Playing the best in the country certainly has its advantages.

But for the Michigan field hockey team, these advantages have yet to include winning.

The Wolverines lost 2-0 at No. 5 Connecticut on Sunday — their third loss to a top-six team this season.

Against the Huskies, Michigan was shut out for the second time in four games despite being outshot by just one, 9-10. The Wolverines were also unable to capitalize on a 5-3 penalty-corner advantage.

In fact, an inability to put the ball into the back of the net has plagued Michigan through the first four games of the season, having scored just twice in the team’s first four games.

“They finished, we didn’t,” Michigan coach Marcia Pankratz said after the game.

One potential explanation for the team’s offensive woes is its youth. Michigan (0-4) has nine true freshman and one redshirt freshman on a roster comprised of 22 players — many of whom have already begun seeing increased roles.

Freshmen Rachael Mack and Michelle Roberts both got their first starts of the year against Connecticut (3-0), while freshman midfielder Mallory Albini has started every game this year. Two other first-year players have made contributions in a reserve role.

“When you have transition, you’re going to have growing pains,” Pankratz said. “But everybody is really contributing at some point.”

The team’s lack of offensive potency could also be attributed to the early-season schedule, which includes the Huskies, No. 6 Wake Forest and top-ranked defending national champion North Carolina.

“You’re not going to get better without playing the best,” Pankratz said. “We want to be one of the best.”

But in the next several weeks, the Wolverines’ outlook reverses completely.

Michigan returns home for it first game at the Phyllis Ocker Field Hockey Field on Friday against James Madison, and won’t take to the road again until the opening of Big Ten season on September 26 against Penn State.

Actually, eleven of the Wolverines next 13 contests are in Ann Arbor, which is in stark contrast to the six home games Michigan had all of last season.