For the third straight game, the Michigan field hockey team surrendered the first goal.
- Paul Wong
- JESSICA YURASEK/Daily
Sophomore Katy Moyneur and MIchigan needed to overcome two early deficits in order to notch their victories this weekend over Connecticut and Boston College.
And for the third straight game, the Wolverines won despite the early deficit. Yesterday’s 2-1 overtime victory over Connecticut is the most dramatic example of an early-season trend of the Wolverines overcoming an opponent’s lead.
Michigan coach Marcia Pankratz is happy her team keeps winning, but is concerned that the Wolverines have not come out early and controlled the pace of the game.
“It’s a little disconcerting,” Pankratz said. “I’m not sure if it’s in the warmup, our focus or just bad luck.
“We are very potent and dangerous, so the fact that we can let up a soft goal and bounce back is something we can look at as positive.”
Saturday’s Boston College match might have been the most unsettling.
Only a minute and a half into the game, the Eagles’ Kim French beat Michigan goalkeeper Molly Maloney for the 1-0 lead. Granted the Wolverines went on to win 6-2, but senior midfielder Jessica Rose is worried because the goals aren’t coming in the early going.
“We tend to have games like this,” Rose said. “You’re not always going to score that first goal, and sometimes we’re going to be down. I think we showed how to keep fighting today.”
Shot down: After Saturday’s 6-2 romp over Boston College, the Wolverines struggled to put the ball in the net against Connecticut. Despite firing 25 shots on the Huskies’ goalkeeper Maureen Butler, Michigan could not get the ball in the net until the 64th minute, and added the game winner in overtime.
With the exception of the 2-0 loss to Wake Forest on Sept. 1, yesterday’s game featured the lowest team shooting percentage – eight-percent – of the season. Senior defender Molly Powers felt it is a strain on the team’s morale when it drives the length of the field and comes away with nothing.
“It was frustrating (not to get the ball in the net) because you exert so much effort to get the ball down there,” Powers said.
Senior leadership: After Connecticut scored the go-ahead goal with 13 minutes to go, the Huskies called a timeout to prepare for the potential Wolverines onslaught.
Despite the need to score to keep the Wolverines’ comeback hopes alive, the mood in the Michigan huddle was composed, the sign of an experienced team.
The timeout gave the veteran players a chance to demonstrate why this team won the national championship last season.
“The leaders and the upperclassmen had some words to say that were pretty resilient,” Pankratz said.
“The team listened, and stepped up.”