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