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Thursday, August 6 , 2015
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com SPORTS
Harris, women’s soccer eager
to avenge rough 2014 season
Falling short of
expectations last
season, Michigan
looks to return to
Elite Eight
By BRAD WHIPPLE
Daily Sports Writer
Like her performance on the
soccer field, Corinne Harris has
kept her summer fast-paced. The
senior forward began the sum-
mertime as intern on the set of
ESPN’s Pardon the Interruption
before moving across the coun-
try to work at Adidas for five
weeks,
with
only a week in
between to visit
her family in
Chicago.
But
even
though
Harris
had two intern-
ships
during
the
summer,
her role as cap-
tain
for
the
Michigan women’s soccer team
has remained constant. After the
Wolverines’ 2014 campaign came
to a lackluster conclusion — win-
ning only one of their last six
games — Harris and three other
captains are emphasizing the role
of consistency heading into the
2015 season.
“The big thing for us is control-
ling what we can control,” Harris
said. “When we weren’t picked
for the NCAA Tournament, we
were like ‘What are ways that we
could have controlled our fate?’
… Everyone can make sure that
they’re coming in fit and ready to
play, so that if we’re in a double
overtime game, people are still
fresh and we can really make that
difference and get a win.”
Luckily for Harris, working
for two companies that revolve
entirely
around
sports
has
allowed her to stay physically
active despite a demanding sum-
mer schedule. During her time at
Adidas, the interns played 7-on-7
scrimmage matches two to three
times a week at a soccer field near
the office, allowing her to not
only stay fit but also develop her
skills against a tougher opponent.
“I got to play with boys, so that
was very challenging but also
very helpful for me,” Harris said.
“It was really helpful with always
having to be sharp with the speed
of play, because they were all
about ten times faster than me.
“I didn’t really have time to
think too much. You really just
have to be one step ahead, which
is something that is obviously
really helpful to have. … Hope-
fully I’ll see it pay off soon.”
With Harris honing her skills
over the summer, it could help
the Wolverines rid the bitter taste
of last year’s roller-coaster sea-
son. Following the first-round
loss in the 2014 Big Ten Tourna-
ment that ended Michigan’s sea-
son, the team
voted
defend-
er
Christina
Ordonez, goal-
keeper Maddie
Clarfield
and
Harris to spend
their senior year
as captains —
replacing
Jen
Pace and Chloe
Sosenko.
From then on, Harris said
the team rebounded positively,
allowing the Wolverines to focus
on laying this year’s foundation
built around four fundamentals:
leadership, fitness, work rate and
accountability.
The captains
are
trying
to
prove
that
a
hard and con-
sistent
work
ethic both on
the field and in
the gym means
anyone
can
emerge
from
the
woodwork
to
score
the
game-winning goal, even the
youngest and most inexperienced
of the team. It’s this philosophy
that head coach Greg Ryan, now
in his eighth season at Michigan,
has always built the team around
during his tenure.
Harris is an example of how
holding that attitude can pay off,
when last season, she started all
20 games, compared to just six in
the 2013 season, and transformed
from a player Ryan had previous-
ly doubted to one he considered
his best.
“(Something that we kinda
emphasized to everyone) is that
we want each person to be a
leader in their own way,” Harris
said. “Even freshmen coming in,
everyone has so much to bring,
everyone can make an impact.
… We want to have a team that’s
full of fight and will battle every
single minute of every game.”
Returning to help wage that
battle is senior midfielder Chris-
tina Murillo, who spent the last
year training with Mexico’s
National Team in preparation
for the 2015 FIFA Women’s
World Cup in June. She was not
only welcomed back to the team
this season, but was also named
the fourth captain last week.
The addition of Murillo was
long planned, given the valu-
able insight she has gained at the
international level. For Michigan,
it could pay huge dividends as
the Wolverines return the core of
their midfield.
With each captain represent-
ing one of the four positions, the
leadership is more well-rounded
in comparison to last year, and
each player embodies a different
leadership trait: Murillo’s exper-
tise makes her versatile at any
position in the field; Ordonez and
Harris’ verbal leadership could
lead a more organized effort;
and
Clarfield,
according
to
Ryan, feels like
another
assis-
tant coach with
her understand-
ing
of
team
dynamics, mak-
ing her a reliable
strategist.
But for Mich-
igan to start on a
higher note than
it left off at, every practice needs
to be treated like a high-stakes
game, one with little margin for
error, and the Wolverines will
need only to adjust the elements
they can manage.
“We’re just trying to set little
standards (like working hard),”
Harris said. “So that when it
comes down to it, we know that
we’re the most prepared team,
and we can really go out there and
control as much as we can to get
the right outcome.”
ALLISON FARRAND/Daily
Senior Corinne Harris used two sports internships to grow as a leader and player.
“The big
thing for us is
controlling what
we can control.”
“We want each
person to be a
leader in their
own way.”