Tuesday, September 4, 2018 — 5B The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com SportsTuesday Field hockey splits against UMass and UConn Maggie Bettez had Friday’s game circled on her calendar for two years. The senior midfielder is originally from Acton, Mass., but the Michigan field hockey team hadn’t played in her home state during her college career until this past weekend. Her friends and family came out to cheer her on, a moment she won’t soon forget. And the game didn’t disappoint, either. The fifth- ranked Wolverines (1-3 overall) picked up their first win of the season against Massachusetts (2-2), commanding the game from the start in a 5-0 victory. Despite not scoring until the 25th minute — when senior forward Emma Way launched a reverse shot that found the back of the cage — Michigan smothered the Minutewomen. Massachusetts had just two shots the entire game and failed to draw a single penalty corner. The Wolverines complemented that defense with an offensive onslaught. Sophomore back Halle O’Neill and senior back Regan Leavitt both scored goals after corners. Junior forward Meg Dowthwaite tallied her first goal of the season late in the first half and Way added to the tally early in the second. “The first four games this year were all very challenging and we’ve been knocking on the doorstep of winning for the whole year so far,” Bettez said. “So to get the first win was … a confidence booster and it came at a good time for us.” The victory came just in time for the Wolverines’ Sunday matchup with No. 1 Connecticut (4-0), the reigning national champion. But Michigan wasn’t fazed by the top competition. Though they lost, 2-1, the Wolverines used their underdog status to take risks with their game, several of which paid off. “We wanted to go right at them,” Bettez said. “We played confident rather than worrying about each little play.” When Way stole the ball from a Husky defender and punched it in the goal less than five minutes into the game, it only bolstered that confidence. At first, Michigan was able to fend off Connecticut’s relentless pressure. Freshman goalkeeper Anna Spieker made 11 saves and the corner defense kept the Huskies from scoring on their first eight penalty opportunities. “(Spieker) made some really key saves,” said Michigan coach Marcia Pankratz. “Made some wonderful decisions back there, just played with a lot of confidence, so I think that helps our defense feel confident.” But early in the second half, the Huskies evened the score on a rebound after a save and scored the winning goal off a penalty corner with 10 minutes remaining. Michigan could only manage a lone corner and one shot on goal the entire period. The Wolverines scored first and led for over half the game, but Connecticut dominated possession throughout. That was the dichotomy that made Michigan’s loss seem at once a disappointment and an inevitability. “We took a lot away that we can build on,” Bettez said. “… Playing a full 70 minutes. We have spurts of fantastic play (but) it’s important to be consistent for the entire game.” Michigan shut out by Wake Forest on road The ball sailed from the corner towards the center of the scrum, right to the waiting Janiece Joyner. The freshman defender leaped into the air to head the ball into the goal in the 22nd minute. But the ball went wide of the net by mere inches, and the Michigan women’s soccer team’s chance at scoring was gone. The rest of the game proved barren for the Wolverines, as they lost to Wake Forest, 4-0, on Thursday. “Disappointed in the result tonight,” said Michigan coach Jennifer Klein in a statement, the only comment provided after the loss. “Never a good feeling to lose but hopefully this game is a moment for us as a team to regroup, refocus and improve in our areas of weakness. This will make us better.” For the first 26 minutes, the game appeared to be evenly matched. Neither the Wolverines nor the Demon Deacons were generating scoring chances — Michigan had no shots to Wake Forest’s one. But when the Demon Deacons scored their first goal, the floodgates opened. In the 26th minute, fifth- year senior forward Taylor Timko defended Wake Forest’s Estelle Laurier in the top corner of the field, trying to prevent her from getting a shot on goal. Laurier was able to sneak past Timko and found her teammate — forward Ryanne Brown — for the finish into the net. Fifty-five seconds later, the Demon Deacons scored again — this time, Laurier found twine from 10 yards out. The Wolverines regained possession and charged down the field but were caught offsides. In total, Michigan was offsides seven times throughout the game — including five in the first half. It could have been a sign of an offense trying to gain some momentum and pushing just a bit too fast, but it could also be symptomatic of a young team trying to find footing in its first road game of the year. The Wolverines’ starting 11 included four sophomores and a freshman — already a fairly young lineup. But Michigan’s youth showed further, as it substituted in a total of eight players. Four of the eight subs were freshmen and just one — redshirt junior Katie Foug — was an upperclassman. The frequent substitutions by Klein show signs that the young team isn’t settled yet. The offense visibly lacked chemistry, with passes frequently missing the intended target. It took until late in the second half for the Wolverines to penetrate the Wake Forest defense and create real chances to score. By then, the Demon Deacons’ four-goal lead was insurmountable. Given Michigan’s inexpereince, it may take time for it to build chemistry and find its stride — just as it showed in Thursday’s loss. FILE PHOTO/Daily Senior forward Emma Way scored a goal in the 25th minute of Michigan’s first win of the season against Massachusetts on Friday night, a 5-0 victory. The rest of the game proved barren for the Wolverines. BAILEY JOHNSON Daily Sports Writer ARIA GERSON Daily Sports Writer “The first four games this year were all very challenging.” WOMEN’S SOCCER