The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com 
Wednesday, September 7, 2022 — 7

Michigan scoreless against 
Bowling Green in 0-0 draw

CHARLIE PAPPALARDO
Daily Sports Writer

With just three minutes remain-
ing in Sunday afternoon’s con-
test between the Michigan men’s 
soccer team and Bowling Green, 
the Falcons found themselves in 
a familiar position — deep in the 
Wolverines’ attacking third and 
dominating possession. 
A well-placed through ball to 
a Bowling Green striker set up a 
prime opportunity within the pen-
alty box, but senior defender Ryan 
Schultz blocked the shot. The ball 
ricocheted to another attacker who 
once again fired a laser that was 
intercepted. Twenty seconds later, 
the Falcons lobbed a short free kick 
into the box, where it was headed 
twice, and knocked just past soph-
omore goalkeeper Hayden Evans 
and out of bounds. 
With little time left on the clock, 
Michigan did what it had done the 
entire game; it survived. But by no 
means was the 0-0 draw a strong 
showing for the Wolverines. 
“We knew it was going to be a 
tough, physical game,” Michigan 
coach Chaka Daley said. “They 
stood up sharp in the back and gave 
a good account of themself defen-
sively, but we went missing a little 
bit in the attacking side … but a 
well learned, tough draw … I think 
either team will just take the point 
and move on.”
From the very first whistle, 
Bowling Green emerged as the 
aggressor, forcing the ball deep into 

Michigan’s box with a cross from 
center back Joey Akpunonu on 
the first play of the game. The ball 
floated around the box for a few 
seconds before midfielder Alberto 
Anaya ripped a ball towards the top 
of the net that a diving Evans just 
barely poked away. 
The game shifted to a more 
rhythmic pace, but throughout the 
entire contest the Falcons acted as 
the aggressors. They dominated 
possessions and won almost every 
50-50 ball, but were never able 
to convert. Despite chance after 
chance where it seemed impossible 
for the ball not to find the back of 
the net, Bowling Green was sty-
mied by solid goalkeeping from 
Evans, along with gutsy plays from 
Schultz and sophomore defender 
Jason Bucknor. 
Starting in the tenth minute, the 
Falcons once again built momen-
tum, holding the ball in the attack-
ing third and pressing. But slightly 
wayward crosses and a solid save 
from Evans on a shot by Kale Nich-
ols snuffed out any opportunities to 
take the lead.
Michigan struggled to find any 
real offensive footing until the 
final five minutes of the first half. 
Suddenly it caught a slightly over-
zealous Bowling Green defense off 
guard with a counter attack, slot-
ting pass after pass into and around 
the Falcon’s box, but failing to con-
vert on any chances. 
The Wolverines’ momentum 
carried into the early second half, 
when they recorded their one and 
only shot on goal of the contest, 

which goalkeeper Logan Kowal-
cyzk comfortably saved. But their 
best chance came a few minutes 
later when senior forward Derick 
Broche launched a ball into the 
Bowling Green box. It pinballed 
around before bouncing towards 
the left post where a charging 
senior forward Cameron Martin 
just missed the ball. 
But this momentum quickly 
died out, and from the 55th min-
ute onward, the Falcons once 
again maintained control, and 
Michigan didn’t have a counter.
“The hardest thing in this 
game is to score goals,” Daley 
said. “It’s definitely the most 
challenging thing because we’ve 
got a lot of moving pieces and 
freshmen playing with a new 
system. It’s challenging, tough to 
figure out, but we’ll get there.” 
In moment after moment, 
Bowling Green found itself just 
inches away from scoring, but a 
mixture of bad luck for the Fal-
cons and defensive standouts 
from the Wolverines left the 
game notched at 0-0 and sent 
both teams home with a point.
But this was less of an earned 
draw. It was more of an escape 
act.
 “We’ve had four games and 
two shutouts,” Daley said. “We 
just gotta get it going on both 
sides of the ball.”
Daley’s right; Michigan has to 
find an offense. Because with just 
one goal in four games, surviving 
games will only get harder and 
harder for the Wolverines.

Sports

MEN’S SOCCER

SportsWednesday: Michigan’s quarterback competition isn’t 
over, but the door is closing

JARED GREENSPAN
Managing Sports Editor

Cade McNamara sat at his press 
conference 
Saturday 
afternoon, 
fresh off a 51-7 victory in Michi-
gan’s season opener, and spoke like 
a quarterback cognizant of his tenu-
ous job security. 
“It looked like a first game, I felt 
like, on the offensive side of the 
ball,” McNamara, a senior, said. 
“We definitely need to clean that up 
and I’m gonna be a part of that.” 
McNamara is both uber-com-
petitive and a perfectionist; those, 
if anything, are his defining traits. 
He lamented an errant throw to 
senior receiver Cornelius Johnson, 
a would-be touchdown; he did the 
same with a pass that nearly turned 
into an interception in the red zone. 
It’s not unusual for McNamara to 
be particularly hard on himself; he 
nitpicked last season, too, as most 
quarterbacks tend to do. But this 
season’s rendition made for a bit 
of a jarring scene: The Wolverines 
had just won by 44 points in a game 
where 84 players appeared, and yet 
McNamara spoke in short, terse 
phrases while sporting a stern glare. 
This is the backdrop right now 
for Michigan’s quarterbacks. Every 
move is scrutinized, every errant 
throw conjuring a quick glance to 
the sideline and groans from the 
fans. It holds true for McNamara 
and, in due time, will for sophomore 
J.J. McCarthy, too. But right now, 
at this juncture in the nation’s most 
intense quarterback competition, it 
is most apt for McNamara. 
“I’d definitely say it’s pretty 
unusual,” McNamara said Satur-

day, speaking for the first time since 
Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh 
revealed his plan to start McNa-
mara in Week One and McCarthy in 
Week Two. “It was kind of a thing 
I wasn’t expecting by the end of 
camp. I thought I had my best camp 
and put myself in a good position.” 
Michigan’s quarterback com-
petition is, contrary to popular 
belief, not over. Harbaugh is going 
to wait until after this week’s game 
to appoint a starter, a stance that he 
reiterated Monday. And, as he has 
maintained, the door is open to an 
ongoing rotation beyond this week-
end. 
“If things are exactly the same 
as they were coming out of camp, 
which was close to dead even, then 
we are going to have to, as coaches, 
find a way to maximize both of 
their talents for the best piece of 
the team,” Harbaugh said. “That 
remains a very viable option.” 
The ‘if’ here carries the most 
weight. At the moment, its condition 
doesn’t appear to be true. 
Harbaugh 
maintained 
that 
McNamara played a “really good” 
game Saturday, but it was not inspir-
ing. The performance — 9-of-18 for 
136 yards and a touchdown — did 
not reflect McNamara’s declaration 
from fall camp that he was playing 
the best football of his life. That 
buzz has fizzled. 
Instead, against Colorado State, 
McNamara fueled the narrative 
that Michigan can be good with him 
under center, just not great. 
McCarthy, by contrast, was 
“electric” — “no question about 
it,” Harbaugh said after the game. 
McCarthy’s attributes, to be fair, are 
inherently more flashy than McNa-
mara. He is lightning quick and 

touts superhuman arm strength; 
McNamara, meanwhile, is gritty 
and reliable. On a highlight reel, 
McCarthy is bound to stand out. 
Yet, what is increasingly appar-
ent, is that Michigan has more 
options, and a wider playbook, with 
McCarthy under center. The razzle 
dazzle, whether it be cross-field 
throws or video game-esque jukes, 
is meaningless. A greater arsenal of 
in-game opportunities — whether it 
be through read options or whatnot 
— are significant. 
McCarthy’s first highlight of the 
2022 season, a scamper into the 
endzone off a read option, did not 
seem to be a call available to McNa-
mara. 
“They’re similar,” Harbaugh said 
of the playbooks for the two quar-
terbacks. “There’s a couple of quar-
terback runs. … JJ has that electric 
type of ability when he’s running 
the football. And I thought he 
acquitted himself really well.” 
That is where, perhaps, we get 
a look into where the quarterback 
competition is headed. McNama-
ra’s performance against Colorado 
State, though uninspiring, could 
not have moved the needle signifi-
cantly. Would Michigan really take 
more stock in a so-so game against 
a Mountain West opponent than 
McNamara’s greater body of work, 
which includes a full season under 
center and a Big Ten Champion-
ship? 
But what if McCarthy brings that 
electricity on a consistent basis, add-
ing a new dimension to Michigan’s 
offense? Then the calculus changes. 
Then an offense that should be 
one of the nation’s best becomes 
even scarier. What if McCarthy 
adds that dimension while elimi-

nating his drawbacks: a knack for 
turnovers and bone-headed plays, 
which marred his freshman year 
cameos? 
Then he should be QB1. 
“I thought that he went through 
his reads very well,” Harbaugh said. 
“Great to see him playing super 
calm, cool and collected. He’s doing 
a great job, too. Really improved a 
lot, as you would expect going from 
his freshman year to his sophomore 
year.” 
This all brings us back to McNa-
mara’s press conference. He felt 

blindsided, clearly, by Harbaugh’s 
decision, noting he felt “confident” 
in his fall camp performance. 
Yet Michigan has waited for 
McCarthy — through growing 
pains, gut-wrenching turnovers 
and an offseason shoulder injury — 
because his talent is apparent. His 
grand audition beckons Saturday 
under the lights against a woeful 
Hawaii team. If McCarthy does 
indeed light up the Rainbow War-
riors, will that really push him past 
McNamara? 
It’s hard to believe that it will. 

JENNA HICKEY/Daily

What would vault McCarthy into 
QB1, though, is if he showcases the 
capabilities that McNamara lacks; if 
he is electric while not turning over 
the football, if his mobility makes a 
tangible difference.
In other words: If he is the quar-
terback that he is billed to be, and 
has been touted to be, since his 
commitment, then we might have 
an actual answer to the quarter-
back competition by Harbaugh’s 
superimposed deadline. 
And right now, the road is 
careening towards McCarthy.

Cade McNamara is yet to lose the quarterback competition, but the job may soon be J.J. McCarthy’s.

In blowout win over Central 
Michigan, Wolverines 
demonstrate their identity

LINDSAY BUDIN
Daily Sports Writer

After splitting the first two games 
of the season and struggling to excel 
on the road, the No. 3 Michigan 
field hockey team entered Sunday’s 
home-opener with the chance to 
cement its identity. In front of their 
home crowd, the Wolverines wasted 
no time showing exactly who they 
are.
On Sunday, Michigan (2-1 over-
all) beat Central Michigan (1-2) in a 
dominating 9-0 fashion and outshot 
the Chippewas 39-1. With the state-
ment win, the Wolverines displayed 
more than just an ability to score — 
they showed their relentless mental-
ity. 
And with that ethos — charac-
terized by high intensity and strong 
communication — it didn’t take long 
to translate to on-field success. 
Less than two minutes into play, 
sophomore forward Abby Tamer 
opened up the scoring for the Wol-
verines. After finding herself open 
near the left post, she put Michi-
gan on the board with a shot past 
the outstretched Central Michigan 
goalkeeper. Tamer continued to 
shine, scoring a second goal a minute 
later to add to the lead.
“I think we came out with great 
intensity,” Michigan coach Marcia 
Pankratz said. “I was really proud of 
our team for that.”
Throughout the first quarter, 
the unyielding mindset from every 
Wolverine on the field proved effec-

tive, preventing the Chippewas from 
running any form of offense. Not 
only was Central Michigan unable 
to create any shots off, they didn’t 
even get the ball into Michigan’s 
striking circle. 
And as all of the Wolverines’ lines 
locked in, the offense found further 
success. In the final three minutes 
of the opening quarter, sophomore 
midfielder Alana Richardson scored 
two goals, giving Michigan a 4-0 
lead entering the second quarter. 
“What our team is known for, 
especially the forward line, is just 
high pressure all the time,” Rich-
ardson said. “We just like to put the 
defenders under pressure constant-
ly.”
Michigan also flexed its strength 
on defense. 
Despite 
Central 
Michigan’s 
attempts, the Wolverines kept the 
ball out of their striking circle, limit-
ing the Chippewas to just one shot — 
the only one they would get all game. 
“We’ve been working really hard 
on good communication and good 
organization (from the defense),” 
Pankratz said. “I think we’re gain-
ing confidence about stepping up 
and intercepting balls and keeping 
the pressure on.”
That strong and coherent com-
munication is something Michigan 
has prioritized, not just from the 
defense, but from the entire team. 
It’s crucial to the identity it exhib-
ited on Sunday, and it’s something 
that continues to play a critical role 
in its success.
“(The communication) is every-

thing, it really is everything,” 
Richardson said. “Every single 
line, you have to have that connec-
tion and that starts with commu-
nication. If you’re going to step up, 
you need to step up as a unit.”

Coming out of halftime — even 
with a 5-0 lead — the Wolverines 
maintained the intensity they dis-
played from the start of the game. 
They continued to showcase their 
“don’t let up” mentality, prevent-
ing Central Michigan from taking 
a single shot and adding four more 
goals to their lead.
Early in the third quarter, 
Tamer netted another goal, com-
pleting her hat trick and extend-
ing the lead. Along with Tamer’s 
individual accomplishment, the 
Wolverines thrived as a team. Six 
different players scored and six 
more chipped in with assists. The 
prioritization of communication 
and playing as a unit was evident 
from start to finish. 
“I think (it’s) that ‘don’t let up’ 
mentality, just continuing, no mat-
ter what the score is,” Richardson 
said. “The score isn’t what we’re 
looking for, it’s just the progress 
and how we play, because no mat-
ter what the score is … we should 
just keep playing hard.”
As Big Ten play nears, Michi-
gan not only needs to find ways 
to win, but it needs to do so coher-
ently as a unit. On Sunday, it made 
a statement: 
The Wolverines know exactly 
who they are.

FIELD HOCKEY

TESS CROWLEY/Daily
In their blowout of Central Michigan, the Wolverines executed their “don’t let up” mentality to a T.

JENNA HICKEY/Daily
Against Bowling Green, Michigan’s offense remained dormant, taking only one shot on goal.

