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