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Thursday, August 11, 2016
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
SPORTS
SAM MOUSIGIAN/Daily
Senior defender Madisson Lewis anchored the Wolverines’ backline last season.
Notebook: Michigan begins its
preseason against top-10 teams
By BRAD WHIPPLE
Summer Managing Editor
The Michigan women’s soccer
team has tended to play locally
when it comes to preseason
exhibition
matches.
The
Wolverines have a strong record
coming off the first week of
training — winning four of their
last five exhibition matches by
outscoring opponents 17-3 in the
last four seasons — allowing them
to ease into the regular season.
This year, though, Michigan
took an alternative approach
and pitted its talent against
the Big East and Atlantic Coast
Conference.
With
fall
camp
beginning Aug. 3, the Wolverines
had a quick turnaround to prepare
for two of the top programs in the
country in No. 6 West Virginia
and No. 4 Virginia.
Saturday before the team’s
media
day,
redshirt
junior
midfielder Ani Sarkisian, one
of this year’s three captains,
expressed excitement for playing
some
of
the
nation’s
most
competitive teams ahead of non-
conference play.
“This
is
gonna
be
all
in
for
those
90
minutes,”
Sarkisian
said
Saturday.
“We’ve
only
been
training
for three days,
but we’ve had
nine
sessions
already, so we’re all itching to
have a little more competition
than
just
playing
against
ourselves. It’ll be great to see how
we compare to these teams, if we
can keep up.
“If we can pull off a win or a
tie, it would be really great for us
confidence-wise as well.”
Monday
afternoon
in
Morgantown,
W.Va.,
the
Wolverines
earned
that
confidence
boost by pulling
out
a
hard-
fought 2-2 tie
against
West
Virginia.
With
Michigan
trailing by one
goal with just
27
seconds
left,
redshirt
freshman midfielder Katie Foug
kicked in the tying goal to give
the Wolverines a 2-2 tie.
Michigan had struck first in
the 32nd minute with an upper-
90 goal from senior midfielder
Jessica
Heifetz,
but
the
Wolverines let in two quick goals
shortly
after
halftime — one
of which off a
penalty kick.
“I
was
really
proud
of this young
team,”
said
Michigan coach
Greg Ryan to
MGoBlue after
the game. “West Virginia’s just
dangerous. … For us to hang in
there, connect well, get chances
in behind their line and then
come away with a late goal to
tie it 2-2 is really beyond what I
expected for today.”
Thursday, Michigan will host
a demon from its past: Virginia,
the
team
that
knocked
the
Wolverines out of the Elite Eight
in the 2013 NCAA Tournament.
This week’s matchup will mark
just the second time the two
teams have played each other.
This time, however, Michigan has
the home-field advantage.
For senior defender Madisson
Lewis, another Michigan captain,
this
Thursday’s
exhibition
is
personal.
Lewis
was
the
Wolverines’
second-leading
scorer that season and was a
starting forward in Michigan’s
2-1 loss to the Cavaliers.
“It’s gonna be really fun to play
them at home and hopefully kick
their butt,” Lewis said.
Wolverines without Timko,
Yekka
and
Sweeney:
Back
in May, Ryan announced that
Michigan would be without three
critical players this season: junior
defender Taylor Timko, redshirt
freshman
midfielder
Kelly
Sweeney
and sophomore
defender
Sura
Yekka.
Both
Timko
and
Sweeney
will be out due
to knee injuries
suffered in the
spring
season,
with
Sweeney
reinjuring the same knee that
kept her out of the 2015 season.
Timko, however, may return
late
in
the
season,
pending
rehabilitation and approval of the
team’s medical staff.
Timko
has
been
a
huge
presence up front during the last
two seasons, and led the team last
year with seven goals and three
assists.
As for Yekka — one of Michigan’s
anchors on the backline — she will
be training with the Canadian
U-20 Women’s
National Team
in
preparation
for
the
2016
FIFA
U-20
Women’s World
Cup from Nov.
13 to Dec. 3
in Papua New
Guinea.
“Taylor,
Sura and Kelly are tremendously
talented players, and we will miss
them, and will definitely feel
their loss this fall” Ryan said in a
statement this May.
Though the losses will present
a new challenge for the team this
season, Ryan noted that it will
bring about opportunities for
younger and returning players to
compete for those vacant spots.
According to Lewis, the bench
is as critical to the team’s success
as those on the field, and she has
no doubt Sweeney and Timko’s
input will be heard.
“Taylor will be fine, she’s such
a positive person in general. Same
with Kelly,” Lewis said Saturday.
“We have a very good support
system as a team. We’re all there
for each other whenever anyone
needs it. I think we’ll be fine.”
Nike rings in new era of
Michigan
soccer:
With
last
week’s unveiling of the new Nike
and Jordan Brand apparel at the
M Den, Michigan is welcoming a
new era for its athletic program.
On Aug. 19, the women’s soccer
program will be the first of
Michigan’s 27 varsity programs
to sport the Nike swoosh in a
game.
“It’s
pretty
nice clothing,”
Lewis Said. “We
kind
of
joke,
‘Look
good,
feel good, play
good.’ I don’t
know,
that
probably
plays
into it a little
bit. Our jerseys
are really cool,
we
feel
more
confident… a little mental thing.”
Added Sarkisian: “You’re with
a new company, you get all this
new gear, you have all this nice
stuff on, you better be playing
well. … It’s really rallying the
Michigan fans and starting a new
era. It’s nice to know we’re the
beginning of that, and we can
have an impact on that and make
history if we choose to.”
“We’re all
itching to have
a litte more
competition.”
“It’s rallying the
Michigan fans
and starting a
new era.”
“I was really
proud of this
young team.”