The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
10 — Wednesday, October 5, 2022
Wolverines roll past Ball State as
defense shines
SAMUEL MOELIS
For The Daily
Coming off a 4-1 win against
Big Ten rival Rutgers, the No.
8 Michigan field hockey team
(6-4 overall, 1-2 Big Ten) looked
to keep the momentum roll-
ing in its final non-conference
game of the season against Ball
State (5-5) on Sunday. Firing on
all cylinders, the Wolverines
sailed past the Cardinals, 7-0.
“One thing we’ve really been
working on is just building off
of each other and building our
momentum
throughout
the
game,” sophomore midfielder
Abby Tamer said.
Michigan built that momen-
tum quickly and built on it
often. Within the first minute
of play, the Wolverines drew
two penalty corners leading
to three shots. But while it
couldn’t convert either, Michi-
gan continued to apply pres-
sure on Ball State.
Finally,
that
pressure
reached a tipping point, as
Tamer slammed home the third
corner of the period from the
top of the circle — her first of
two on the afternoon. By the
end of the period, Michigan
outshot Ball State 10-0, tilting
the field in its favor.
“Personally, it’s nice to get in
on corners and get goals pro-
duced,” Tamer said. “But it’s
on everyone to earn those cor-
ners.”
The Wolverines kept their
foot on the gas, recording seven
shots in the first three minutes
of the second period.
Junior
midfielder
Lora
Clarke shined throughout the
period, tallying two goals with-
in four minutes — the latter of
which came off one of the many
failed clearing attempts by the
Cardinals. At the half Michigan
led by three, and Ball State had
yet to register a shot.
Looking to seal the game, the
Wolverines came out of the half
on a mission, adding two goals
in the first three minutes of
play. The Cardinals struggled to
find an answer, failing to slow
Michigan’s offensive onslaught
as it tacked on two final goals to
stretch the lead to seven.
“To see the goals start to fall
is good for our team, for our
team morale and for our for-
wards to just be putting balls
in the back of the net,” Tamer
said.
Throughout the game, the
Wolverine defense was stel-
lar. Each time Ball State pos-
sessed the ball in search of
a breakout Michigan had at
least two players there to
swarm to the ball. This made
it very challenging for an
already struggling Cardinals
to create any sort of offense.
The lone shot allowed came
in the final minute of play and
wasn’t even directed at the
net.
“That was another point
of emphasis, to play a clean
game defensively,” Michigan
coach Marcia Pankratz said.
“It’s tough to hold for the
whole sixty minutes.”
Especially in a game where
Michigan led the whole time,
staying focused and keep-
ing the pressure on can be
challenging.
By
remaining
engaged for a full sixty min-
utes, the Wolverines were
able to finish strong against
Ball State.
With its sights set on the
tough conference schedule
that lies ahead, a dominating
win today goes a long way in
terms of building momentum.
FIELD HOCKEY
Haakenson game-winner helps Michigan defeat Minnesota
ZACH EDWARDS
For The Daily
The last time the Michigan
women’s soccer team won at
Minnesota was in 2012. Enter-
ing Minneapolis, the Wolverines
looked to improve upon their
already stellar away record and
capture an elusive first win in Big
Ten play.
On Thursday night, Michi-
gan did just that. The Wolver-
ines (6-4-2 overall, 1-2-1 Big Ten)
defeated the Golden Gophers
(5-6-1, 1-3-0) 1-0, in a 65th minute
goal.
Graduate midfielder Meredith
Haakenson was born and raised
in Maple Grove, Minnesota, only
a 20 minute drive from the Uni-
versity of Minnesota. Thursday
night was her first time back
playing in her home state and
she delivered, scoring Michigan’s
only goal.
The Wolverines looked strong,
controlling possession through-
out the first half. Michigan’s
domination of possession and
stellar passing ability in the first
half allowed it to have five shots
on target. But the Wolverines
were unable to put any in the back
of the net.
Michigan coach Jen Klein
talked about how, from the start,
possession was imperative if
her team was to break down the
Golden Gopher defense.
“Positioning of players allowed
us to have good support options,
play players to a particular foot
to create opportunities and break
(Minnesota’s) lines of pressure,”
Klein said.
Although the Wolverines held
the majority of the time of pos-
session, one main factor in Michi-
gan’s lack of goal scoring success
was
Minnesota’s
goalkeeper
Megan Plaschko as she made five
remarkable saves in the first half
alone.
“A lot of credit to their goal-
keeper she did a fantastic job the
whole game,” Klein said. “She did
a great job of keeping them in the
game.”
Moving into the second half,
Michigan stuck to its game plan
of holding possession and mak-
ing smart passes. Junior defend-
er Sarah Bridenstine crossed
the ball while being covered by
two defenders for a slight redi-
rect from Haakenson to put the
Wolverines ahead. The contin-
ued pressure and opportunities
allowed Michigan to score the
deciding goal, sneaking it past
Plaschko.
“What we told the team at
halftime was to keep doing what
we’re doing,” Klein said. “We’re
generating opportunities and if
we stay committed to it one will
break for us.”
After the goal, the Golden
Gophers displayed a sense of
urgency to get an equalizer. Min-
nesota produced three corner
kicks, but mustered only one shot
on target. The discipline of the
SYDNEY HASTINGS-WILKINS/Daily
Michigan defense allowed it to
contain the ball from entering the
box on many occasions and force
corner kicks or bad passes.
Klein credited much of the
defensive success at the end to
a collaborative effort from the
backline and the rest of the team.
“We want to make sure we
put a full team effort in when it
comes to defending. Not only our
backline but our entire team gave
a great defensive performance as
far as working hard and matching
their energy,” Klein said. “Min-
nesota had a lot of good attack-
ing personalities so we knew we
were going to have to step up and
be ready to battle to the end.”
Looking forward Michigan
will have to continue its success
from Minneapolis in terms of
chance creation and disciplined
defense if it wants to contend in
the Big Ten.
“We need to make sure we
show up and we work hard every
single day. I don’t think there’s
any easy game in our league so
we first and foremost need to
make sure we show up and work
hard.”
Meredith Haakenson scored a game-winner to help propel Michigan past Minnesota.
Michigan shows improved
offense in draw against Indiana
CLAUDIA HURST
For The Daily
Capitalizing on scoring oppor-
tunities is one of the most difficult
and defining aspects of a soccer
match. The sound of the ball hit-
ting the back of the net is the most
memorable part of a game.
But even in a game where the
Michigan men’s soccer team con-
verted on its offensive opportuni-
ties, it still could not pull off the
win.
On Sunday, the Wolverines
(3-5-3 overall, 1-2-1 Big Ten)
tied Indiana (4-2-3, 1-1-2), 2-2, in
Michigan’s first home game of Big
Ten play.
It was obvious in the first five
minutes of Sunday’s game that
the Wolverines arrived at the
field ready to play. Michigan was
intercepting passes, making quick
touches, and controlling the ball
movement throughout the entire
field.
“I was very demanding of a
response off of a disappointing
response from Tuesday,” Michi-
gan coach Chaka Daley said. “We
are better than our record has
shown to this point.”
The
Wolverines
rebounded
from their difficult week with a
unified offensive performance.
Michigan’s energy was set in the
second minute with its first shot
on goal, from senior midfielder
Inaki Rodriguez, and that energy
stayed consistent throughout the
game.
“We need to continue to com-
pete the right way and show great
energy and spirit which I think
we started the game with and that
carries through the whole game,”
Daley said.
In the 19th minute, Rodri-
guez switched the point of the
attack for junior midfielder Bryce
Blevins to cross the ball from the
left flank. Indiana’s goalkeeper
JT Harms left his six-yard box to
tip the ball, but once he was out
of position, sophomore defender
Jason Bucknor ripped the loose
ball into the goal to make the
score 1-0.
Michigan’s energy only inten-
sified after its first goal. As the
Wolverines dominated in the first
half, they appeared connected in
their passing game. The experi-
enced junior and senior midfield-
ers played in the center of the field
with ease.
As the second half began
though, the momentum started
to shift.
Indiana tied the game in the
64th minute by continuously
moving the ball throughout the
field, concluding in a short pass
to forward Tommy Mihalic,
who shot the ball outside of the
Michigan goalkeeper’s reach.
But the battle was far from
over.
The Wolverines immediately
rebounded with a goal of their
own, taking the lead again. Mid-
field graduate student Kevin
Buca crossed the ball to senior
midfielder Cameron Martin in
the 65th minute.
However, depleting momen-
tum, the Hoosiers’ defender
Daniel Munie tied the game
after a ball stayed in front of the
Michigan goal for too long late
in the 81st minute.
“I think they need to see the
result,” Daley said. “Our group
is disappointed, which is a good
thing.”
The Wolverines showed a lot
of resolve in their play on Sun-
day, but still couldn’t get the
result.
The next step for the team is
to use the disappointment from
another unwanted result, and
let it fuel a motivated response.
MEN’S SOCCER
ANNA FUDER/Daily
Michigan dominated Ball State, holding them to only one shot the entire game.
Sports
WOMEN’S SOCCER
Michigan wheelchair basketball hosts its second annual Wolverine Invitational
TASMIA JAMIL
For The Daily
After
qualifying
for
the
NWBA national championship
in its debut season, the Michi-
gan wheelchair basketball team
returned to action at the Wol-
verine Invitational, losing all
four of its matchups in a lack-
luster weekend.
The Wolverines hosted the
Detroit Wheelchair Pistons, the
Variety Village Rolling Rebel,
the Brampton Crashers and the
LSWR Hawks at the three-day
meet this past weekend at St.
Clair County Community Col-
lege in Port Huron. With the
addition of five new players to
the roster, Michigan struggled
to replicate last year’s domi-
nance.
“You can’t win them all,”
Michigan Coach Jessica Wynne
said. “But in every game, we
grew. … It’s a building block for
what we’re going to do next.”
In their first game, the Wol-
verines were pitted against
Brampton.
From
the
open-
ing possession, the absence of
team chemistry was evident.
The early turnovers and missed
defensive rotations allowed the
Crashers to convert in transi-
tion, and Michigan found itself
down by 13 points at the half.
The Wolverines entered the
second half with increased
defensive intensity, applying
full-court pressure on Bramp-
ton, but the dominant per-
formances by Crasher guards
Puisand
Lai
and
Tamara
Steeves led to a comfortable
59-39 Brampton win.
Michigan’s
energy
was
unhindered as it faced LSWR
on Saturday. The Wolverines
fought for every loose ball and
forced turnovers early in the
game. While Michigan gener-
ated good shots, the momentum
shifted in the Hawks’ favor and
the team quickly found itself
trailing by eight points heading
into the half.
The Wolverine offense —
led by first-year guard Erik
Robeznieks and second-year
guard Kevin Konfara — sparked
a glimmer of hope late into the
game, but they were unable to
get stops on the defensive end,
ultimately falling to the Hawks
69-54.
With the adrenaline still
pumping, Michigan was imme-
diately whisked into its next
game against the Variety Vil-
lage. The Rebels, playing their
first game of the tournament,
controlled the game from the
tipoff. The fatigued Wolverines
failed to contain the Variety
Village’s offense, struggling to
a 57-32 loss.
Regardless of the early losses
in the tournament, the team
remained optimistic heading
into its final game of the week-
end against its Division II rival,
Detroit Wheelchair.
“Every game we played, we
got better,” Konfara said. “Our
goal is to just get better each
time we get out there.”
The Pistons were the high-
est-ranked
team
Michigan
encountered in the tourna-
ment, and they were up for the
challenge. After a grueling and
physical
game,
second-year
forward Alex Saleh and Kon-
fara gave the Wolverines their
first halftime lead in the tour-
nament.
It appeared as if Michigan
was going to have a solid defen-
sive performance, too. The
Wolverines showed improved
chemistry, trusting each other
every possession down and
rotating smoothly on defense
at the half. After that, however,
the remainder of the game was
all Detroit. Michigan failed
to keep pace with the Pistons’
shooting, ending the tourna-
ment on a 61-51 loss.
Although the tournament
came to a close early for the
Wolverines, its outcome hasn’t
shaken
the
championship
aspiration of the team. The
community support at the invi-
tational reaffirmed Michigan’s
confidence in the U-M Adap-
tive Sports program.
“The main thing is that we’re
making history,” Wynne said.
“Everything that we’re doing
is something bigger than just
basketball.”
SPORTS & SOCIETY
SYDNEY HASTINGS-WILKINS/Daily
Despite converting on multiple offensive chances, Michigan still could not pull off a win against Indiana.