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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.”