The Michigan field hockey team knew it would take excellent defense to come out of this weekend unscathed against No. 4 Michigan State and Kent State, the top team in the Mid-American Conference.
The defense did its part, letting up just one goal all weekend, but the offense struggled to produce.
“There was no execution or consistency in effort,” Michigan coach Nancy Cox said.
After upsetting Michigan State 1-0 on Friday, the Wolverines faced Kent State in a defensive slugfest, losing 1-0 in overtime. Neither team could muster a shot on goal for the first 24 minutes of the contest. And that first shot, off a corner, was Michigan’s only chance of the half.
In the second half, the Golden Flashes outshot Michigan 4-3. With the game still scoreless, the Wolverines made a late push in the final minutes of regulation, but couldn’t score to avoid overtime.
And just three minutes into the extra period, Kent State notched the game’s lone score. The ball bounced around off a corner to Golden Flash defender Carla Johl, who scored the game-winning goal from the right side of the circle.
Despite four halves of shutout defense, the Wolverine offense couldn’t capitalize, scoring just one goal in two games this weekend and failing to create consistent scoring opportunities against Kent State.
“We need to take this on ourselves as a unit,” Cox said. “We need to work on our attacking third…This was not reflective of Michigan on the field and we were tentative out there.”
Michigan’s only goal of the weekend came toward the end of the first half against the Spartans, when sophomore Zana Saydjari scored the eventual game-winner amidst a flurry of defenders in the circle.
Michigan State responded with a relentless attack from that point to the end of the first half, but the Wolverines held them off.
“(The Spartans) have a formidable forward unit,” Cox said. “If you’re going to give them kudos for what they did after the goal, then you also have to give kudos to our tremendous defense to sustain and get us to halftime.”
In the second half, Michigan State continued its attack on the Wolverines (3-1 Big Ten, 8-7 overall), outshooting them 5-2. But the Spartans (3-1, 13-3) were unable to put their shots on target as they ran into a stifling Wolverine defense.
“My key was communication,” Michigan junior goalie Paige Pickett said. “I was constantly talking to my defenders, who had a great game, and I trusted them to help out. The defense stopped all of the shots that could’ve come to me and they really helped us win the game.”
Pickett made six saves in her third shutout of the season.
Senior captain Michaela McDermott was a key to Michigan’s tough defense, playing all 70 minutes from the back line.
“This was a must-win game for us,” McDermott said. “This win was huge with the loss at Indiana last week. We needed to come out and make a statement.”