All four teams were emotionless.

Over the last 10 days, the Michigan women’s soccer team and its foes — Wisconsin, Minnesota and then-No.22 Indiana — have walked off the field in silence. No team was cheering because it won, yet no team was disappointed by a loss.

The Wolverines have a knack for ties. They have played to a stalemate in five of their last six games, and it's clear why: the defense is young and strident, but the offense is aged and quiet. The defense is composed of mostly freshmen, and the offense is mainly upperclassmen.

In eight of the last nine games, Michigan held its adversary to one tally or less. Likewise, in the same eight games, it didn’t notch more than one point. The problem is simply offensive production.

The Wolverine ballhandlers looked like they had a spark on Oct. 23 against the Golden Gophers when senior midfielder Amy Klippert showed true ballhandling skills, juggling past opponents. But that didn’t help Michigan much once she received a red card late in the second half and had to sit out. With a lack of scoring and a lack of discipline, the squad is struggling.

“Amy’s red card has really hurt the team,” Michigan coach Greg Ryan said after the team's tie with the Badgers. “We needed Amy on the field, and we needed her to be disciplined enough.”

Against Minnesota, the Wolverines' only score was on a disputable penalty kick rewarded because of an unintentional hand ball.

In Sunday's game against the Badgers, junior forward Amanda Bowery had a great opportunity to beat a goalie when she ran downfield with two teammates on the wing against a defense that looked fatigued and stunned. Instead of another offender taking a lane in the box, Bowery was forced to unconventionally shoot about 25 yards away and out of the box.

“We don’t have that player that will try and break a defense down by itself,” Ryan said. “Then that will set up something for somebody else.”

Michigan also plays too conservatively on offense. Ryan has emphasized that this isn’t always intentional but rather, none of the players are calling for the ball or are eager to take the kick. The frustration is prevalent, but not just for the low-scoring Wolverine front line.

The defense has also showed signs of irritation. Redshirt freshman Haley Kopmeyer served her fifth shutout of the season on Sunday against Wisconsin, to tie the Michigan rookie shutout record, but three of those have ended in 0-0 ties.

“I definitely would like to put a few more in the back of the net from a team point,” Kopmeyer said. "We are working towards that. Hopefully next game, we can stick a couple in there.”

Bowery played a few games as defender, but was most recently started on the other side of the ball. In the back line, Ryan started freshman Alyssa Engstrom. Against Minnesota, she came in late and played for 65 minutes, rousing the crowd after winning multiple one-on-ones against the Golden Gophers.

“Alyssa is a really, really good defender,” Ryan said. “She is young, but she has learned how to become a good, intelligent college defender.”

Engstrom and Kopmeyer are doing their job. They are not letting opponents score often, and the limited times they do, it’s just been one point. If the team wants to win games, it's time for the Wolverine offense to push the ball and to establish plays.

To fix the problem, the team needs strikers. It must recruit players who will take initiative on the field and take advantage of the team's ability to impressively stun opponents on defense. The wins will come to Ryan and Michigan as long as next year's roster has some more talented forwards on it.

The team’s problem can easily be summed up after its recent 0-0 stalemate against the Hoosiers.

“I can’t remember them having any great chances in front of our net,” Ryan said after the loss to Indiana. “But I can remember a lot of great chances in front of their net. You have to look at who has the better chances, and today we had the better (chances), we just had to put them away and we didn’t.”

Those better chances won't come this year, but the team has the potential to win the Big Ten and be a top-ranked program. And that all relies on improving its roster for the 2010 season.