It was the best of times and the worst of times this weekend for the Michigan women’s soccer team.

The Wolverines upset No. 23 Minnesota 1-0 in double-overtime on Friday night before losing at Wisconsin 1-0 in another double-overtime contest on Sunday to close a three-game road trip.

On Friday, freshman forward Nkem Ezurike scored the game-winner against Minnesota with just 27 seconds left in double overtime. Wisconsin’s game-winner Sunday came with only two minutes remaining.

Minnesota was the highest-ranked team the Wolverines (3-2-2 Big Ten, 8-3-4 overall) have played all season, and Friday’s match was arguably the team’s best performance and certainly its most dramatic win of the year. Conversely, the loss to Wisconsin (6-1-2, 9-4-4), Michigan’s first in overtime all year, was its most heartbreaking defeat.

“What I ultimately take from this weekend is that we can compete with any team in the Big Ten and even the country,” Michigan coach Greg Ryan said on Sunday night. “The fact that we’re relying on underclassmen to score all of our goals and we can still play even with teams like Minnesota and Wisconsin shows how good this program is becoming.”

The Golden Gophers (2-4-1, 10-5-2) peppered Michigan’s goal on Friday, outshooting the Wolverines 21-9, but sophomore goalkeeper Haley Kopmeyer stood on her head to deliver the shutout. She made seven saves in one of the best performances of her career.

“Haley had a fabulous performance,” Ryan said. “But also, most of Minnesota’s shots came from outside the box and had little chance to go in, so I think the amount of shots they had is misleading.”

Senior defender Jackie Carron also made a terrific save on the goal line in the 72nd minute to deny Minnesota a goal off a corner kick.

Despite the lopsided shot total, Michigan clearly played like the better team throughout the second half and overtime periods. They created several great chances, but couldn’t put one away until Ezurike’s winner.

In the 109th minute, Ezurike played the ball through to sophomore midfielder Eunnie Kim, who fired a shot that missed the frame by inches. Kim then intercepted the ensuing goal kick and passed to freshman midfielder Megan Toohey, who laid it off for Ezurike. Ezurike took one touch before blasting the ball into the top left corner from 16 yards out to win the match.

It was Michigan’s first road victory against a ranked team since 2003.

“It’s certainly one of the most dramatic and exciting wins we’ve had in my three years here,” Ryan said.

Saturday’s match against Wisconsin was a tense, physical affair without many scoring chances for either team. The Badgers had 12 shots to Michigan’s eight, and there were a total of 36 fouls
from both sides.

Kopmeyer played well again, but gave up a rebound that created Wisconsin’s winning goal in the 108th minute to spoil her otherwise perfect weekend and end the Wolverines’ five-game unbeaten streak.

“It’s a shame,” Coach Ryan said. “We played well overall, but we made just one defensive lapse and it cost us the big game.

Michigan plays three more Big Ten matches before the NCAA Tournament begins on Nov. 12.

"All we’re thinking about at this point is making the tournament,” Ryan said. “If you had asked me before the season, I would have said we’d have really small odds of doing so, but I’d say we have a pretty good chance now.”