It has now been 383 minutes since the Michigan women's soccer team has put the ball in the back of the net, and the Wolverine offense is becoming restless.

That restlessness is quickly turning into frustration.

Late in the first half, junior defender Sarah Stanczyk pushed Indiana senior defender Kelly Lawrence through the caution tape on the side of the soccer field and onto rocks that were at the field's edge.

Stanczyk said the push was unintentional, but watching the replay calls that into question.

"Before the game, there was talk about No. 2 (Lawrence)," Stanczyk said. "She stepped on one of the girls' faces at the end of last year's game. We knew she was a player we wanted to watch out for."

Once Lawrence was treated by the medical trainer for the fall, she jumped to the sideline and called her teammate out of the game for a substitution. However, one referee pointed the teammate back to the field and said it wasn’t yet time for subs.

Aggression and confusion ensued, which epitomized the nature of Sunday's 0-0 stalemate between Michigan (0-2-3 Big Ten, 5-7-3 overall) and the Hoosiers (1-2-2 Big Ten, 9-3-2 overall). The Wolverines had plenty of opportunities but couldn't capitalize.

“We are a little snake bit right now,” Michigan coach Greg Ryan said at the end of the game. “We're creating great chances, but not getting anything.”

The Wolverines had three set plays where players had the chance to net the ball. The first was called back because of an obstructing the keeper call, and the others were just missed opportunities. Junior midfielder and defender Jackie Carron missed one chance when a free kick fell right in front of the net. After a delay, Indiana's goalie got there first.

Michigan's season-long struggle of pushing the ball forward on offense was apparent in the first half.

“As a forward, when I missed, I wanted to hear positive criticism,” Michigan junior defender Amanda Bowery said. “We’ve just had some issues at putting the ball to the back of the net. Today we had a couple one vs. ones, and we didn’t get lucky.”

But the Wolverine defense had a successful defensive game as it blanked No. 22 Indiana. Redshirt freshman goalie Haley Kopmeyer notched her fourth career shutout, and she is now tied for second in program history for most shut outs in a season.

Last Thursday, against Purdue, Ryan employed a new defense in which just three defenders stay on the back line. This defense confused the typically aggressive Hoosier offense the entire game.

“We did a really good job not letting them get behind us and giving them the opportunity to be dangerous,” Kopmeyer said. “We did a good job shutting down their key players. The further we pushed them up the field, the harder it was for them to take their shots.”

Kopmeyer had five saves, partially because the stunned Indiana offense couldn't take many shots.

Indiana has taken 209 shots this season, averaging 16 per game. The Wolverines effectively held them to just 14, five of which were on goal.

And the team is trying to translate that defensive toughness into a mentality if the entire team from here on out.

"Our coach is always telling us that people like to play Michigan sometimes because we have a reputation for being kind of soft," Stanczyk said. "So we make it a bigger issue on the team that we are going to be more aggressive. We are going to play tougher and you always want to give, whoever you're going up against, a big hit so they know that you're there to play and that they can't just go past you."