Hillary Beall came to Ann Arbor typifying what it means to be a highly-touted prospect. The No. 1 goalkeeper in the class of 2017 according to Top Drawer Soccer, Beall was expected to become an elite keeper for the Wolverines.
The Michigan women’s soccer team formed a circle and started dancing, jumping and screaming prior to their game against Purdue. Moments later, they were screaming again — this time to celebrate sophomore midfielder Raleigh Loughman's goal just 49 seconds into the game. The early goal helped the Wolverines (8-2-0 overall, 3-0-0 Big Ten) to a 2-1 victory in rainy conditions over the Boilermakers (6-3-1, 2-1-0).
The Michigan women’s soccer team (8-2-1, 3-0-1 Big Ten) tied Indiana 0-0 on on Sunday behind a strong defensive performance anchored by sophomore defender Sydney Shepherd and junior defender Alia Martin.
The Michigan men’s soccer team has a new player this season who is lighting up opposing defenses. His name is Nebojsa Popovic.
Despite being tied at one with Ohio State (3-5-1, 1-1-0 Big Ten) at the end of the first half, Michigan (7-2-0, 2-0-0 Big Ten) was being outshot 14-7 and had allowed the Buckeyes to dominate possession.
Only two minutes after kickoff, the pitch-length run and resulting goal gave the Wolverines an early one-goal lead. But that was the only offensive production that Michigan (0-0-1 Big Ten, 3-2-2 Overall) could muster in a rain-shortened 1-1 draw to Rutgers (0-0-1 Big Ten, 5-0-2 Overall).
A win only takes one goal.
In the first 10 minutes of the Michigan women’s soccer game against No. 23 Penn State, junior midfielder Sarah Stratigakis passed the ball to fellow midfielder sophomore Meredith Haakenson. Haakenson capitalized on the opportunity and fired a shot into the upper right corner of the goal — scoring the only point of the game as the Wolverines won, 1-0.
In the 11th minute of the Michigan men’s soccer team’s match against Oakland, spectators saw graduate transfer forward Nebojsa Popovic fire a shot at Golden Grizzlies goalkeeper Sullivan Lauderdale. They saw senior forward Jack Hallahan bury the rebound in the back of the net and run off celebrating.
But the most important part of the play came before that. Faced with a charging defender along the sideline, junior winger Umar Farouk Osman made a quick stutter-step that put his opponent on skates, creating space for a cross to Popovic to set up the goal.
The Wolverines’ (3-2-1) ability to maintain possession under pressure was vital to their success against Oakland (3-2-1) at the U-M Soccer Stadium on Tuesday.
Belief. It’s a word Michigan men’s soccer coach Chaka Daley used a lot after the Wolverines' (3-2-1) 2-0 victory over Oakland University (3-2-1) on Tuesday night. More specifically, Daley wanted to take that belief away from the Golden Grizzlies. His squad had plenty of their own. In the 11th minute, the Wolverines were able to force more shots on target and finally capitalize. Hallahan found the ball at his feet after a shot by graduate transfer forward Nebosja Popovic was deflected by Oakland goalkeeper Sullivan Lauderdale, and he finally broke the drought. But when asked about what he did best tonight, Hallahan was quick to acknowledge his achievements on the other side of the ball.
Eight minutes in, disaster struck for the Wolverines. They’d fight. They’d keep their composure. But they’d never recover.