debut by
Mark Rosen, "and that's picking up 10 assists in the loss.
ptable. We can't go into "We're still trying to find
a against a good team the answer there," Rosen said.
xpect we're going to be "We started trying some other
sful playing defense at a system things to try to create a
mvel." better lineup that will allow us
Ducks(8-0) in particular to compete defensively.sWe've
their way with the got to figure out that ytem
rines. They never trailed for us to be offensively and
first two sets, hitting defensively minded with the
or the entire match as same lineup."
gan's defenders struggled Finding the correct lineup
ep up. The Wolverines to balance offense and defense
unable to create a rally seemed to be Michigan'sabiggest
ary in the third set, when challenge this weekend.
went on a match-best 5-0 Knop, perhaps the team'sabest
espite reaching set point example of the dual mindset
a 24-23 lead, Michigan Rosen preaches, showed the
n't put Oregon away and ability of a defensive-minded
ed the set and match. player to contribute on offense
aggling against one of the on Friday. But standing only
's biggest powers might 5-foot-8, she had a tough time
been understandable, but with the physical front line of
olverines also wasted an the Ducks on Saturday.
nding offensive effort by Rosen has emphasized that
g subpar defense against Knop and her teammates can
nranked Beavers (7-1) on find more success when they
y. blend the perfect balance of
n Friday) we were contrasting styles.
ng a very solid offense to While the team knows a
ective," Rosen said. "It's 3-4 record leaves something
unate and disappointing to be desired, the Wolverines
e lost the game basically showed that they seem content
defensive side of things, to use their losses as learning
se on offense, we did some experiences until they find the
nice things." equilibrium that eludes them.
Wolverines ram VCU, stretch streak
By JUSTIN MEYER
Daily Sports Writer
Before the Michigan field
hockey team stepped onto Ocker
Field on Sunday for a matchup
with a woefully overwhelmed
VCU team, the message was
clear: score
early and VCU 1
often. MICHIGAN 9
With
nine goals on 16 shots in a 9-1
victory, the Wolverines didn't
disappoint.
Redshirt freshman forward
Carly Bennett racked up a goal
and two assists, while sopho-
mores Courtney Enge, a forward,
and Sina Lampe, a midfielder,
both posted their first career
multi-goal games.
"One of the things we were
going to stress for this game was
to finish and for the forwards to
get their sticks down near the
goal for those long shots across
the circle," Bennett said. "Today,
like five of the goals were tips.
I think we really nailed that
today."
Lampe's first goal, which put
Michigan (4-2) ahead 3-0, was
the highlight of the game. Enge
flung a pass to the left side of the
circle, which Lampe corralled
as she fought off a defender
before hesitating and spinning
to her backhand. The move gave
her just enough space to fire a
shot past VCU goalie Kendall
Clifton's right shoulder and into
the upper corner of the cage.
Nine different Michigan play-
ers recorded a point in the game,
and by the time the second half
rolled around, the starters were
pulled and the Wolverines'
reserves were taking the field.
Two days after needing two
penalty corners to put away
Providence, Michigan looked
fluid on offense and strong on
the back line. Freshman goalie
Sam Swenson got the starting
nod again, and she too posted a
strong performance, extending
her shutout streak to 225 min-
utes before exiting the game at
the half for redshirt sophomore
Chris Lueb.
The Rams couldn't gener-
ate even a glimmer of offense in
the first half, failing to threaten
on either of their two corners.
The showing from Michigan's
senior-laden back line continued
its string of elite performances
on defense.
The offensive explosion,
though, felt like a sort of final
piece in the difficult transition
the Wolverines have made from
the beginning of the season,
when they were blown out by No.
1 North Carolina and dropped an
overtime heartbreaker to No. 10
Wake Forest.
After pouring on goal after
goal against VCU (2-4), Michi-
gan is hopingto finally put those
offensive concerns to rest.
The production from the Wol-
verines' young players was par-
ticularly good news for a team
that is relying on underclass-
men on the front line. Fresh-
man forward Veerle Lubbers,
still adjusting to collegiate field
hockey and life away from her
home in Amsterdam, netted the
first goal of her career.
"Veerle plays like an upper-
classman," said Michigan coach
Marcia Pankratz. "She's a real-
ly solid player. I think all (the
underclassmen) contribute and
are contributing well."
Among the underclassmen
poised for breakout years on
offense, Bennett has distanced
herself, starting five of the Wol-
verines' six games after red-
shirting last season.
"Over the summer, I just kind
of told myself I need to forget
about what it felt like to be a red-
shirt and just come in and do my
thing," Bennett said. "It's tough,
you work your ass off in practice,
and there's kind of no expecta-
tion there. You knowyou'll never
get in no matter what. I think a
lot of that energy was pent up, so
I got to let some of that out this
year."
Lampe, who calls Germany
home, also figures to see a sig-
nificant increase in playing time
this year after struggling with
the transition at times last sea-
son.
"My sophomore season is a lot
different, because my freshman
season I was really homesick,"
she said. "Now I know everyone
really well and I feel more con-
fident about playing, because
I know the style of American
hockey now. It's a lot faster, it's
a lot of running and fighting.
American hockey players are
really jacked.'
The midfielder shows flashes
of skill but can sometimesbe less
effective in the face of a more
physical game. But Lampe said
her goal for the season is to score
more, and she'll certainly have
an opportunity to do that for
Michigan this year.
The only question left unan-
swered by the Wolverines after
running by VCU is whether the
victory will translate to success
against better competition.
"What was good about today
was that we had some players
who were banged up, so we got
a chance for them to rest," Pan-
kratz said. "We got the chance
to see some players in other
positions, to get some experi-
ence, because we're going to
need them next weekend. Those
things were really positive."
Sophomore Courtney Enge recorded her first career multi-goal game as Michigan blasted VCU, 9-ion Sunday afternoon.