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SportsMonday
Monday, November 13, 2017 — 3B

Wolverines top Northwestern, clinch spot in Final Four

“Magical.”
That was the word Michigan 

coach Marcia Pankratz used to 
describe junior forward Emma 
Way after her hat trick led the 
Wolverines to a 3-0 win over 
Northwestern in the NCAA 
Tournament quarterfinals.

From 
the 
beginning, 

Michigan seemed to have the 
Wildcats under its spell.

The 
Wolverines 
fought 

off 
Northwestern’s 
early 

possession lead and took the 
ball down the field. Way tipped 
in a diagonal pass from fifth-
year 
senior forward 
Carly 

Bennett for her first goal.

“Attacking-wise we could 

take 
a 
couple 
more 
risks 

(after the goal),” said senior 
goalkeeper Sam Swenson. “So 
it was a nice little cushion.”

One of those risks was in 

Michigan’s 
passing. 
After 

having the majority of their 
passes blocked by Syracuse’s 
defense in the round of 16, 
the Wolverines found more 
success Sunday through their 
triangular passing formation. 
Senior back Katie Trombetta 
stood directly in front of 
Swenson to receive passes 
when other players weren’t 
open.

“Since we’ve played (the 

Wildcats) three times now, we 
had an idea of what they do on 
their breakout,” Way said. “We 
did a very good job of stepping 
in front of every ball that was 
passed to us.”

Four 
minutes 
into 
the 

second half, Way did just that, 
positioning herself well for 
freshman 
midfielder 
Kayla 

Reed’s pass. She knocked it in 
the cage to extend the lead to 
2-0.

Way’s 
third 
goal 
was 

perhaps the most impressive 

of all, as she dove to receive 
a pass, then tipped the ball 
right through Northwestern 
goalkeeper Annie Kalfa’s legs.

“She has magical hands, and 

it was evident today,” Pankratz 
said. “We needed it.”

But the Wildcats weren’t 

letting up easily. They put the 
Wolverines’ defense to the test 
by drawing three consecutive 
penalty corners. After the 
first two shots were blocked, 
Northwestern 
attempted 
a 

direct shot. Swenson, though, 
was there to make the save.

“Our 
corner 
(defense) 

executed 
really 
well,” 

Swenson said. “We’re really 
focused because they are very 
dangerous on corners.”

The Wildcats’ speed wasn’t 

a problem for the Wolverines. 
They 
knew 
Northwestern’s 

strategy was to play quickly, 
and they were prepared.

A 
quick 
shot 
by 

Northwestern 
midfielder 

Kaitlin Wood looked like a 
surefire goal, but Swenson 
made it there first, using her 
leg to block the shot.

“The final foray at the end, 

(the defense) managed it really 
well,” 
Swenson 
said. 
“We 

weathered the storm.”

One 
final 
blocked 
shot 

sealed the win and a spot in the 
Final Four against Maryland.

“I’m so excited,” Swenson 

said. “I think we can do special 
things.”

Maybe 
it 
was 
time 
for 

Michigan to save Sam Swenson 
for once, instead of the other way 
around.

As the active NCAA leader in 

career save percentage — both 
this year and for her career— the 
senior goalkeeper has bailed out 
the Wolverines time and time 
again. Swenson stands on top 
of one mountain of success. But 
she’s looking at a higher one: an 
NCAA Championship.

Before Saturday’s 1-0 overtime 

win against Syracuse, Michigan 
only had one NCAA Tournament 
win during Swenson’s tenure— a 
2-1 win over Wake Forest in 2015. 

Even that year, Michigan lost its 
next game, 1-0 to No. 2 North 
Carolina.

“It 
means 
everything,” 

Swenson said. “I mean we had a 
close chance a couple years ago, 
so to finally do that it feels really 
great. We have a really special 
team, so it’s really extra nice to 
do it with them this year.”

With time expiring in the 

first half, Syracuse was in prime 
position to score the first goal of a 
gritty, defensive game off a corner. 
As the Orange lobbed a 45-degree 
shot toward the right side of the 
goal, Swenson stretched out her 
leg and deflected the shot outside 
the right post with her shin pad.

Eight 
minutes 
later, 
the 

goalkeeper stopped a Syracuse 

shot cold in its tracks inches 
away from the goal. Regardless, 
Swenson deferred praise of the 
Wolverines’ defensive prowess 
Saturday afternoon to Michigan’s 
back line and the rest of her 
teammates.

“Our back line is incredible,” 

Swenson said. “But really, the 
back line starts with the forwards 
and the forwards did a great job 
of keeping the ball pressed up 
high. Especially when there were 
corner balls, we almost always 
turned it over.”

“We put a lot of pressure on 

them if they messed it up because 
they put that pressure on our 
backfield. And we were there to 
pick it up. Katie (Trombetta) did 
a great job today, and Maggie 
(Bettez) and Halle (O’Neill) also 
did.”

Swenson 
didn’t 
have 
to 

shoulder the load after that. 
Syracuse 
didn’t 
even 
take 

another 
shot 
on 
goal 
after 

45-minute mark, as the back line 
of the junior and freshman duo of 
Bettez and O’Neill walled off the 
Orange’s attackers.

The senior goalkeeper got to 

do something that she hadn’t 
been able to do before: watch her 
offense work. Swenson noted 
after the game how happy she 
was to see the offense close out 
the game after 77 minutes of 
strong defense.

“I felt like it was gonna come,” 

Swenson said. “I think we were 
really patient, we worked it 
around the back, and then Meg 
(Dowthwaite) obviously tipped 
it in. It was a great goal and I felt 
like we deserved it, and obviously, 
I was really excited, I don’t think 
I’ve ever run so fast down the 
field. So, yeah, really excited and 
proud of them to finish. They 
deserved it.”

Swenson, for her defensive 

prowess 
throughout 
her 

Wolverine tenure, deserved it 
too.

RYAN MCLOUGHLIN/Daily

Junior forward Emma Way scored three goals Sunday afternoon, helping the Wolverines defeat Northwestern and advance to the Final Four of the NCAA Tournament. 

RIAN RATNAVALE

For the Daily

ARIA GERSON
Daily Sports Writer

Way’s hat trick leads Michigan past Wildcats
Swenson keeps ‘M’ afloat, gets deserving win

‘M’ tops Liberty behind stout defensive effort

Katelynn Flaherty snaked 

around the top of the key, 
stopped on a dime and rattled 
the shot. Up on the Crisler 
Center scoreboard, a graphic 
flashed: nine points to go.

Alas, this was not the day 

Flaherty would break Diane 
Dietz’s 
all-time 
scoring 

record. Those were her last 
points of the day. Hold the 
countdown, at least for now.

“I forgot about the record,” 

joked Michigan coach Kim 
Barnes Arico after the game. 
“And then when I took her 
out of the game, someone 
had mentioned to me how 
many points away she was. 
Obviously we knew coming 
into the year Katelynn was 
going to set the record. She’s 
just such a tremendous player. 
But my concern with Katelynn 
right now is making sure she’s 
rested, making sure she has a 
tremendous season, making 
sure she stays injury free.”

Still, the No. 24 Michigan 

women’s 
basketball 
team 

dominated 
Liberty 
from 

start 
to 
finish 
Sunday, 

winning 74-50 and moving 
on to the preseason WNIT 
semifinals against the winner 
of Louisville and Toledo’s 
matchup Tuesday.

Flaherty’s pursuit of the 

record 
will 
be 
made 
the 

story of this game, but the 
Wolverines’ 
defense 
was 

what 
won 

it 
so 
easily. 

Michigan 
— 
which 

normally plays 
a 
2-3 
zone 

— went to a 
press 
toward 

the end of the 
first 
quarter. 

The 
results 

were 
almost 

immediate. 
Right 
at 

the 
start 
of 

the 
second, 

sophomore 
forward Kayla Robbins picked 
up a deflection, leading to 
a 
10-second 
violation 
on 

Liberty. Just seconds later, 
freshman guard Deja Church 
stole 
the 
ball 
away 
with 

the Lady Flames still in the 
backcourt and laid it up. The 
rout was on.

“Coach Wes (Brooks), it 

was his scout. That was his 
gameplan,” 
Barnes 
Arico 

said. “He thought that if we 
pressured them and made 
them speed up a little bit, it 
would play into our hands. 
That was his call after the 
scout. It was a great call.”

By 
halftime, 

the 
Wolverines 

were up by 20. 
When the third 
quarter 
ended, 

the 
margin 

was 
27. 
When 

the 
final 
horn 

sounded, 
the 

score was 74-50 
and the game not 
as close as that.

Michigan 

forced 17 Liberty 
turnovers, most 
of 
them 
with 

the press. Other 

than freshman forward Hailey 
Brown, 
every 
Wolverine 

starter had at least one steal. 
Even when the Lady Flames 
got it down the court, they 
were near-hapless most of the 
time. When Liberty managed 
to find open shooters, the ball 
seemed to hit air more often 

than net.

In 
addition 
to 
scoring 

20, Flaherty picked up five 
assists. For this being just 
her second ever start at point 
guard, the senior seems to 
be an adept learner. She did 
everything 
from 
beating 

Liberty’s press by finding 
Hallie Thome downcourt for 
a layup to snaking in and out 
of the paint, opening up junior 
guard Nicole Munger for a 
3-pointer.

Munger finished with 13 

points of her own on 3-for-5 
shooting from beyond the arc. 
She also had three steals and 
thrived in the press, picking 
up deflection after deflection 
as the game went on. Michigan 
finished with 26 points off 
turnovers, a good portion of 
those thanks to her.

Sophomore guard Akienreh 

Johnson also saw her first 
extended time on the court 
after suffering an ACL injury 
last season. She came in at the 
start of the second quarter, 
however, didn’t get her name 
on the statsheet until the end 
of the half. Munger nearly 
lost the ball after stealing it 
away from the Lady Flames. 
Johnson, however, took it 
right back and ran down the 
remainder of the court for an 
easy lay-in. Though Johnson 
played only a minute in the 
Wolverines’ opener, the 15 she 
had Sunday were a step-up 
from than the feeling-out time 
she had previously.

“It was just great to see her 

out there,” Barnes Arico said. 
“She’s worked incredibly hard 
and she’s had some setbacks. 
To watch her battle back, and 
her perseverance, was just 
inspirational to us all.”

In all likelihood, Michigan 

will get its first big test of 
the year Thursday. Louisville 
— their opponents barring a 
massive upset — is the ninth-
ranked team in the country, 
and Michigan will go on the 
road to play them.

However, the Wolverines 

have passed their first two 
tests, and done so with flying 
colors.

ETHAN SEARS
Daily Sports Writer

MAX KUANG/Daily

Senior guard Katelynn Flaherty came nine points shy of becoming Michigan’s all-time leading scorer Sunday afternoon.

He thought that 
if we pressured 
them and made 
them speed up a 
little bit, it would 

play into our 

hands.

MEN’S SOCCER
Wolverines falter in 
Big Ten Tournament

One whistle blew, Michigan 

forward 
Francis 
Atuahene 

restarted the match after a 
fourth Wisconsin goal, and 
a second later, three more 
sounded, signaling the end of 
the top-seeded Wolverines’ Big 
Ten Tournament dream run.

Moments earlier, Wisconsin 

forward Alex Alfaro had put the 
final dagger in a disappointing 
afternoon for the Michigan 
men’s soccer team, as his goal 
with one second remaining put 
the Badgers up 4-0.

Michigan’s hopes of a Big 

Ten Tournament title took its 
largest blow with 15 minutes 
remaining. With the Wolverines 
dominating 
possession 
but 

trailing 1-0, a bad back pass 
from Wisconsin put freshman 
forward 
Mohammed 
Zakyi 

through on goal with a chance 
to equalize.

A great save from keeper 

Philipp Schilling saw the ball 
fall to a Wisconsin defender, 
who played a long ball over the 
top to forward Chris Mueller. 
Mueller cut past two Michigan 
defenders 
and 
finished 
to 

the far post — all but sealing 
the Badgers’ victory, merely 
seconds after it looked like 
their lead was finally going to 
fall.

“We thought that was the 

equalizer,” 
said 
Michigan 

coach Chaka Daley. “Then off 
of that, they came straight back 
on top of us and we lost a little 
bit of focus and they scored off 
that play. … (It) definitely took 
the wind out of our sails a little 
bit.”

Wisconsin 
opened 
the 

scoring 29 minutes into the 
match when a cross fell loose 
in the box after a Badger striker 
landed on top of freshman 
goalkeeper Henry Mashburn. 
The 
opportunity 
didn’t 
go 

wasted, as the ball was slotted 
home with Mashburn still lying 
hopelessly on the ground.

Mashburn 
found 
himself 

on the ground again for the 
Badgers’ third goal, as he 
slipped while taking a free 
kick, ultimately allowing Tom 
Barlow to finish into an empty 
net.

Despite 
the 
loss, 
the 

12th-ranked Wolverines have 
a favorable chance to make the 
NCAA Tournament for the first 
time since 2012, especially given 
their regular season conference 
title. But they still must await 
the 
selection 
committee’s 

decision on whether they have 
done enough to earn one of 16 
first-round byes.

“We 
have 
some 
top 
25 

results, big wins,” Daley said. 
“We’re in a great position to be 
in the NCAA Tournament so 
whether or not we’re in the first 
round or we get a bye, I think 
that’s what we were trying to 
cement today.”

In order to make its impact 

felt 
in 
the 
tournament, 

Michigan will have to re-group 
from what was its first loss since 
Oct. 10 and most lopsided loss 
of the season. Daley, though, 
isn’t concerned.

“I’m 
confident 
that 
the 

guys will regroup from the 
(Big Ten Tournament),” Daley 
said, “which was a little bit 
of a disappointment, and get 
our minds right for the NCAA 
Tournament, 
which 
is 
the 

ultimate prize.”

And 
while 
Friday 
may 

have been a let down for the 
red-hot Wolverines, Daley is 
determined to not let his team 
lose the focus that led them 
to his most successful regular 
season in Ann Arbor.

“I’m positive that the group 

will be re-invigorated.” Daley 
said. “It’s exhausting to go 
through the regular season and 
win the title the way we won, 
which is something new for 
them. … A loss at the end of the 
season on a neutral site doesn’t 
necessarily 
distinguish 
our 

body of work, which has been 
really, really good.”

THEO MACKIE

For the Daily

