Halftime made all the difference on Sunday afternoon for the Michigan field hockey team, who pulled off a hard-fought 2-1 win over Rutgers.
Unlike the first 35 minutes of play, the Wolverines (2-1 Big Ten, 7-3 overall) added pressure as they maintained ball control and produced more offensive breaks in the second half. Michigan glided by a Scarlet Knights’ defense that had limited its offense to only one goal in the first half; a goal matched by Rutgers (0-3, 4-5) before the halftime horn.
What was exchanged between Michigan coach Marcia Pankratz and her team during those few minutes proved to be beneficial as the Wolverines stepped back onto the field with a fresh rush of adrenaline.
Sophomore Eliza Stein fired the game-winning goal 12 minutes into the second half, but not before Michigan faced some adversity.
As if the Rutgers defense was not already posing a challenge for the Wolverines’ offense, the Scarlet Knights also found themselves with a three-man advantage early in the second half. A yellow card and two green cards were given within two minutes to senior midfielder Ainsley McCallister, junior midfielder Jaime Dean and senior back Leslie Smith, respectively.
With three offensive players off the field, two of whom were scoring leaders, Michigan was forced to focus on defending. But the Wolverines protected their side successfully and prevented any Rutgers’ shots from landing.
After regaining full strength, Michigan quickly moved the ball downfield and with one swift pass from freshman Carly Bennett, Stein found an opening in the net.
“We caught the defenders off-guard and finally capitalized on it,” Stein said. “It was a great run from Carly to me. It felt good.”
As the game came to a close, the Wolverines’ offense became more aggressive and attacked more frequently. To their dismay, many of the attempts were missed, with the ball flying overhead, being redirected off the goal post or blocked by the Scarlet Knights’ goal tender.
Although they failed to convert on any of the seven penalty corners throughout the game, the Wolverines outshot their opponents, 14-6.
“We had a ton of shots both halves and we just couldn’t convert,” Stein said. “We were getting the shots off we just had to keep being more aggressive.”
Rutgers tested the Wolverines in ways they didn’t expect, but one thing Pankratz knows for sure is that “even when things aren’t going smoothly, we can still find a way to win.”