Wolfe’s double overtime goal lifts
Michigan over Nebraska
Raleigh Loughman carried
the ball up the right wing with
pace. The junior midfielder
cut to her left on the edge of
the box and looped in a cross
that was knocked down by a
Nebraska defender. Freshman
forward
Sammi
Woods
scooped up the loose ball and
— without looking — tapped
the ball with the back of her
heel over towards a lurking
Danielle Wolfe.
The
sophomore
forward
took one touch on the ball and
fired a left-footed screamer
into the top right corner of
the Nebraska goal, putting an
abrupt end to a 3-2 double-
overtime victory for Michigan
(2-1-2 Big Ten) over Nebraska
(1-2-1).
While Michigan ultimately
prevailed, the first half made
winning appear unlikely. In the
second minute of play, junior
defender Janiece Joyner overshot
senior defensive partner Alia
Martin on a cross-pitch pass
just outside the Michigan box,
perfectly setting up Nebraska
forward Reagan Raabe for a
first-touch shot that gave the
Cornhuskers an early 1-0 lead.
Ten minutes later, Raabe
weaved
through
multiple
Wolverine defenders but lost
possession two yards outside
the box, coming just short of
doubling the Cornhuskers lead.
In the 30th minute, though,
the
Wolverines
received
a
modicum of karma. A Nebraska
defender couldn’t clear the ball
near the penalty spot, perfectly
setting up freshman forward
Kacey Lawrence for a high-
velocity
strike
that
landed
in the top left corner of the
Nebraska net. Lawrence’s first
career goal tied it up 1-1.
Just
one
minute
later,
Cornhusker midfielder Dakota
Chan
connected
with
her
teammate
Marissa
Popoola
for a set-piece corner kick
goal that gave Nebraska a 2-1
lead. Popoola’s goal was a
powerful header, giving senior
goalkeeper Hillary Beall no
opportunity to make a save on
the shot.
Despite trailing 2-1 at the
half, Michigan came out firing
on all cylinders at the start of
the second. During the first 25
minutes, Michigan racked up
10 shots, compared to zero from
Nebraska. One of those shots,
a cross-net header by junior
defender
Sydney
Shepherd,
coming off of a Loughman
corner kick, found the back
of the net in the 60th minute,
equalizing the score at 2-2.
“We figured if we could
make it through the first half,
and get the wind (blowing)
with us in the second half
we would really give us a
huge boost,” Michigan coach
Jennifer Klein said. “I do think
that it did (help us).”
Even-footed
play
during
the next half hour resulted in
a defensive struggle, sending
the match to overtime. In the
first overtime period, neither
team put a shot on net. The
Wolverines changed that in
the second overtime period.
They came out of the gate
with
an
offensive
barrage,
sending three shots toward
the Nebraska net. In the 104th
minute, Wolfe hit the post. In
the 105th, she hit the back of
the net.
“I (am) really proud of (the
team’s) fight and grit,” Klein
said. “They stayed the course
and stuck to the game plan.
We (got) the result so (I am)
extremely proud of them.”
Neither goalkeeper played
all too well today, as Michigan’s
Beall and Nebraska’s Makinzie
Short combined for five goals
allowed but just six saves.
At the end of the day, it all
came down to momentum.
Nebraska felt the hot hand
early, Michigan caught fire
during crunch time.
HAYDEN GRIJNSZTEIN
For The Daily
ALLISON ENGKVIST/Daily
After a lopsided game, Michigan finally drove in its win against Nebraska with a double overtime goal.
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Sports
14 — Wednesday, March 10, 2021
Transfers bolster lineup in
opening series
Coming off draining competition at Winter Cup Challenge, Bock
leads Michigan to win over Iowa
On
March
6,
sophomore
outfielder Jake Marti stepped
into the batter’s box for the
first time as a member of the
Michigan baseball team — and
as a Division I athlete. He’d
spent the last two years raking at
Heartland Community College,
where he earned an All-Midwest
Athletic Conference selection,
but that’s no guarantee of
success in the Division I game.
“It’s a big jump coming from
a junior college to this level,”
Marti admitted.
Still, in his first taste of
Division I action, Marti looked
right at home. On the first pitch
he saw, he connected for a two-
run double that gave the No. 18
Wolverines an early lead in their
season opener against Iowa.
Marti
wasn’t
the
only
transfer bat to help Michigan
to its 3-1 weekend series
victory.
He
and
shortstop
Benjamin
Sems,
catcher
Griffin
Mazur
and
third
baseman Christian Molfetta
— all fifth-year transfers —
combined for a .334/.480/.590
slash line and participated in
several game-breaking rallies.
“They’re here to fill some
holes and plug some gaps, and
that’s exactly what they did,”
Michigan coach Erik Bakich
said.
When the Hawkeyes tied
game one in the seventh
inning, the Wolverines didn’t
wait long before reclaiming
the lead. After sophomore
outfielder Tito Flores began
the eighth with a double, he
advanced to third off a bunt
from Sems and driven in by a
Molfetta single.
“He’s a hell of a player and
a versatile player,” Bakich
said of Molfetta. “He stepped
right into third base and
filled in for (sophomore third
baseman) Ted Burton,” who
missed the series with an
illness. “He made outstanding
plays defensively and he had a
ton of quality at-bats.”
After a quiet showing in
game two, Michigan’s offense
returned in game three, led by
its transfers. With two outs
and the bases loaded in the
bottom of the second, it was
Mazur’s turn for heroics; he
crushed a changeup to left-
center field for a grand slam.
“We weren’t hurting for
a hit, but we needed a hit to
open things up, let everyone
relax a little bit,” Mazur said
in an interview posted on
Michigan baseball’s Twitter
account.
“It
was
pretty
awesome to get that first hit
in a Michigan uniform. These
guys have done nothing but
accept me, and bring me into
the team.”
Mazur’s
coaches
and
teammates
shared
his
enthusiasm for the highlight.
“He got voted one of the team
captains, and his leadership is
just off the charts,” Bakich said.
“He’s a sparkplug, he gets big
hits, he’s a clutch hitter. He’s a
general out there on the field.
He’s got all the intangible skills
you would want.”
Added Flores: “You love to
see your brother hit a homerun.
… He’s a wonderful person,
and that’s why he’s one of our
captains on this team.”
By the final game of the series,
Marti, Molfetta and Mazur were
hitting first, third and fourth
in the order, respectively. They
joined Sems to combine for six
runs and nine hits in a dominant
11-4 win.
None of this quartet had
played for Michigan before,
and one of them was new to
Division I baseball entirely.
But they needed just one series
to
establish
themselves
as
cornerstones of the Wolverines’
offense.
“It’s an awesome experience
to come in here and know that
I’m not alone, with all the
transfers,” Marti said. “A bunch
of new faces, making the lineup
and
just
stringing
together
at-bats. I felt like we fed off each
other’s energy really well all
weekend, so that was really cool
to see.”
Approaching
his
dismount
off
the pommel horse, senior Cameron
Bock could hear the screams of
encouragement from his teammates
at the edge of the mat. He pushed
himself up into a handstand on the
horse, using the motivation from the
sidelines, and ended the routine with
a solid landing — earning a score of
14.550, a new career high.
Although
the
voices
of
his
teammates
helped
motivate
his
routines during the Michigan men’s
gymnastics win over No. 7 Iowa,
Bock has also had to discipline
himself to perform the same routines
in almost complete silence. In the
Winter Cup Challenge on Feb. 26-28,
the
atmosphere
was
completely
different than that of a normal
Michigan dual meet.
“Whenever someone goes up and
does their routine (at a Michigan
meet), everyone is yelling for them,
you got the team support, it’s
pretty loud,” Bock said. “In USA
competitions, it’s almost dead silent.
The music is low, you have maybe one
or two other guys on your team there
or your coach rooting you on, but it’s
really just a different vibe.”
Both Bock and sophomore Paul
Juda competed in the Winter Cup
Challenge and were named part of
the U.S. national team, with Bock
placing first in the meet and Juda
placing sixth. Bock competed in
both days of the Winter Cup, as well
as at a meet on Feb. 21 against No. 3
Nebraska and No. 7 Illinois, for a total
of three draining meets in a span of
a week. With the meet this week
against Iowa following the intense
stretch, Bock did not compete on all
events to allow for a break.
“Our two main all around guys
are Cameron Bock and Paul Juda,
and they just finished a stretch of
competition that was really grueling,
really brutal,” Michigan coach Kurt
Golder said. “Even if it weren’t —
which it is — physically fatiguing,
it’s mentally fatiguing because all
of those meets were big pressure
cookers.”
The strain of the last few meets did
not seem to have much of an effect on
Bock’s routines for the Wolverines on
Saturday. Following his performance
on the pommel horse, he tallied a
14.400 on the still rings, sticking the
landing on the dismount and getting
a huge reaction from the team once
again. Bock’s lowest-scoring event of
the day was vault, where he scored
a 14.150, but he finished his day off
with a solid parallel performance,
landing a solid double back pike
dismount to post a score of 14.400.
Bock competed last in the lineup on
each event during the meet in order
to stay consistent and help the team
finish with a strong performance.
“From
a
more
logistical
standpoint, I go last simply because
I do all the events, so it gives me a
little more time to rest,” Bock said.
“But in terms of the mentality, I’ve
been put in that position many times,
where if we have a couple falls or
some adversity in the routines prior,
I’ll just keep my head down, do my
routine and try to get a good score
for the team to bring it back.”
In the meet against the Hawkeyes,
Bock captured event titles on the
pommel horse, still rings and parallel
bars. Bock, alongside Juda, is not only
training towards the Big Ten and
NCAA Championships like the rest of
the Michigan team: he’s also training
for the USA Championships and the
Olympic Trials in June. It means
they often have different practice
schedules
from
their
teammates,
but they’re still key leaders for the
Wolverines.
“(Juda and Bock) are both in the
same (practice) group … and the
group coach there, I just let him do it
however he wants to do it with those
two guys,” Golder said. “During the
week, we’ll have scheduled intersquad
meets on various events, and we don’t
require those guys to be a part of it.
So they can just do their own training
plan for what they need to do.”
Ultimately, although it was a
grueling few weeks, Bock didn’t
miss a beat against Iowa, and
the
Wolverines
notched
solid
performances with Bock at the
forefront.
JACK WHITTEN
Daily Sports Writer
SAMI RUUD
For The Daily
ALEC COHEN/Daily
The Wolverines’ transfers were central to their success in their opening series against Iowa.
MADDIE FOX/Daily
Senior Cameron Bock scored a career-high on the pommel horse this weekend’s Winter Cup Challenge.