2B — November 7, 2016
SportsMonday
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

Ryan, Michigan await another anxious Monday

It’s a Wednesday, which means 

it’s a day, which means Greg Ryan 
is optimistic.

The Michigan women’s soccer 

coach always 
seems to be 
positive about 
his 
team, 

always seems 
to think its 
best days are 
still ahead. In 
a few hours, 
Ryan’s 
team 

will 
board 

a 
plane 
to 

Minneapolis 
for the Big Ten Tournament. The 
Wolverines will take on No. 1 seed 
Minnesota in the semifinals two 
days later, a game that very well 
could determine their NCAA 
Tournament fate.

Ryan, 
meanwhile, 
believes 

his team is safe either way. 
He remains hopeful, which is 
difficult, because this time of year 
brings back memories of days that 
were anything but that.

A 
year 
ago 
Wednesday, 

Michigan’s 2015 season ended in 
its locker room. The Wolverines 
lost to Penn State in the same 
round of the Big Ten Tournament, 
the semifinals. They thought 
they’d be playing again the next 
weekend. They weren’t.

Most teams’ seasons culminate 

on the field — they lose in a 
penalty shootout, or they give 
up a late goal, or they’re just 
outplayed. Instead, Michigan’s 
players last year came home from 
State College, gathered under the 
stands at U-M Soccer Stadium 
and found their name absent from 
the NCAA Tournament field for 
the second year in a row.

“We were just sick. I don’t 

think there’s a good explanation 
for it,” Ryan said. “There were 
teams that were mathematical 
points ahead of us by two that 
we had beaten twice, and they 
took them above us. There were 

teams behind us RPI-wise that 
they pushed in front of us because 
they had beaten us head to head. 
So from our perspective, we felt 
like we’ve been left out two years 
in a row.”

Ryan called those two days the 

two most disappointing moments 
he has had in nine years at the 
helm of Michigan’s program. 
And another tense day is coming 
around Monday, when the NCAA 
announces the field for this year’s 
tournament.

The Wolverines are on the 

bubble again — ranked No. 44 
in the Ratings Percentage Index 
— but given how their last two 
seasons have ended, you can 
understand why even Ryan is 
hesitant to be optimistic.

“To be honest,” he said, “I’m 

just sickened by what’s happened 
the last two years.”

Michigan wasn’t as close in 

2014 as last year, but still had 
a chance. Two years ago, the 
Wolverines entered the selection 
show ranked No. 53 in the RPI, 
which is typically not good enough 
to make the cut. They also had a 
mediocre strength of schedule 
and played in the country’s fifth-
best conference, and they were 
still rebuilding from graduation 
losses after making the Elite Eight 
the year before, the best season in 
program history.

Last 
year 
stung 
worse. 

Michigan appeared to be in 
good shape to make it back. The 
Wolverines emerged from the 

Big Ten Tournament ranked No. 
46 in the RPI. They outranked 
Washington, yet the Huskies 
made the tournament on the 
strength 
of 
a 
head-to-head 

win 
against 
Michigan. 
The 

Wolverines beat Northwestern in 
the Big Ten Tournament, yet the 
Wildcats made the tournament on 
the strength of their RPI, which 
was two spots higher.

Hence the feeling of sickness. 

Last year, Michigan expected 
to watch the show, see its name, 
celebrate and then go practice 
in preparation for an NCAA 
Tournament game. Instead came 
that feeling of emptiness that 
plagues any team in any sport that 
watches the show and doesn’t see 
its name.

“It was pretty tough, mostly 

because I just felt bad for the 
seniors, and I felt like we let the 
seniors down after they gave 
so much to this program,” said 
senior defender Madisson Lewis. 
“It was just really disappointing 
because we felt like we did 
enough, but now we know that we 
can’t ever think that we’ve done 
enough — we just have to keep 
winning. That’s the only thing 
that we can do.”

A few hours after she said that, 

the Wolverines left for Minnesota 
to try to keep their season alive. 
The Big Ten semifinal counted as 
one game, the same as the other 18 
Michigan played this season. But 
Ryan’s team was not under any 
illusions — he has been around 

long enough to know that these 
ones are more meaningful.

“They just are,” he said. “… 

People that tell you, ‘Aw, it’s just 
any other game,’ they’re just 
trying to make everybody calm. 
It’s not any other game.”

Friday, they gave up a goal in the 

eighth minute and couldn’t sneak 
an equalizer past the Golden 
Gophers’ lights-out defense. It 
has surely been an anxious couple 
of days, and it will be an anxious 
next few hours until the NCAA 
announces the bracket, team by 
team, Monday at 4:30 p.m.

But Ryan can still rely on his 

optimism — he has his team’s 
credentials 
readily 
available. 

Last year, their best win was 
against No. 44 Northwestern. 
The Wolverines have played nine 
games against top-50 opponents 
and beaten three top-25 teams, 
including No. 5 Notre Dame, 2-0, 
back in August.

So 
even 
after 
Michigan’s 

elimination loss on Friday, Ryan 
stayed positive: “Honestly, I think 
they’re gonna call our name. I 
think they’re gonna put Michigan 
in the NCAA Tournament. I don’t 
think it’s questionable. I think it’s 
100 percent that we’ll be in, but 
based on the last two years, I do 
have some concerns.”

The Wolverines could have 

made it much easier on themselves 
by eking out a couple of wins 
this weekend and stealing the 
automatic bid. Now, they’ll just 
have to wait through a tenuous 
time. They know they have reason 
to believe this year, and they know 
they can compete if they see their 
name announced Monday. But the 
wounds from past heartbreak are 
still fresh.

“I would say,” Ryan started, 

pausing. “What can I say? There’s 
a lot of determination in this 
team to get back into the NCAA 
Tournament. … We’ve got a lot to 
prove.”

SPORTSMONDAY COLUMN

JAKE
LOURIM

ZOEY HOLMSTROM/Daily

The Michigan women’s soccer team will have another day of waiting to hear whether its name is announced in the NCAA Tournament field on Monday.

Michigan falls to No. 1 Maryland 
in Big Ten tournament shootout

It was déjà vu for anyone 

who follows the Michigan men’s 
soccer team. The Wolverines 
played No. 1 Maryland for the 
second time in one week and took 
the game to a second overtime 
once again, but they couldn’t 
change the result this time 
around. For the second straight 
week, Michigan fell, 3-2, and this 
time, the loss ended its season.

The golden goal went to the 

Terrapins. Maryland midfielder 
George Campbell shielded senior 
defender Lars Eckenrode from 
the ball and managed to rattle off 
a shot to the lower-right corner. 
He beat the Wolverines’ backup 
goalkeeper — redshirt junior 
Braden Horton who replaced 
injured starter Evan Louro — and 
maintained Maryland’s unbeaten 
record. 

The Wolverines opened their 

Big Ten Tournament run on 
Saturday afternoon in College 
Park against Rutgers. Goals from 
sophomore 
forward 
Francis 

Atuahene 
and 
sophomore 

midfielder Ivo Cerda propelled 
Michigan passed the Scarlet 
Knights, to win 2-1.

It was a quick turnaround 

for the Wolverines, who had to 
play the Terrapins on Sunday 
evening. They opened the game 
with a lot of energy, but they 
were constantly trying to fight 
their way back after trailing for 
most of the game.

Michigan 
senior 
defender 

Andre Morris was the first to 
score in the 30th minute, though 
not for his own team. Maryland 
crossed it to the near post, and 
Morris attempted to clear it wide, 
but it grazed the top of his laces 
and found its way to the back of 
the net for an own goal.

It just took two minutes 

for the Wolverines to find an 
answer. Eckenrode headed a 
ball to the top of the box to the 
feet of senior midfielder Tyler 
Anderson, who buried it into the 
back of the net for the first goal 
of his career.

Only a minute later, the 

Terrapins were ahead again. 
After a slow clearance attempt 
from 
sophomore 
defender 

Marcello 
Borges, 
Maryland 

connected passes in the box and 
forward DJ Reeves slipped it past 
Michigan’s goalkeeper, putting 
them up, 2-1.

It was clear from a halftime 

interview that Maryland coach 
Sasho Cirovski was not pleased 
with 
his 
team’s 
first-half 

performance, and his team came 
out firing in the second half. 
The Wolverine defense could 
barely catch a breath due to the 
near-constant pressure from the 
Terrapins. It seemed that any 
time they got near the goal they 
were a threat, but they struggled 
to finish their chances.

Michigan had one shot on 

goal in the second half, and it 
found the back of the net. Senior 
defender Rylee Woods crossed 
it from the left to Atuahene who 
easily headed it home, equalizing 
the score.

The Wolverines managed to 

force the game into overtime. The 
last five minutes of regulation 

found the two posts to be the 
best defender on Michigan’s side, 
stopping three goals.

The constant pressure on 

Louro proved to be too much, 
as he exited the game with an 
injury before the start of the 
first overtime period. Horton 
had only played in one game this 
season, and he entered the most 
important game for Michigan 
this season at the most important 
time.

Unfortunately 
for 
the 

Wolverines, he wasn’t able to 
keep their season alive.

Michigan’s 
final 
game 

symbolizes its disappointing 
season. The team almost pulled 
it off, but just couldn’t finish 
the job.

“They were very resilient, 

much like they have been all 
season,” said Michigan coach 
Chaka Daley. “The soccer gods 
went against us a little bit. 
Certainly in those moments I 
don’t think we deserved to have 
that done to us. I don’t think we 
deserved some of the unfortunate 
things this year, but that’s soccer 
sometimes.”

PAIGE VOEFFRAY

Daily Sports Writer

ELIZABETH XIONG/Daily

Lars Eckenrode and the Wolverines saw their season end on Sunday.

Wolverines fall in B1G Semifinals

Sarah Jackson picked the ball 

out of the net and disgustedly 
punted it to midfield. The redshirt 
sophomore goalkeeper’s response 
to Minnesota’s game-winning goal 
was a summary of the Michigan 
women’s soccer team’s frustration 
the entire match.

The fourth-seeded Wolverines 

(6-3-2 Big Ten, 10-5-4 overall) 
were outplayed by the top-
seeded Golden Gophers (7-1-3, 
15-3-3), losing 1-0 in the Big Ten 
Tournament semifinals Friday in 
St. Paul, Minn.

Forward 
Julianna 
Gernes 

scored the lone goal for Minnesota, 
as she buried an attempt into a 
wide-open net off a rebound from 
midfielder Josee Stiever’s shot that 
drew post in the seventh minute. 
Gernes was the beneficiary of a 
Golden Gopher attack that rarely 
gave the Wolverine defense a rest 
in the first half. It was a Michigan 
turnover just outside the box that 
lead to the 3-on-2 scoring-chance 
for Minnesota.

“We gave away a silly goal 

— it was just so horrific,” said 
Michigan coach Greg Ryan. “You 
can’t give up those kinds of goals. 
Those are layups. We talked about 
not beating ourselves before the 

match, but we beat ourselves on 
that play.”

As 
the 
Wolverines 
found 

themselves with just 45 minutes 
to equalize, Ryan attempted to 
orchestrate a more offensively 
threatening 
formation 
by 

positioning his players higher 
up on the field. That desperation 
also contributed to a more 
physical style of play — Michigan 
committed seven fouls in the 
final frame.

But the formation and tenacity 

proved futile on the scoresheet, 
as the Wolverines were able to 
muster just two shots on net in 
the second half, leading to Gopher 
goalkeeper Sarah Hobbs’ 10th 
clean slate of the season.

“At 
the 
end 
of 
the 
day, 

(Minnesota) got a couple good 
looks on goal, and we didn’t get 
any — that was the difference,” 
Ryan said.

Michigan’s 
best 
scoring 

opportunity came during the 
game’s first minute, when junior 
Ani Sarkisian cut quickly upfield 
and blasted a shot off a Minnesota 
defender and out of bounds, 
resulting in a Wolverine corner. 
But the nerves of the heavyweight 
Minnesota club settled following 
Michigan’s initial rush — the 
Golden Gophers’ aggressive play 
led to their possession and shot 

domination in the opening frame.

With the loss, the Wolverines 

will have their NCAA Tournament 
fate determined by the selection 
committee 
for 
the 
third 

consecutive year, as Michigan 
hopes to hear its name called for 
an at-large selection on Monday. 
But after two consecutive years 
without 
a 
postseason 
berth 

despite respectable seasons, Ryan 
doesn’t have much confidence 
in 
the 
selection 
committee’s 

inclination to give the Wolverines 
their fourth appearance under the 
current head man.

“Based upon what the NCAA 

has done the last two years, I have 
no evidence to support that (we’re 
going to be selected),” Ryan said. 
“We’ve got three wins against the 
top 25 and a tie against Minnesota 
— we’ve never had a better resume 
to get in. I don’t have a lot of 
confidence in the committee to 
figure this out.”

Though 
the 
fate 
of 
the 

Wolverines’ 
season 
is 
still 

in 
question, 
Michigan 
plans 

on practicing Monday as if it 
indeed has a place in the NCAA 
tournament. If Ryan’s team gets 
selected and breaks its two-
year postseason drought, maybe 
practice will consist of Jackson 
launching a punt in triumphant 
joy rather than frustration.

MARK CALCAGNO

For the Daily

ZOEY HOLMSTROM/Daily

Redshirt sophomore goalkeeper Sarah Jackson and Michigan fell to Minnesota in the Big Ten semis.

