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.

