The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Sports
Tuesday, October 3, 2017 — 7
So
far
this
season,
the
Michigan women’s soccer team
has had a consistent story —
the Wolverines (2-1-3 Big Ten,
5-2-6 overall) have utilized a
talented crop of freshmen to fill
in the gaps left by a multitude
of injuries. Michigan’s battle
against Nebraska (1-1-2, 7-3-2)
on Sunday was consistent with
this narrative, with one notable
exception.
Fifth-year
senior
Ani
Sarkisian returned.
Sarkisian was the only senior
starter, and one of just three
seniors to earn minutes in the
drag out 110-minute, 1-1 tie.
“It feels like I’ve been out for
a year, but it’s been like a week
and a half,” Sarkisian said.
After a three-game absence
due to injury, Sarkisian resumed
her spot back on the field, but
not in her usual position. The
experienced co-captain had to
make up for other Wolverine
losses on defense in the first
half, before she was moved to a
more familiar midfield position
to start the second.
“I
put
(Sarkisian)
at
centerback,”
said
Michigan
coach Greg Ryan. “She’s played
about 10 minutes of centerback
before today. We were just
trying to find answers.”
But just two minutes into
the second half, after getting
the wind knocked out of her,
Sarkisian stayed down for an
extended period of time. The
game clock paused before she
slowly reached her feet. She
jogged off the blow, but just a
few minutes later, Sarkisian
drew a yellow card. Once
again, she looked slow to get
up. This time, her teammates
capitalized on the free kick,
and redshirt junior forward
Taylor Timko found the back of
the net.
Michigan would not score
again.
“More
than
anything
(having Sarkisian back) gives
us a leader on the field,” Ryan
said. “I think Ani’s presence
was clearly felt by everybody
in the game. If she got the
ball she was calm with it, she
connected us.”
While
the
Wolverines
had scoring difficulties, the
Cornhuskers were also unable
to break the draw, but not for
lack of shooting. Nebraska
ended the double overtime
game with 25 shots, six of
which were saved by freshman
goalkeeper
Hillary
Beall.
Michigan had just nine shots
all match.
With the shaken up defensive
line missing key components
in sophomore Brooke Cilley
and freshman Alia Martin,
Beall needed to perform at her
peak. In the last seconds of the
second overtime, Beall was
forced to jump on a live ball in
the middle of a scrum. She held
on, solidifying the Wolverines’
sixth tie of the season.
“I
have
tremendous
confidence in Hillary,” Ryan
said. “This was a big game for
her, to play against another
real quality opponent and to do
well. We’ve had her in some big
games. We had her against No.1
South Carolina; she played 90
minutes in that game.”
Beall is one of six freshmen
that earned a starting nod for
Michigan. The injuries have
caused players, like Sarkisian,
to learn new roles quickly —
and surprise their coach with
their success.
“We
had
two
freshmen
playing wingback for us today,”
Ryan
said.
“Sam
DeVecchi
hasn’t been out there — I don’t
think she’s ever played there in
her life — and I thought they
both did really well. That’s
been a big bright spot for us.
These freshmen like (Faith
Harper) and (DeVecchi) who
we’ve been able to put into
different spots and they do
really well anytime we put
them anywhere.”
While the Wolverines have
been able to grind out even
matches with a shuffled roster,
they have not been able to push
into winning territory. The
shorter bench is an obvious
obstacle that Michigan may
soon be relieved of.
“I think we’re going to have
at least two more (players) back
next weekend,” Sarkisian said.
“It will be nice to have fresh
legs out there and have people
sub in and out. We weren’t
really able to do that much this
weekend since we didn’t have
as much depth.”
With freshmen proving their
abilities and starters returning
to the lineup, the Wolverines
may soon regain their missing
edge.
It was a low, cannon of a shot off
the laces of redshirt junior forward
Taylor Timko that kept Michigan
in the game. Facing Nebraska (1-1-
2 Big Ten, 7-3-2 overall) at U-M
Soccer Stadium on Sunday, the
Wolverines (2-1-3, 5-2-6) fought in
a hotly-contested brawl, ending in
a 1-1 tie after two, back-and-forth,
sudden-death overtime periods.
On an indirect kick just outside
the 18-yard box, Timko took her
teammate’s tap in stride. The ball
was a bullet, powerful enough to
penetrate the scrum and catapult
itself into the bottom left corner
of the net, evening the match at
one. The goal was not out of the
ordinary for Timko, as it was her
fourth on the season.
Michigan’s formation, though,
was far from the ordinary. Lining
up in a 5-4-1 configuration, the
Wolverines
worked
to
assert
defensive dominance, win the ball,
connect and counter.
And with Nebraska’s attack, a
five-back formation was extremely
beneficial. The Cornhuskers ran a
three-front offense, highlighted by
skillful strikers, all able and willing
to take on their opponents one-on-
one. Often, the outside midfielders
would push up the wing and join
the front line, as well.
“Nebraska is going to have a
go at you,” said Michigan coach
Greg Ryan. “They’re going to take
you on and dribble, and if you
take them on one at a time, you’re
going to get beat. In our formation,
if they beat one, there were two
Wolverines there to deal with
them. And some of our players had
never been in the back before, so it
was all new territory.”
Fifth-year senior Ani Sarkisian,
typically a midfielder or forward,
found herself playing centerback
at the starting whistle.
One reason for Sarkisian’s
appearance in the back five was
the sheer number of defenders
injured. As a two-time captain,
Sarkisian’s presence as a composed
player and a steady leader was
indicative to Michigan’s success.
And
after
a
three-game
absence, Sarkisian’s presence was
felt. In fact, it was the foul she
drew that led to the Wolverines’
lone score.
“Our initial goal as a team is to
not concede any goals,” Sarkisian
said. “If you don’t concede any
goals, it’s easier to get the one that
counts to win the game.”
Unfortunately
for
the
Wolverines, they were the first to
concede a goal. Off a cross from
outside the box, Nebraska forward
Elise Huber finished with a header
to the near post, taking a 1-0 lead
30 minutes into the game.
And though Michigan often
held possession, building slowly
and smartly from the back,
the
Cornhuskers
completely
dominated
the
shot
total,
tallying 25 shots compared to
the Wolverines’ nine. Freshman
goalkeeper Hillary Beall was
a stalwart between the posts,
boasting six saves on the day.
“She’s very steady,” Ryan said.
“It’s hard to get a shot past her,
especially when you’re shooting
from deep.”
Beall only had to make one save
during the 20 minutes of extra
time, though, as her teammates
came out ready to pressure.
“We said anyone can come out
and dictate this game and it was
our opportunity to change our
minds and go out and change to
momentum,” Sarkisian said. “I
think we did. You could see we
were way more up the field and
getting better opportunities. It’s
an in the moment type thing,
and you really only need one
opportunity to create something
and score.”
And though the Wolverines
weren’t able to find one final
opportunity for the win, they left
the pitch with one more point, and
a lot of season to go.
Wolverines go to double overtime once again, settle for another tie
Sarkisian’s return serves as promising sign for Michigan
‘M’ goes with 5-4-1 formation, holds off Nebraska attack
ZOEY HOLMSTROM/Daily
Fifth-year senior midfielder Ani Sarkisian returned as a defender Sunday, helping Michigan with its defensive effort.
KATIE CONKLIN
Daily Sports Writer
MAGGIE KOLCON
Daily Sports Writer
Flanagan, Michigan
shine in South Bend
The
Michigan
men’s
cross country team had an
impressive
showing
Friday
at the Joe Piane Notre Dame
Invitational in South Bend,
finishing fourth in a field that
featured 10 nationally-ranked
teams out of a total of 21.
Leading the way for the
Wolverines
was
fifth-year
senior Ben Flanagan, who
finished 14th out of 177, pacing
the team with a 24:05.0 time
on the five-mile course.
“The
race
was
actually
pretty similar
to one of the
resources
we
have just off
of campus (in)
Rogers Farms,”
Flanagan
said. “I think
we
came
in
kind of with
a little bit of
an
advantage
understanding
what to do on
this
type
of
terrain and (I)
think that ultimately helped
quite a bit.”
The fourth-place finish for
Michigan comes two weeks
after a first-place finish in the
Adidas XC Challenge at North
Carolina State.
This weekend’s invitational
served as an important outing
for a team filled with freshmen
and
other
inexperienced
runners.
“The
thing
that
was
wonderful about NC State and
the Michigan Open starting
things off is it gave guys the
opportunity
to
figure
out
where they stood relative to
other teammates and taught
them how to work together in
a smaller field, and ultimately
run for a very high placing,”
Flanagan
said.
“Whereas
today, it gave us a lot of an
understanding of what races
are like down the road at
national championships and
(the Nuttycombe Wisconsin
Invitational), where there are
a lot of bodies around.”
The
Wolverines
also
received top-50 finishes from
fifth-year
seniors
Connor
Mora and Billy Bund, redshirt
freshman Isaac Harding and
redshirt sophomores Keenan
Rebera and Ben Hill, who
finished 30th, 31st, 35th, 46th
and 47th respectively.
“A lot of it has to do with
just preparation
that
we
put
into this race,”
Flanagan
said.
“Aside from the
championship
portion of the
season,
with
the
Big
Ten
(championship),
regionals
and
nationals,
we
put
a
pretty
good
priority
on this race and
the
Wisconsin
invite
in
two
weeks.”
With momentum building,
the team is putting itself in
position
to
accomplish
its
biggest goal this season: a Big
Ten championship.
“That’s
something
we
decided on very early, and we
believe we’re very capable
of doing (it),” Flanagan said.
“Nationally is a bit of a harder
discussion just because of how
many teams there are and how
chaotic the meets tend to be.”
With the regular season
drawing
to
a
close,
the
Wolverines
will
look
for
a
similar
performance
in
Madison on Oct. 13 when
they face 34 other teams in
the Nuttycombe Wisconsin
Invitational, another marquee
race for the upward-trending
team.
MEN’S CROSS COUNTRY
EFE EDEVBIE
Daily Sports Writer
The race was
actually pretty
similar to one
of the resources
we have just off
of campus (in)
Rogers Farms.
Harbaugh makes splash at Water Carnival
Michigan
football
coach
Jim Harbaugh stayed busy
during
the
football
team’s
bye week when he dove into
the pool during the Michigan
swimming and diving teams’
Water Carnival event.
Always
the
showman,
Harbaugh
had
agreed
to
be a judge for a cannonball
competition
but
was
then
baited into diving himself —
stepping onto the platform
donning his iconic pair of
khakis and a Michigan hat
before executing a near-perfect
can-opener dive into the pool.
The crowd went wild, as tweets
from sports publications across
the country started pouring
out
regarding
Harbaugh’s
fully-clothed descent into the
pool.
“That was just Jim,” said
Michigan men’s and women’s
swimming and diving coach
Mike Bottom. “Jim and I have
a great relationship — so that
was like a bait, and he took it,
and he took it to the next level.”
Harbaugh did indeed take it
to the next level, both literally
and figuratively, as he executed
the dive from the five-meter
diving board. The cannonball
competition
that
Harbaugh
was judging was between a
group of head coaches around
the athletic department who
were jumping off the one-
meter board.
The dive took place during
the Michigan Water Carnival, a
fun-filled swim meet between
the Michigan, Oakland and
Calvin swimming and diving
teams. This carnival-themed
meet included a wide array of
unorthodox events including
the 300-yard butterfly with
fins and the 25-yard freestyle
knockout.
The
freestyle
knockout
was the most intense race of
the day as swimmers went
head-to-head in this unique
competition. The event was
structured
so
that
eight
swimmers began the race each
swimming a 25-yard distance.
Then, the slowest of the eight
was
eliminated,
reducing
the competition by one. This
process was repeated until
only one swimmer remained
and earned bragging rights
around the locker room.
With
each
swimmer
eliminated,
the
noise
level
increased as the crowd itched
to see who would be crowned
the winner. Eventually, it was
Junior Catie DeLoof who won
the women’s knockout and senior
Paul Powers who won the men’s.
The rest of the meet was
just as wild as former longtime
diving coach Dick Kimball led
a clown-themed diving show
while other events were being
conducted. The show featured
members
of
the
Michigan
diving team, as they completed
intricate
dives
including
leap frogs, belly flops and
even a dive off a bicycle. All
of the divers were wearing
carnival-themed costumes and
many were utilizing unique
props such as umbrellas and
streamers.
While this event was just
for kicks, the Wolverines still
exhibited
incredible
talent,
winning every single event
except for the final mixed
400-yard freestyle relay, an
event they lost by nine one-
hundredths of a second.
This is the first time that
Michigan
has
hosted
the
carnival in four years due to
negotiations with Kimball over
his eccentric dives.
“Dick was going off the 10
meter without his hands and
landing on his head, and I said
we can’t do this anymore,”
Bottom said. “The pool’s named
after him, so I can’t tell him
what to do — so we couldn’t do
it until he agreed not to do the
dive.”
Thankfully, Kimball agreed
and the Water Carnival is
now back in the Canham
Natatorium for all to enjoy.
“We had so much fun, I think
we’re gonna be calling for it
every year now,” said junior
Becca Postoll. “It’s good fun,
and you don’t get to do stuff
like this all the time.”
FILE PHOTO/Daily
Michigan coach Mike Bottom held the Michigan Water Carnival on Saturday.
JACOB KOPNICK
Daily Sports Writer