The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
SportsMonday
 Monday, September 10, 2018 — 3B

Wolverines move to 9-0 thanks to Jones

Michigan up 24-23 in the 
third set against Colorado 
State, 
Wolverines’ 
senior 
libero Jenna Lerg received 
the Rams’ serve as the fans 
chanted “Let’s.” Junior middle 
blocker 
MacKenzi 
Welsh 
was next in line and set the 
ball as “Go” echoed through 
the arena. On the other end 
of Welsh’s set was freshman 
outside hitter Paige Jones, 
who promptly spiked the ball 
for the final point of the set as 
the crowd yelled “Blue!!!” 
In Michigan’s final match 
of the Michigan Challenge, 
the 
Wolverines 
(9-0) 
took 
care of Colorado State (6-3) 
in three sets, 25-21, 25-23 
and 25-18, behind a dominant 
performance by Jones. In her 
best showing of the young 
season, the freshman notched 
25 points with 18 kills and 
seven 
aces, 
including 
an 
impressive six aces in the 
first set alone. Senior Carly 
Skojdt and redshirt junior 
Cori 
Crocker 
contributed 
seven-and-a-half 
and 
eight 
points respectively, but the 
upperclassmen stood back as 
Jones had her moment.
“Even when we didn’t have 
balance, this all-star right here 
just kinda took care of the ball, 
which is really not normal for 
our team, but she like blew it 
out,” Crocker said of Jones. 
“Even when we were balanced 
… she took care of the ball 
wherever she was.” 
After a back and forth affair 
early in the first set and with 
Michigan down 13-10, Jones 
delivered a ferocious spike 
right in the center of several 
Rams players to help ignite a 
seven-point run. Two serves 
later, she would follow up 
with back-to-back aces before 
adding yet another ace to take 
a 17-13 lead all during the 
seven-point stretch. 
Colorado State tried to inch 

its way back into the set, but 
was never able to fully close 
the gap as, of course, Jones 
nailed her sixth ace to win the 
set. 
“In the first play they get us 
out of system, they set the ball 
to Paige out of system and she 
bangs the ball off of the hands 
for a kill and I was just like 
‘Way to follow directions!’ ” 
Wolverines coach Mark Rosen 
said. “I thought that was a 
great approach and I think 
that set the tone for the rest 
of the team because they were 
like ‘Hey, that’s what we’re 
supposed to do and it worked.’ 
“The more aggressive we 
were in the first game, the 
more we were paid for it. I 
think that summed up (Jones’) 
match, it’s just how she started 
it really set the tone.”
The second set was also 
highly competitive. This time, 
however, Michigan did not put 
together any big scoring run 
and did not fully pull ahead 
until the very end of the set. 

Up 23-20, the Wolverines 
looked poised to put the set 
away. Two Jones mistakes 
gave the Rams life. But that 
was extinguished by a Crocker 
kill before Skodjt finished off 
the set for good. 
“I think that one of the 
things about tonight’s game 
is that, for the first time, we 
came out not on our right 
foot,” 
Crocker 
said. 
“We 
started out, we seemed a little 
bit timid or whatever emotions 
I think kind of got the best of 
us for a little bit in the first set. 
That’s the first time that it’s 
happened this (season), that 
that struggle has kind of hit us 
and we battled back.”
After close first and second 
sets 
Michigan 
flipped 
a 
switch before the third, and 
ultimately final, set.
The 
Wolverines 
scored 
the first point of the set on a 
service error by Colorado State 
and did not relinquish the lead 
from that moment on. Sparked 
by an early four-point run, 

Michigan took a 10-5 lead and 
dominated the rest of the set. 
“Our team did a great job 
of once we got them a little on 
their heels in that third set, 
we jumped on them pretty 
well and that (made) life a 
lot easier,” Rosen said. “I just 
thought that we did a great 
job.”
Going 
forward, 
the 
Wolverines know they cannot 
rely on these types of stellar 
performances 
from 
Jones 
alone and must play a complete 
team game. Rosen, Crocker 
and Jones, though, are not 
concerned, as they claim the 
depth of the team means that 
anyone can step up on any day. 
“Sometimes you just have 
your night,” Jones said on her 
performance. 
“Sometimes 
it’s me, sometimes it’s Cori, 
sometimes it’s Carly. I just 
think that’s the great thing 
about this team, that if one 
person can’t perform, there’s 
another person that’s gonna 
step up.”

Emma Way nets two 
game-winners for ‘M’

Maybe it was a coincidence or 
maybe it was fate.
One minute and 47 seconds into 
overtime, senior forward Emma 
Way scored the game-winning 
goal — on Friday against Pacific 
(3-3 overall) and then again on 
Sunday against Monmouth (2-4).
To the second.
And the timing of the golden 
goals wasn’t the only similarity 
between the two games. Both 
times, the Michigan field hockey 
team (3-3) dominated possession for 
most of the contest, but struggled to 
finish its opportunities. Both times, 
it went to overtime tied 1-1. And 
both times, Way put the team on 
her back and carried it to victory 
anyway.
Early in the second half against 
the Tigers, senior back Regan 
Leavitt took a penalty corner — the 
Wolverines’ seventh of the game. 
She passed the ball to freshman 
midfielder Kathryn Peterson, who 
passed it to Way, who connected, 
finally, with a successful shot.
The dearth of early goals hadn’t 
been for lack of trying, though. 
The seventh-ranked Wolverines 
dominated possession throughout. 
With the exception of one period 
with 
three 
straight 
penalty 
corners 
by 
Pacific, 
Michigan 
constantly had the ball in the 
Tigers’ territory. However, the 
Wolverines’ execution was never 
quite right, and their shots were 
blocked or saved.
The 
second 
half 
was, 
by 
and large, more of the same. 
Michigan drew several corners, 
forced turnovers and stifled any 
possession by Pacific. For a time, it 
seemed as if the Wolverines’ early 
score would hold, but seconds 
after a timeout 25 minutes into the 
period, the Tigers tipped a shot in 
from the right sideline, and just 
like that the score was tied.
It took until overtime — when 

Way intercepted an errant pass in 
the Bears’ territory and took it to 
the goal — for Michigan to finally 
secure the win.
“I 
knew 
the 
second 
she 
intercepted the ball she was 
gonna score,” said Michigan coach 
Marcia Pankratz. “ … She’s very 
dangerous.”
On Sunday, the script was nearly 
identical. 
Early 
opportunities 
dissolved with the Wolverines’ 
inability to finish. The Hawks 
scored first on a tip in from the left 
post late in the first half. Despite 
going into halftime with 11 shots 
and four corners to Monmouth’s 
two 
and 
three, 
respectively, 
Michigan was down 1-0.
But 
in 
the 
second 
half, 
Dowthwaite intercepted a pass 
and 
drew 
a 
penalty 
stroke. 
Sophomore midfielder Kayla Reed 
took the direct shot and connected 
for the equalizer. But again, despite 
commanding the possession, the 
Wolverines failed to score for the 
rest of the game.
“A goal really lifts the intensity 
of the team and the momentum 
of the team, so it really flipped it 
around,” Reed said. “I think after 
that, we kind of all hyped up a lot 
more and had a lot more scoring 
opportunities, but unfortunately 
we couldn’t put them away.”
Then came overtime, and after 
a green card on a Hawks player, 
Michigan drew a corner. Way’s 
shot found the left corner of the 
cage with 8:17 remaining in the 
period — the exact same game 
time she had scored the game-
winner against Pacific.
On a weekend when not much 
was going right for the Wolverines, 
Way came through again and 
again, and as the players mobbed 
her after the game, the missed 
chances were all but forgotten.
“We’re really calm, we know 
what we’re doing, we have the set 
game plan, and I believe in all their 
skills,” Reed said. “When it comes 
to overtime, I’m real confident.”

Wolverines dominate 
Central Michigan, 6-1

In the 70th minute, Central 
Michigan forward Lexi Pelafas 
sprinted down the right side to 
receive a through ball near the 
box. Pelafas was in a foot race 
with her defender, but used 
her physicality to shrug off 
the opponent and win the ball. 
Staring straight at the keeper, 
she hammered a shot off the 
inside of the left post and into 
the back of the net.
It was a display of quality 
football, but it was too little, too 
late. The Chippewas’ (1-5) late-
game score was their sole shot 
on goal. The Michigan women’s 
soccer 
team 
had 
already 
notched all six of its goals in a 
6-1 victory Friday evening.
The 
Wolverines 
(4-3) 
dominated possession from the 
opening whistle and used give-
and-go passes to expose holes 
in Central Michigan’s sloppy 
defense. This spurred scoring 
chances for Michigan, who 
finished with 10 shots on goal.
“It’s just something that 
we’re constantly working on, 
and looking to have numbers 
and support around the ball 
and I think we just really got 
on the same page, and it just 
showed,” said Michigan coach 
Jennifer Klein. “I think we 
dictated play right away, and it 
allowed for us to get into a good 
rhythm.”
The Wolverines’ back line 
faced limited pressure due to 
the Chippewas’ slow play and 
failure to attack open space on 
offense.
Just over five minutes into 
the game, senior forward Reilly 
Martin settled the ball at her 
feet in the goal box. Martin 
broke away from her defender 
and found a gap to the right 
before hitting the bottom left 
corner to put her team up 1-0. 
This was the opening of the 
floodgates.
Then the flood came full 
force, starting in the 14th 
minute 
with 
sophomore 

midfielders Nicki Hernandez 
and 
Sarah 
Stratigakis. 
Hernandez kicked a pass into 
a crowded box to Stratigakis, 
who sent the ball past the 
keeper into the bottom right 
corner.
Less than a minute later, 
Hernandez 
came 
back 
in 
action. But this time, she found 
the netting herself — off a ball 
from Martin — to put Michigan 
up 3-0.
The 
flood 
continued 
throughout the first half as 
Martin blasted one into the top 
right corner in the 17th minute 
for her second goal of the night, 
off a pass from Hernandez. 
And then in the 26th minute, 
freshman 
forward 
Sammi 
Atterbury 
scored 
following 
a smart through ball from 
freshman midfielder Raleigh 
Loughman.
The second half was much 
less eventful for the Wolverines. 
They continued to control the 
game but only scored once, 
in the 64th minute, when 
Stratigakis delivered a through 
ball to Hernandez who blasted 
one off the keeper’s hands and 
into the twine to finish with 
a stellar two goals and two 
assists.
“Overall just really happy 
with the result that we were 
able to get, for our last game 
of 
non-conference,” 
Klein 
said. “You know, it’s been a 
journey and a process for our 
non-conference games and we 
really felt like we learned a lot 
and we put ourselves in good 
position heading into Big Ten.”
Michigan’s sizable victory 
will 
certainly 
serve 
as 
a 
confidence booster, but for a 
team heading into conference 
play just barely holding a 
winning record, there is always 
room for improvement.
And Klein is fixated on 
shutting out opponents as an 
area to work on.
“I was disappointed in giving 
up a goal,” Klein said. “Our 
focus going into the game was 
to have a clean sheet.”

Michigan survives second half collapse vs. WMU

As the ball was played out 
from a crowded midfield to 
Jack Hallahan on the wing, 
a collective fervor resonated 
throughout 
the 
stadium. 
Spectators 
stood 
up 
in 
anticipation. All eyes were 
glued on the movements of 
the 
junior 
forward. 
After 
cutting 
back 
and 
getting 
the ball onto 
his right foot, 
Hallahan 
whipped 
a 
cross 
into 
the box. And 
there to meet 
it was senior 
midfielder 
Ivo 
Cerda, 
who sent the 
perfectly 
placed ball into the net.

“Thank God it went in,” 
Cerda said. “After that it was 
just madness.”
The 
goal 
clinched 
a 
3-2 overtime win for the 
Wolverines 
(3-1-0) 
over 
in-state 
rival 
Western 
Michigan 
(1-4). 
The 
pandemonium 
that 
ensued 
within 
the 
Michigan 
Soccer Stadium, as both the 
Michigan players and the 
student section stormed the 
field, can be summed as Cerda 
said — madness.
“We don’t win that game 
without 
the 
fans,” 
said 
Michigan 
coach 
Chaka 
Daley. “At the end of the 
day, you don’t find a way to 
win those games if you don’t 
have the tremendous support 
of the Michigan Ultras, the 
Michigan student body and 
our local community.”
A game which ended up 
being highly contested in 
the end was far from it in the 
first half. The Wolverines 
dominated, both offensively 
and defensively.
Sophomore forward Umar 
Farouk 
Osman 
caused 
all 
sorts of problems for the 

Bronco defense, using his 
speed to his advantage down 
the wings. Within 14 minutes, 
Osman was already on the 
scoresheet.
Michigan missed several 
opportunities in the first half 
to extend its lead though. 
Osman and fellow Ghanan 
native, 
sophomore 
striker 
Mohammed Zakyi, combined 
multiple times in the first 
half to no avail, 
as their final few 
touches let them 
down.
Fortunately 
for 
the 
Wolverines, the 
defense led by 
senior 
Daniel 
Mukuna 
and 
sophomore 
Jackson 
Ragen 
kept 
things 
tight at the back 
despite 
Western 
Michigan 
continually 
lofting 
balls 
into the box. Ragen even 
capitalized on a set piece to 
double Michigan’s lead early 
in the second half.
But as the game grew more 
chippy, the pace and quality of 
the Wolverines’ play seemed 

to 
subside 
substantially. 
The Broncos clawed their 
way back into the game as 
a result. The breakthrough 
came in the 72nd minute as a 
ball was played in behind the 
Michigan defense and slotted 
past 
charging 
sophomore 
goalkeeper Henry Mashburn.
With 
the 
momentum 
clearly having shifted, the 
Broncos scored again within 
10 minutes to 
tie the game at 
2-2.
“They 
just 
put the ball up 
and it’s tough 
when you face 
50 balls inside 
the 
box,” 
Cerda 
said. 
“It’s not easy. 
Our back four 
did very well 
but some dip 
in concentration and focus 
let in the first goal and after 
that went in they had the 
momentum. They say 2-0 is 
the most dangerous lead in 
soccer.”
What 
looked 
like 
a 
comfortable outing for the 
Wolverines was no longer 

that. And yet, a second yellow 
card administered to Western 
Michigan 
defender 
Ben 
Thornton in the dying embers 
of regulation gave Michigan a 
bit of confidence entering the 
overtime period.
That 
confidence 
was 
evident as the Wolverines once 
again asserted themselves. 
Their precise passing moves 
from the first half were again 
on display, and 
it wasn’t long 
before 
they 
paid off. After a 
whirlwind of a 
game, Michigan 
fans went home 
happy.
“These 
things happen,” 
Daley 
said. 
“It’s 
college 
soccer. 
From 
our perspective 
we played well for 75 minutes 
and had a little lull, but after 
that, everything was good. 
We rallied the troops in 
overtime and they took care 
of business. Certainly from 
our perspective, finding a 
way to win is more important 
than dropping the game.”

BENNETT BRAMSON
Daily Sports Writer

KATELYN MULCAHY/Daily
Senior libero Jenna Lerg played a part in Paige Jones’ success by feeding her quality passes throughout the match.

CONNOR BRENNAN
Daily Sports Writer

AMELIA CACCHIONE/Daily
Senior midfielder Ivo Cerda scored the game-winning goal in Michigan’s thrilling win over Western Michigan.

ROHAN KUMAR
Daily Sports Writer

FIELD HOCKEY

WOMEN’S SOCCER

BENNETT BRAMSON
Daily Sports Writer

Cerda gets the game-winning goal in overtime as Wolverines top the Broncos

“Thank God it 
went in. After 
that it was just 
madness.”

“They say 2-0 
is the most 
dangerous lead 
in soccer.”

