The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Sports 
Thursday, February 23, 2017 — 7A

Michigan still winless after loss to the Fighting Irish

After five minutes of relentless 

attack to begin the game, No. 
8 
Notre 
Dame 
scored 
two 

consecutive goals in the next two 
minutes to take an early 2-0 lead.

Senior attacker Tess Korten, 

however, 
quickly 
answered 

for 
the 
Michigan 
women’s 

lacrosse team. She served as the 
playmaker for the Wolverines, 
creating more open shots for her 
teammates.

Still trailing by one, Michigan 

again found help from one of its 
seniors, Allie Breitfeller. The 
attacker caught a pass from 
Korten while cutting right and 
took a turnaround shot within 
the arc for her first goal of the 
season. Her goal tied the game 
at 2-2, shifting the momentum in 
favor of the Wolverines.

Using the momentum to its 

advantage, the Wolverines played 
grittier defense, drawing four 
fouls and two turnovers within 
six minutes. The defense caused 
key plays that allowed a free 
position attempt for Michigan. 
Senior midfielder Anna Schueler 
assisted fellow senior attacker 
Jess Angerman off the attempt 
for the first lead of the game, 3-2.

But 
despite 
the 
play 
of 

their seniors, Michigan (0-4) 
ultimately fell to Notre Dame 
(4-1), 12-5, in Michigan Stadium.

The Wolverines’ run came to 

a halt as Notre Dame called the 
first timeout of the game. Unable 
to deal with the adjustments 
from the timeout, such as double 
teams 
on 
Korten, 
Michigan 

entered the second half down 
by two after the Fighting Irish 
answered with a 3-0 run of their 
own.

“There were a couple of 

timeout calls from both ways, 
and that’s kind of just how 
lacrosse goes,” Breitfeller said. 
“There’s ebbs and flows, people 
will go on runs, and there are big 
stops. I think it just comes down 
to us when there is a really big 
stop on defense. We need to come 
back and finish on attack.”

Coming out from halftime, 

Schueler scored her first goal 
of the game from an assist by 
Korten. Cutting the lead down 
to one, Michigan switched to a 
more aggressive 
defense.

Despite 
the 

Wolverines’ 
increased focus, 
Notre 
Dame 

outscored 
Michigan seven 
to two in the 
second 
half, 

with 
Schueler 

scoring 
both 

goals 
for 
the 

Wolverines. It marked the third 
consecutive game that Schueler 
has led the team in scoring.

Michigan’s 
second-half 

struggles began with foul trouble. 
Though they were an issue for 
both teams in the first half — 
with Notre Dame and Michigan 
committing 18 and 14, respectively 

— Notre Dame improved while the 
Wolverines remained the same, 
committing 12 in the second half.

The fouls Michigan gave up 

led to five free-position attempts. 

Fortunately 
for 

the 
Wolverines, 

the 
Fighting 

Irish 
converted 

only one of their 
five 
attempts, 

in part due to 
the 
efforts 
of 

redshirt freshman 
goaltender 
Alli 

Kothari.

Making 
her 

second 
career 

start, Kothari recorded a career-
high nine saves. Despite six of the 
nine saves coming in the second 
half, Michigan failed to take 
advantage of her performance in 
the cage.

“For us, this was a great game 

and great learning experience 
from the sense that we’re really 

learning how to play 60 minutes,” 
said Michigan coach Jennifer 
Ulehla. “We played a great 25.”

“I would say our defense 

played an incredible game, our 
goaltender 
especially 
at 
the 

end came up very big. We had 
opportunities to get back in 
the game, and we just lost our 
composure.”

Despite the 0-4 start to 

the season, the team believes 
that as the season progresses, 
improvements will show.

“Again, I think we really did 

grow as a team today and our 
attack did really well from how it 
has been showing the last couple 
weeks,” Breitfeller said. “It’s 
good, we’re showing growth. 
And like I said, playing these 
teams now, further in the season, 
you’re going to see us when we 
go on those runs. And when we 
stop those runs and finish, then 
instead of it being 3-2, it’ll be 
6-2.”

For the first time in program 

history, the Michigan women’s 
lacrosse team (0-3) faced off 
against Notre Dame (4-1) in 
Ann Arbor. And though the 
Wolverines have aspirations 
of being a top team like the 
eighth-ranked Fighting Irish, 
the lopsided outcome — a 12-5 
Notre Dame win — revealed 
Michigan’s most glaring flaw: 
inconsistency.

At the 10-minute mark of 

the first half, the Wolverines 
held a 3-2 lead after scoring 
three straight goals.

“We 
just 
came 
out 

confidently,” said Michigan 
coach Jennifer Ulehla. “We 
were taking care of the draw, 
which is the most important 
thing, and recognizing what 
kind of defense they were 
playing, and we knew exactly 

how to beat it.”

The Wolverines had brief 

stints where both the offense 
and defense were clicking, but 
they could not string together 
60 minutes of consistent play. 
After scoring three straight 
goals against Notre Dame, 
Michigan 
was 
once 
again 

unable to maintain a high 
level of play on both ends of 
the field. A big stop on defense 
would lead to a turnover 
in transition, and a goal on 
offense would be countered by 
a goal from the Fighting Irish.

“We clearly have to work on 

our transition game,” Ulehla 
said, “Coming up with great 
saves and defensive turnovers 
then being able to get the 
ball up the field, especially 
when we start to get fatigued 
— which isn’t an excuse — 
so we gotta work on getting 
the ball up safely and staying 
composed offensively for 60 
minutes.”

Its inconsistent play has 

haunted 
Michigan 
multiple 

times this season. In their 
season opener against Oregon, 
the Wolverines scored three 
straight goals to pull within 
one, 
but 
were 
unable 
to 

continue this level of play and 
eventually fell to the Ducks, 
11-8. 
Despite 
Michigan’s 

troubles early this season, 
finding consistency is exactly 
what a young program like the 
Wolverines needs in order to 
create a winning culture.

“When 
we 
have 
those 

opportunities, we’ll actually 
finish 
in 
the 
future,” 

said 
senior 
attacker 
Allie 

Breitfeller. “I definitely think 
there is a lot of hope for 
our team, and once we start 
clicking all over the field and 
executing consistently, that’s 
when our team is gonna win.”

Once defensive stops are 

converted to goals on the 
offensive end and the brief 
high level of play Michigan has 
flashed early on in the season 
becomes 
a 
normalcy, 
the 

results may turn in its favor.

ZOEY HOLMSTROM/Daily

Michigan coach Jennifer Ulehla’s team has stumbled out of the gate, but she is still confident that the early struggles will become learning experiences.

JORGE CAZARES

For the Daily

The Wolverines are doomed by penalties, outscored 7-2 in second half in 12-5 loss to Notre Dame on Saturday

TIEN LE

For the Daily

“We had 

opportunities 
to get back in 

the game”

Wolverines to host Nebraska on Senior Night 

Four 
years 
ago, 
guards 

Siera Thompson and Danielle 
Williams were new to the No. 25 
Michigan women’s basketball 
team. 

Now, in their final regular 

season game, the two seniors 
will be honored 
before 
the 

contest in the 
midst 
of 
the 

Wolverines’ 
best 
season 

since 
they 

arrived 
in 

Ann 
Arbor. 

Michigan (10-4 
Big Ten, 21-7 
overall) 
will 

face off against 
Nebraska 
(2-12, 
6-20) 

on 
Thursday 

night at Crisler 
Center, where 
the Wolverines 
have lost only 
once all season to Michigan 
State on Feb. 19. 

“Our league is incredibly 

difficult,” said Michigan coach 
Kim Barnes Arico on WTKA. 
“And our last two games back 
to back, we played Indiana and 
Michigan State — who were 
preseason picked to finish third 
in our league. We knew they 
were a great team. Michigan 
State had beaten Ohio State 
earlier in the season by 20, Ohio 
State went and beat Maryland 
last night, who only had one 
loss to (Connecticut) on the 
year.

“So I think we played against 

some quality opponents and 
it was a great test for us, 
preparing us to finish out our 
last few games in the regular 
season and head on into the Big 
Ten Tournament.”

This senior class is special 

to Barnes Arico as it is her first 
recruiting class to graduate 
from Michigan.

Thompson 
has 
appeared 

in 136 games in her career, 
starting 128. She is currently 
second in program history for 
minutes played in her career, 
totaling 4,453 — just 105 behind 
first place. 

Thompson is also currently 

second in career 3-pointers 
(232), second in assists (515) 
and 10th in all-time scoring 
(1,386). 

Williams, meanwhile, has 

played in 112 games, starting 
just 43 and averaging 1.5 points 
per game in 12.7 minutes. While 
the statistics may not show it, 
she is considered a backbone 
of the program, serving as 
co-captain with Thompson for 
the past two seasons. 

As a team, the Wolverines 

reached 10 wins in the Big Ten 
for the first time under Barnes 
Arico. The school record for 
most conference wins is 13, 
impossible for Michigan to 
surpass as it has just two 
more games left in the regular 
season.

However, 
Michigan 
could 

still take third place in the Big 
Ten Tournament with only one 
more win, and has a chance to 
finish third or better within the 
conference for just the fourth 
time ever. 

“It’s definitely an advantage 

and we haven’t been in that 
position, I don’t believe, since 
I’ve been here,” Barnes Arico 
said on WTKA. “I think the 
biggest advantage of it, is that 
your kids get an extra day of 
rest, which at this point in the 
year — we had our bye week 
really early in the season — 
so there is a bunch of teams 
coming off of bye weeks late. … 
I think us getting that double 
bye would really give our team 
an extra day of rest, as well as 

the coaches and the team an 
extra day to prepare. And we 
are at our best when we have 
that time to prepare for our 
opponent and really lock in and 
really focus.”

The Wolverines stayed in the 

Associated Press poll this week, 
marking their third-straight 
week and the fifth appearance 
under Barnes Arico. The USA 
Today Coaches Poll ranked 
Michigan 24th. 

Junior 
guard 
Katelynn 

Flaherty has helped her team 
get to this point, averaging 19.7 
points per game on 44.3 percent 
shooting to date. She currently 
boasts 1,826 total points to rank 
second in all-time scoring at 

Michigan, and is just roughly 
over 200 away from knocking 
Diane Dietz out of first place. 

The 

Cornhuskers 
only have one 
player 
hitting 

double-digits 
on average in 
forward Jessica 
Shepard 
with 

18.4 
points. 

Altogether, 
Nebraska 
averages 
62.1 

points a game 
and allows 75.9 points per 
game. Still, Barnes Arico has 
stressed that Michigan can’t 
take the matchup lightly.

“That’s the thing with the 

bottom of our league,” Barnes 
Arico said on WTKA. “Those 

teams 
are 

continuing 
to 

play 
extremely 

hard, and those 
teams have some 
great players on 
them. 
Nebraska 

is led by Jess 
Shepard, who is 
an 
All-America 

candidate. 
And 
they’re 

still playing. … 

Wisconsin and Nebraska had 
wins this week. You want to talk 
about kind of a letdown — as 
well as Indiana played against 

us 
… 
they 
looked 
nothing 

like the team we played, and 
Nebraska went and beat them.

“Nebraska is coming off a 

great 
win 
against 
Indiana, 

and they will be fired up when 
they come into our place. And I 
think our kids know, by playing 
Wisconsin late, that teams in 
the league are still fighting 
even if they’re down at the 
bottom of the league, and we 
need to be prepared. … We did 
a great job against them the 
first time at their place, but 
that doesn’t mean that they’re 
not a much-improved team and 
they will come in fired up for 
an opportunity to play a ranked 
opponent.”

CLAIRE MEINGAST/Daily

Michigan coach Kim Barnes Arico will see the two members of her first recruiting class play in their final game at Crisler Center on Thursday night.

SYLVANNA GROSS

Daily Sports Editor

Michigan will play its final home game of the season against the Cornhuskers at Crisler Center on Thursday night

Nebraska at 
Michigan

Matchup: 
Michigan 10-4 
Big Ten, 21-7 
overall; Illinois 
2-12, 6-20

When: 
Thursday 
7 P.M. ET

Where: Crisler 
Center

TV/Radio: 

BTN Plus

“Those teams 

are continuing to 

play extremely 

hard”

