The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com Wednesday, September 21, 2022 — 11 Michigan takes advantage of corner penalties in win over Cornell CAROLINE CRECCA For The Daily Within less than five minutes of play, the No. 7 Michigan field hock- ey team scored on its second corner of the game—the second of fifteen offensive corners in its shutout against Cornell. On Sunday, the Wolverines’ abil- ity to convert on corners proved to be the difference that led them to a win. They ran a corner play on aver- age every four minutes. On Friday against No. 6 Penn State, they had 10 offensive corners but lost the game 2-1. And last week, they were unable to score on three corner plays in the final three minutes of their match against Louisville, which ultimately cost them the game. Against the Big Red, however, Michigan executed, with two of its three goals coming from corner plays. “It definitely feels a lot better to finally be putting some of them in,” sophomore midfielder Abby Tamer said. “We definitely have room to go, with fifteen (corners) we should still be scoring a little bit more, but it’s something we’re going to keep focusing on and keep perfecting.” On the Wolverines’ second cor- ner, junior midfielder Lora Clarke sent the ball in and tipped a reverse shot from Tamer. As an insert, the pressure of every corner falls on Clarke, because if her initial pass isn’t accurate or fast enough, the defense will shut down the play before it ever begins. “You don’t want to mess it up and go two inches to the left or two inch- es to the right,” Clarke said. “It does really matter. It needs to be really precise.” For all 15 corners, Clarke did exactly that. Despite only scoring on two of the corners, the Wol- verines were able to get a shot off on each of them. Ultimately, they outshot the Big Red, 31-4. Cornell, meanwhile, had two offensive corners, and of their four shots on goal, three of them went just wide of the cage. The Wolverines earned their sixth corner and their second goal in the second quarter, scored by senior midfielder Sarah Pyrtek. An inability to take advantage of Penn State’s defensive mistakes and execute on corner penalties held Michigan back on Friday, but on Sunday, this was clearly not the case. “Obviously we’ve had a lot of corners,” Clarke said. “So I think that the floodgates are going to start opening soon and the goals will start popping in and getting the bounces we need.” This week is the perfect oppor- tunity for those floodgates to open, as the Wolverines head into the rest of Big Ten play and two road games. This offensive shift came at the right time for the team. While Michigan was thrilled to find more success converting cor- ner opportunities against Cornell, two goals off of 15 corners is not enough to satisfy the Wolverines. In conference play, Michigan is focused on one thing. “Finishing,” Tamer said. “Fin- ishing and corners.” Sports FIELD HOCKEY Jess Mruzik’s aggressive playstyle leads Michigan to victory REKHA LEONARD For The Daily The Michigan volleyball team notched kill after kill in a sweep of Bowling Green on Sunday, and junior outside hitter Jess Mruzik was the deadliest on the court. Mruzik led both teams in kills with 13 — nearly doubling the Falcon’s kill leader Kat Man- dly. Junior outside hitter Kend- all Murray and senior middle blocker Jess Robinson were close on her heels with 11 and 10, respectively. Last season, Mruzik led the team in points with 446 and co- led the team in kills with 389. She is on track for an equally strong season after tallying 131 kills in the first 10 games this season. One of Mruzik’s strengths is her aggressiveness. She already has two double-doubles on the season. Against Bowling Green, she recorded eight digs — the most of any hitter or blocker — and consistently attacked the ball, racking up an impressive 33 total attacks. Mruzik was quick to credit her teammates for her success: “Having great people around me that are offensive threats all around makes my life a lot eas- ier,” she said. “I wouldn’t be as aggressive or go after it so hard if these guys didn’t as well.” Michigan coach Mark Rosen also considers the collective offensive ability of the team to be a key factor for the success of any individual player such as Mruzik. “I thought they came out and went after us pretty aggres- sively, but I love how our team stayed composed and handled that really well,” Rosen said. “I think it’s hard for them to stop when we have a lot of hitters that are contributing.” The opportunity for multiple hitters to have an impact on JENNA HICKEY/Daily the game comes in part from Mruzik’s ability to wear down the opposing team. Her fero- cious strikes on consecutive plays kept the Falcons scram- bling, allowing her teammates to attack and strike their own ruthless kills. Off the court, Mruzik’s lead- ership style mimics her play style. And again, she credits her teammate’s chemistry with much of her success as a leader. “I feel like I am that aggres- sive kind of pushing people lead- er,” she said. “I think it’s great that the people on the court and on the team really balance each other out really well.” Mruzik made the Big Ten All-Freshman Team in her first season with the Wolverines and received First Team All-Big Ten Honors after her breakout soph- omore season. This year, she is ready to showcase her offen- sive prowess and lead Michi- gan through the Big Ten season — starting this Friday against Rutgers. “(The Big Ten) is the best conference for volleyball for a reason,” Mruzik said. “We’re really prepared, and I think we’re all ready to just get after it and go into the match with a clear mind and really compete this season.” Outside hitter Jess Mruzik helped lead Michigan to the win. Failure to capitalize on offense dooms Michigan in loss MALLORY MOORE For The Daily Controlling possession is indica- tive of a winning team. But on Fri- day, the No. 7 Michigan field hockey team found that it doesn’t always translate into success. Although the Wolverines and Penn State each had one shot on goal by the end of the first quarter, their ability to capitalize on these attempts would prove to be the deciding factor of the game. The Wolverines found themselves in their offensive zone for the majority of the game, but they couldn’t find the back of the cage. The Nittany Lions didn’t have this issue, netting two of their three total shots to win the game. Michi- gan’s lack of offensive conversion proved to be fatal as the team only scored one goal despite 23 shot attempts. “The past two games that we’ve lost, we have definitely outplayed our opponents,” junior Lora Clarke said. “I would say we have more shots, we have more corners and … we just have to work on finding the back of the cage.” The Wolverines took more cor- ner attempts than the Nittany Lions, ending the game with 10 total penalty corners to Penn State’s one. Converting with penalty corners is something that has plagued Michi- gan all season, and on Friday, it was no different. Although the Wolverines were able to penetrate into the offensive zone, they couldn’t turn that into success on the scoreboard. The matchup with Penn State marked Michigan’s first conference game while also exposing what the Wolverines will have to fix to reach their season goals. The team cre- ated numerous scoring opportuni- ties, but failing to take advantage of these chances led to a Big Ten loss for the Wolverines. “Every (Big Ten matchup) is a significant matchup,” Michigan coach Marcia Pankratz said. “So every game matters and it’s a huge, huge game, so we’re disappointed that we didn’t win it, especially at home.” The Wolverines’ offensive cor- ners were telling of the domi- nance and determination they have shown so far this season. But, what they did with these corners showed faults in their strategy. Their dominance never reflected on the scoreboard. “If you can’t finish and score goals (you) can’t win the game,” Pankratz said. “So we’ve been working on it really hard. (We’re) frustrated that we haven’t been able to solve it yet.” If the Wolverines continue struggling to capitalize on offen- sive chances, it will continue to be tough to turn the team’s strength into success on scoreboard. FIELD HOCKEY LILA TURNER/Daily Despite taking 23 shots, Michigan only scored one goal in Friday’s loss. SportsWednesday: Michigan’s real test starts now As the No. 4 Michigan football team wrapped up a 59-0 victory over lowly UConn Saturday after- noon, everything seemed rather ho-hum. There was no hoopla, no stir in Ann Arbor over the Wolver- ines’ ranking in the AP Top 25 poll, which slots them behind only Geor- gia, Alabama and Ohio State — col- lege football’s three goliaths. This is the standard now. While Michigan has always been known as a football school, the proclama- tion feels realistic following last year’s monumental breakthrough. The Wolverines should be this strong, and their passionate fanbase has a blueprint by which they judge success by; everyone knows how it feels and what it looks like. Good teams, though, are forged through crucibles of adversity. Sure, the first three games — all cake- walks — played out as they should, as the Wolverines avoided the fate that befell Notre Dame and Texas A&M. But that doesn’t mean that the non-conference slate is a har- binger of what’s to come. “I feel like we look good, but we haven’t faced adversity,” junior run- ning back Blake Corum said. “I real- ly don’t know how good we’re gonna be. I feel it. I feel like we’re gonna be great. But I can’t tell you.” The real challenges — the real season — starts now. A grueling Big Ten schedule beckons, begin- ning with a clash against an upstart, undefeated Maryland squad on Sat- urday. It’s not a litmus test, but none- theless an important barometer. Last year serves as a cautionary tale. After a domineering 3-0 non- conference slate, Michigan opened up Big Ten play at home against woeful Rutgers. After waltzing out to a 20-3 halftime lead, the Wolver- ines stagnated, leaving the door ajar for the Scarlet Knights. A fumble late in the fourth quarter secured a Michigan victory, but the game served as a wake-up call. And the Wolverines answered that call in resounding fashion, storming their way through their Big Ten schedule and into India- napolis. When adversity hit — a fourth-quarter deficit in Lincoln, a heart-wrenching loss in East Lan- sing, a nail-biter in Happy Valley — Michigan responded. That’s where a team with poten- tial transcended into a team bound to be cherished for generations. This team, merely because it’s only Week Three, hasn’t faced any tests to push it there. It is simultaneously confident and aware of the need for growth. “We’re in a good spot, but we still got stuff to build on,” junior defen- sive lineman Kris Jenkins said. Though it’s entering confer- ence play in a good spot, Michigan has caught flack for its lackluster non-conference opponents. But, as Corum reiterated Saturday after- noon, you can only play your sched- ule. “We treat every game like a championship game,” Corum said. “We’re just playing the schedule, having fun out there. It’s been great, and Big Ten’s on the way.” To their credit, the Wolverines have played a brand of disciplined, mistake-free football. They like where they are, and there’s no rea- son not to. The offense is humming with McCarthy under center, while the defense has picked up where it left off last year, despite notable ros- ter turnover. They’ve said the right things, too. They maintain that they approach each game as if the opponent is Michigan State or Ohio State, stress- ing the minutia and nuances of each practice. It’s all eerily reminiscent of last season, especially in the way that their play has lent credence to their words. “I like the team a lot,” Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh said after Sat- urday’s game. “… And there’s been zero entitlement.” Harbaugh went on to recall a text he received last week from a child- hood friend. “He said he just can’t wait to watch Michigan football,” Har- baugh remembered. “It reminds him of the days of Rick Leach and Harlan Huckleby and Anthony Carter. That’s the way he feels about this team. I do as well. I get the same feeling about this team.” But there are signs, too, that this year’s group is different. The Wol- verines may carry with them les- sons and memories from last year, but they are not the same. Saturday after the game, that dis- tinction shined brightest. McCar- thy — fresh off his first start as the full-time starting quarterback — took a seat at his press conference with a grin plastered on his face. Gazing towards the cameras point- ed at him, McCarthy leaned over to Corum and marveled, in an audible whisper: “So, this is what it’s really like?” Yes and no. Because Michigan’s season starts now, and when adver- sity hits, that’s when these Wolver- ines will find out what it’s really like. And they know it. McCarthy said he is becom- ing more comfortable each game, which will lead to a path of “expo- nential progress.” For now, though, he is dwelling on his shortcomings, like the second drive of the game which still “haunts” him. The same growth mindset holds true on defense. Sophomore line- backer Junior Colson said that the defense, despite its success, is still crafting its identity. Harbaugh walked through a number of areas that need to be worked through, as is customary for a team in Week Three. “We’re shooting for perfection,” Jenkins said. “The sooner we can get to that, the better.” But are they ready for the Big Ten? “We’ll find out,” Harbaugh said. That’s why, in essence, the sea- son starts now. FOOTBALL VOLLEYBALL ANNA FUDER/Daily Michigan’s ability to score on corner penalties was key to their success on Sunday. JARED GREENSPAN Managing Sports Editor ANNA FUDER/Daily After an easy non-conference schedule, Michigan’s real test will begin with Big T en play this week.