The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Sports
Tuesday, September 10, 2019 — 7
Cross. Shot. Rebound. Goal.
After 327 minutes, Michigan
finally ended its scoring drought
when
sophomore
Raleigh
Loughman ripped a shot into
the upper corner 80 minutes
into Sunday’s game. The play
started
when
sophomore
Meredith Haakenson received
the ball from the corner, took
a touch, turned and sent the
ball towards the goal. The
goalie dove and blocked the
ball with an outstretched arm,
but it rebounded right into
Loughman’s path. A second later,
the ball found the back of the net.
The crowd and the Wolverine
sideline erupted.
Loughman’s goal propelled
the Michigan women’s soccer
team (3-2-0) to a 2-0 victory over
Bowling Green (2-1-1) on Sunday.
Just
two
minutes
after
Loughman’s goal, sophomore
Skylar Anderson netted her first
career goal on a header off a free
kick from Loughman. Anderson
disappeared into a sea of white
as her teammates celebrated
with her.
“I can’t even put words to it,”
Anderson said. “It was amazing.
The whole team was there and
it was just great. There’s no
words.”
Entering
the
game,
the
Wolverines
were
fueled
by
something stronger than their
need to snap a two-game losing
streak — it was Senior Day, and
emotions were running high.
Despite the added motivation
of Senior Day, the Michigan
offense struggled to capitalize
on opportunities early on. Every
time a player touched the ball,
she dribbled the ball down
the field, crossed it in, and a
teammate aimed to get a head or
a foot on the ball. Rinse. Repeat.
Chance after chance came and
went, but through 45 minutes,
the ball never found the net.
Opening the second half,
Michigan searched for a spark.
Thirty seconds after the whistle,
freshman Lily Farkas took on a
defender one-on-one, dribbled
and rifled a shot off that sailed
just over the crossbar. Minutes
later, sophomore Emma Cooper
dinged a shot off the crossbar
too. The Wolverines were a
different team.
“(I told them to) just keep
moving the ball,” said Michigan
coach Jennifer Klein. “Look to
continue to build and get in and
around the goal, and when we
get in, just shoot.”
With the offense missing
opportunities to find the back of
the net, the Wolverine defense
felt the pressure to shut down
Bowling Green. It outmuscled,
outworked and outperformed.
Play after play, the defense
swallowed every ball that came
its way. When Michigan’s offense
seemed to stall out, the defense
stepped up to create chances and
restart the attack.
The
core
of
Michigan’s
defense are two veterans, senior
Sura Yekka and junior Alia
Martin. Every player that took
either of them came up empty-
handed, and through 90 minutes,
Bowling Green didn’t register a
single shot on goal.
“One
of
the
biggest
improvements from last year
to this year is our defensive
organization
and
presence,”
Klein said. “... We have to make
sure that we’re really good at
not giving the opponent a lot of
chances in front of our net.”
MOLLY SHEA
Daily Sports Writer
Shortly
after
her
team
snapped a 327-minute scoreless
streak en route to a 2-0 victory,
Michigan coach Jennifer Klein
stood on the pitch explaining
what it took for the team to
finally find the back of the net.
It wasn’t that the link-up
play was sloppy or that the
team
couldn’t
march
their
way towards their opponent’s
18-yard box. The offense’s lack
of production boiled down to
the failure to adhere to one
simple phrase.
“If you wanna score goals,”
Klein said “you gotta shoot the
ball.”
The
logic
behind
that
statement
is
pretty
straightforward; if you don’t
shoot, you don’t score. Finally,
Michigan
adhered
to
that
philosophy, a change that led to
an unmistakable
shift
in
the
team’s
win
against Bowling
Green.
After
taking
only seven shots
in a 1-0 loss
against
Notre
Dame on Friday,
the Wolverines
more
than
doubled
their
shot total, pounding the net
for an impressive 16 shots on
Sunday. The end product took
some time to show itself, but
the team’s persistence paid off
as they scored two goals in two
minutes late in the second half.
The drought-breaking goal
perfectly
embodied
Klein’s
words as sophomore midfielder
Raleigh
Loughman
immediately
struck the ball
when it bounced
toward
her
right
foot
on
a rebound. No
hesitation. One
touch, one shot,
one goal.
Up
until
Loughman
buried her shot in the 80th
minute, the game had been full
of frustration. Numerous shots
fell right into Falcon’s freshman
goalkeeper Becky Moss’s hands
or careened off the post. It was
clear, as Klein said, that the
team had just been missing
opportunities.
Although
the
Wolverines
dominated
possession for the entirety of
the match and had taken 13
shots before hitting home, it felt
like the streak may have been
doomed to continue to at least
337 minutes.
That’s why the joy was
palpable when Loughman’s shot
flew into the net. It emanated
from the huddle of players
celebrating Loughman’s third
goal of the season.
“There was definitely a sense
of release,” Loughman said.
Now that Michigan finally
hoisted the weight off their
shoulders, all eyes are looking
forward. Although Sunday was
the team’s Senior Night, this is
still very much the beginning of
the season. The Wolverines still
have all of Big Ten play ahead
of them and would love the 327
minutes
before
Loughman’s
goal
to
become
a
distant
memory.
“Hopefully that’s what they
needed to keep moving forward
in the season,” Klein said.
Close calls create frustration as
Michigan falls to Washington, 1-0
Ultimately,
it’s
all
about
finishing.
The Michigan men’s soccer
team learned that lesson Sunday
evening in its 1-0 loss to No. 13
Washington.
Despite
plenty
of close calls and solid scoring
opportunities, the Wolverines
were unable to break through
when it mattered.
Michigan
started
off
confidently
and
maintained
control of play for most of the
first
half.
The
Wolverines’
defense consistently frustrated
Washington’s
attack
and
recovered the ball when they
needed to.
“I don’t think we make many
mistakes
defensively,”
said
Michigan coach Chaka Daley.
“We really only made one this
evening, and that’s when they
scored.”
This defensive strength was
mirrored by the Huskies’ on the
other half of the field, though,
and Michigan often had trouble
converting
possessions
into
scoring
opportunities.
When
those rare chances did come, the
Wolverines failed to connect.
Early in the second half,
Michigan’s
attack
proved
to be much more assertive.
For a moment, it seemed the
Wolverines would break the
gridlock
when
freshman
forward Christian Pulselli stole
the ball and fed it to sophomore
forward Derick Broche in the
middle of the box. As the crowd
roared in anticipation, the ball
rolled
just
beyond
Broche’s
control into the keeper’s hands.
Yet another scoring opportunity
fizzled away.
“I thought we were quite
dangerous and had them on the
back foot a lot in the second
half,” Daley said. “We were
finally able to move into the final
third in possession — but after
that it’s a matter of making the
right choice and picking out the
right guys. We have some new
personalities so figuring that
out is where we struggled a little
bit.”
In the 50th minute, the
Huskies were the ones who
were able to open up the scoring.
After a combination play and
missed slide tackle, Washington
defender Kasey French took
control of a cross and smashed
the ball past Michigan senior
keeper Andrew Verdi’s hands
into the top left corner.
This momentary lapse from
an
otherwise-poised
defense
would come to define the rest of
the game.
A
remarkable
series
of
chances as the half progressed
showed the Wolverines had
figured out how to set up
chances for themselves against
the Husky defense. But an air
of frustration fell over the team
as successive chances in the box
ended without success.
“At halftime we discussed
how we can keep them pinned in
and also not allow them to play
as much as they did in the first
half where they kind of rolled
out and played,” Daley said. “It
was a positive tactic for us but
there were a lot of near misses —
they made a great save or a shot
hit the post or the crossbar.”
Indeed, shot after shot from
Michigan missed by inches or
was barely deflected. Notably,
junior forward Umar Farouk
Osman fired the ball toward
the goal from the middle of the
box in the 64th minute, but it
flew past the keeper’s hands and
bounced off the crossbar back
into the box where Osman was
unable to recreate the shot.
Hallahan
came
similarly
close in the 56th minute. He
regained
control
after
the
Huskies initially cleared away
Michigan’s corner kick and fired
a shot past Washington’s diving
keeper, but the ball bounced off
the post.
Washington’s
defense
remained poised and stopped
the persistent Wolverine attack
in its tracks. Michigan’s defense,
meanwhile, returned to form for
the remainder of the game and
denied Washington any chance
to extend their lead.
“We owned every big moment
tonight and that’s what we
were trying to educate our guys
about,” Daley said. “We own
tonight’s result and we owned
those moments — the question is
how we can take more advantage
of them and put good teams like
Washington away.
“It’s a big step forward in
belief for the coaching staff — we
can really compete if we can win
the big moments.”
That was of little consolation
to the Wolverines and their fans.
Despite a wealth of close calls
and near misses, salvation by an
equalizer was out of reach.
How ‘M’ approached overtime
If there’s one team you really
don’t want to face in overtime,
it’s probably Army.
Like any team that runs the
triple option, the Black Knights
thrive on a short field, chipping
away at the green turf until
there’s no more empty space.
The Michigan football team
saw firsthand what Army could
do with such an advantage in
the first half Saturday after two
fumbles on two separate drives
led to two touchdowns. But the
Black Knights started their
first three drives after halftime
from their own 35, 25 and 23
yard lines and came up empty
each time.
Overtime, though? That’s a
whole different animal. Each
team gets one drive from
the 25-yard line. Defensive
coordinator Don Brown knew
that meant an Army advantage.
“You don’t want to get into
those scenarios, you really
don’t,” Brown said Monday.
“Because the short field is their
friend.”
To
combat
the
high
probability of a Black Knights
score,
offensive
coordinator
Josh Gattis had a plan: an
aggressive
approach
that
attacked each possession with
urgency.
It was the same mentality
he’d used when calling plays in
the fourth quarter, including
once when he passed up a
potential field goal only to get
stuffed on fourth-and-2. Then,
Gattis had wanted to run out
the clock and end the game on
Michigan’s
terms,
knowing
that the more time Army had,
the more likely they’d get close
enough for a field goal. Those
calls hadn’t worked then —
and in fact, probably got the
Wolverines to overtime in the
first place. Neither team scored
in the fourth quarter and a
made kick could’ve won the
game in regulation.
But Gattis was right about
one thing on the second fourth
down. The attempt ate up
enough clock that Army could
only get to Michigan’s 33-yard
line
before
time
expired,
forcing
the
Black
Knights
into a 50-yard attempt that
was decidedly out of range for
kicker Cole Talley.
So the Wolverines went to
overtime and again took the
aggressive approach with them.
“Win the game,” said junior
center Cesar Ruiz. “That really
was just it. Knuckle up and win
the game. This is it right here.”
Michigan’s defense got to
work, methodically forcing a
third-and-4, but senior viper
Khaleke
Hudson
lined
up
offsides. The five-yard penalty
resulted in a first down for
Army. Two more
runs
and
the
Black
Knights
were in the end
zone.
“
‘Would
you please look
down the line of
scrimmage?’
”
Brown recalled
thinking.
“
‘You’re offsides,
dude.’ I mean,
can you believe that? But we
lined up offsides on a big play
and it hurt us.”
Knowing
they
needed
a
touchdown, the Wolverines got
to work. On third-and-6, senior
quarterback
Shea
Patterson
found sophomore wide receiver
Ronnie Bell for a first down,
then a pass interference on
the next play moved the ball
to the 3-yard line. From there,
freshman running back Zach
Charbonnet punched it in.
Michigan could’ve chosen to
take matters into its own hands
right there, but going for two
was never really a consideration.
The same analytics that both
coach Jim Harbaugh and Gattis
pointed to as influencing the
fourth-down decisions earlier
said that a kick was the better
option — not to mention that
the Wolverines had tried a
two-point conversion against
Middle Tennessee that failed.
So Jake Moody trotted out
and sent the game to a second
overtime.
“Kick it and obviously flip it
back around and be on offense,”
Gattis said. “And we felt really
good about where our defense
was playing and how well our
defense was playing. … Getting
into the second overtime, the
juices kinda get going a little
bit more and we wanted to ride
that wave from where our team
was.”
But in the second overtime,
that wave crashed back to
shore. Patterson had three
straight incompletions — an
overthrow to a wide-open Nico
Collins in the endzone, a pass
that redshirt sophomore wide
receiver Tarik Black dropped
and
another
attempt to Black
that
wasn’t
really close. So
the Wolverines
settled
for
a
field goal.
It was up to
the defense, and
as
Michigan’s
season hung in
the balance, it
came
up
big,
holding Army to just a two-yard
run on first down, making a
tackle-for-loss on second down
and then, finally, strip-sacking
the quarterback on third down
and recovering the fumble.
“When they jumped off the
bench at the end, you kinda felt
like our energy is right,” Brown
said. “We’re going to have a
chance to get out of here. And
you saw it. You saw the three
plays.”
On
the
play,
sophomore
defensive
end
Aidan
Hutchinson only remembers
hitting the quarterback. He
doesn’t remember exactly how
sophomore defensive end Kwity
Paye fell on the ball, but he knew
the game was over and began
to run and jump and celebrate
as the team streamed onto the
field. Beating a team like the
Black Knights in overtime isn’t
for the faint of heart.
It’s no wonder Harbaugh
gave
Hutchinson
a
hug
afterwards.
AIDAN WOUTAS
Daily Sports Writer
ARIA GERSON
Daily Sports Editor
JACOB COHEN
Daily Sports Writer
After multiple goal-less games in a row, the Wolverines topped Bowling Green, 2-0, to go back above .500
A breakthrough
FOOTBALL
‘You’re offsides,
dude.’ I mean,
can you believe
that?
KATELYN MULCAHY/Daily
Freshman midfielder Raleigh Loughman scored in Michigan’s 2-0 victory on Sunday, breaking the Wolverines’ 327-minute scoring drought coming in.
CARTER FOX/Daily
Michigan coach Chaka Daley lamented the missed opportunities offensively
shortly after the Wolverines’ 1-0 loss to Washington on Sunday.
There was
definitely
a sense of
release...