Weekly Release #13
11/11/1999 12:00:00 AM | Women's Soccer
Saturday, Nov. 13 -- at Wake Forest (Winston-Salem, N.C.), 4 p.m.
On to the Second Round
After opening the 1999 NCAA Women's Soccer Championship with a 5-0 victory over Wright State on Wednesday (Nov. 10), the Michigan women's soccer team now travels to Winston-Salem, N.C. to face the Wake Forest Deamon Deacons in the second round of the championship Saturday (Nov. 13) at 4 p.m. at Spry Stadium. The winner of the Michigan-Wake Forest match will face the winner of the Clemson-Marquette match in the third round (Nov. 20-21). Michigan has never advanced past the second round of the NCAA Championship, falling 3-0 to Notre Dame in the second round of last season's tournament.
Scouting the Opponent ...
Wake Forest -- Wake Forest is 15-6-0 on the season ... the Demon Deacons are a member of the Atlantic Coast Conference ... Wake Forest is making its fourth consecutive appearance in the NCAA Championship ... this is the first series meeting between the Wolverines and Demon Deacons ... this is also the first match-up in Michigan's history against an ACC opponent ... Wake Forest on the Internet: www.wakeforestsports.com.
How Michigan Advanced ...
First Round -- The Michigan women's soccer team received a goal and two assists from Amber Berendowsky (Brighton, Mich./Brighton HS) and two goals from Marie Spaccarotella (Livonia, Mich./Churchill HS) as the Wolverines defeated the Wright State Raiders 5-0 in the first round of the NCAA Championship on Wednesday (Nov. 10) in front of 323 fans at the Michigan Soccer Field. Michigan possessed the ball for most of the game and held Wright State (11-9-1) without a shot in the game, out-shooting the Raiders by a 25-0 margin. Still the Wolverines could not muster a goal until the 32nd minute.
Berendowsky's two helpers gave her a new Big Ten Conference-record 34 career assists. She had tied the conference record with an assist against Butler earlier in the season.
Berendowsky got the Wolverines on the board first with her fourth goal of the season. Wright State had the ball in the Michigan end when the Wolverines mounted a quick counter. Abby Crumpton (Rochester Hills, Mich./Rochester Adams HS) cleared the ball up to midfield where Berendowsky was waiting. Berendowsky split the defenders and raced in from midfield on a one-on-one with the goalie and slid a 17-yard shot inside the left post at 31:27.
Five minutes later Kacy Beitel (Midland, Mich./H.H. Dow HS) volleyed a ball inside the left post for her team-leading 15th goal of the season, and her sixth tally in Michigan's four postseason games this season, giving Michigan a 2-0 lead. The Wolverines made it 3-0 with 20 seconds remaining in the first half Berendowsky found Spaccarotella in the middle of the box. Spaccarotella chipped the ball over the goalie from seven yards out for a 3-0 Michigan advantage.
The Wolverines added second-half goals from Spaccarotella, her second goal of the game and seventh of the season, at 51:16 and Mari Hoff (Canton, Mich./Salem HS), off a free kick from 20 yards out at 73:22 for her seventh of the year.
Big Ten Tournament Recap
Michigan entered the Big Ten Conference Tournament (Nov. 5-7) as the No. 2 seed, on the strength of its 8-1-1 conference mark and second-place finish in the Big Ten Conference regular-season standings, and exited with its second tournament title in three years (1997). In doing so, the Wolverines became the first team in conference history to win two Big Ten Tournament titles.
The Wolverines won the title with a balanced offensive attack which netted 10 goals in the three games, including four in both the semifinals and final. Michigan was led by Kacy Beitel (Midland, Mich./H.H. Dow HS), who scored an unreal five goals and one assist for 11 points. Abby Crumpton (Rochester Hills, Mich./Rochester Adams HS) added three goals and two assists for eight points and Emily Schmitt (Troy, Mich./Athens HS) contributed four assists.
Michigan opened the tournament with a 2-1 overtime win against in-state rival Michigan State. Beitel provided the Wolverines with all their offense, scoring at 28:35 of the first half to give Michigan a 1-0 lead and then adding the game-winner 3:31 into the overtime period.
In the 4-3 semifinal win over Illinois, Crumpton and Beitel pushed Michigan out to a 2-0 lead 8:26 into the match. Following an Illinois goal to cut the U-M lead to 2-1, Carly Williamson (Barrington, R.I./Barrington HS) netted her second goal of the season to give the Wolverines a 3-1 halftime advantage. The lead grew to 4-1 when Mari Hoff (Canton, Mich./Salem HS) tallied her sixth of the season at 51:50. Illinois scored at 52:05 and again at 69:13 to cut the lead to one, but could not generate the equalizer and Michigan held on for a 4-3 victory.
In the final, Michigan jumped out to an improbable 4-0 lead over No. 5 and top-seeded Penn State before holding on for a 4-2 victory. Crumpton then Beitel registered first-half tallies. The duo each added another goal in the second half to push the Michigan lead to four, before Penn State rallied for a pair of goals at 72:42 and 73:07 to close the scoring.
NCAA Championship History
This marks the third consecutive season the Wolverines have made an appearance in the NCAA postseason tournament and the second consecutive season they have opened with a home match. Michigan holds a 2-2 record in NCAA Championship play. The Wolverines opened the 1999 tournament with a 5-0 victory at home over Wright State. Last season, Michigan defeated Xavier 4-2 at home before falling to Notre Dame 3-0 in the second round. The Wolverines lost 5-1 at Nebraska in 1997.
Final Polls
The Michigan women's soccer team placed in at No. 18 in the final NSCAA soccer rankings of the 1999 season. The Wolverines moved up a slot in the regional rankings, tying with Kentucky for second in the Great Lakes Region. Michigan jumped four slots in the Nov. 8 Soccer Buzz rankings, moving into No. 18. The Wolverines reappeared in the Soccer America poll at No. 17, the first time Michigan has appeared in the poll since Aug. 30, when it ranked in at No. 16. Soccer Times ranked the Wolverines No. 21 in the Oct. 31 poll.
NSCAA/adidas Division I National Ranking (11/8/99 -- Final)
School Record Pts LW 1. Santa Clara 20-0-0 300 1 2. Florida 21-1-0 285 2 3. North Carolina 19-2-0 275 3 4. Nebraska 20-1-1 268 4 5. Notre Dame 18-3-0 250 6 6. Penn State 18-3-1 241 5 7. Harvard 14-1-1 217 9 8. Stanford 14-4-1 212 7 Clemson 13-6-1 212 8 10. William & Mary 18-3-1 180 12 11. Texas A&M 15-4-1 175 10 12. Connecticut 15-7-0 167 13 13. Kentucky 16-2-1 162 14 14. UCLA 14-4-1 149 20 15. Wake Forest 15-6-1 144 15 16. Virginia 12-8-0 135 16 17. Southern Cal 14-5-0 119 11 18. MICHIGAN 16-5-1 112 18 19. SMU 15-5-1 90 19 20. San Diego 15-4-0 75 17 21. Missouri 14-7-1 63 25 22. Duke 12-9-0 40 21 23. Brigham Young 20-3-0 34 23 24. Dartmouth 9-7-1 28 24 25. Maryland 10-9-1 23 NR
Fire Away
The Wolverines set a Big Ten Conference record for most shots in a season. Michigan has fired off 508 shots, breaking the record of 457 set by the 1998 Penn State team. The Wolverines are averaging 22.1 shots per game, 1.8 ahead of the Big Ten record (20.3 spg) established by the 1996 Michigan team.
Season Games Shots Shots/G 1999 23 508 22.1 1996 20 406 20.3 1997 23 445 19.3 1994 19 364 19.2 1995 20 308 15.4 1998 22 280 12.7
More Team Tidbits
Michigan's offense has come to life during the postseason. In the four games, the Wolverines have netted 15 goals and registered 14 assists for 44 points, an average of 3.8 goals and 11.0 points per game. Michigan entered the postseason averaging 2.2 goals and 6.5 points per game. The Big Ten and NCAA tournaments have raised the Wolverines' season totals to 167 points, the second highest mark in school history behind the 222 scored in 1997. Michigan's 58 goals scored are the second most by a Wolverine squad, 21 short of the school record (79) set in 1997.
Six Named to All-Big Ten Team
Michigan placed a program-record six players on the 1999 All-Big Ten soccer team, including a conference-high four players on the first team. Kacy Beitel, Abby Crumpton, Shannon Poole and Emily Schmitt earned first team honors while Mari Hoff and Carissa Stewart gained second team recognition. Hoff made her fourth All-Big Ten team, the only Wolverine soccer player to ever receive the distinction in each of her seasons, while Beitel, a second team honoree last season, earned her second All-Big Ten distinction. Crumpton, Poole, Schmitt and Stewart all made their first appearance on an All-Big Ten team.
They Keep Going, and Going, and ...
Seniors Shannon Poole (Troy, Mich./Troy HS) and Emily Schmitt (Troy, Mich./Athens HS) have played in all 88 games during their tenure at Michigan. The two set the school record for appearances in the Alabama match (Oct. 29). Incredibly, Poole has started each of those 88 matches, breaking the school record of 82 set by Debbie Flaherty (1994-97).
Captain Schmitt Leads the Way
Senior All-America candidate Emily Schmitt dished out an assist in each of Michigan's three Big Ten Tournament (Nov. 5-7) wins to tie a career-long three-match scoring streak. Schmitt, who had two three-match scoring streaks earlier in the season, has recorded a point in six of Michigan's last eight games. Further, with 17 shots during the postseason Schmitt has become the second Wolverine and 11th member of the Big Ten Conference to fire off 200 career shots.
Kacy Beitel ... En Fuego!
Junior All-America candidate Kacy Beitel has been on fire during the 1999 postseason. She finished with a Big Ten Tournament-high five goals and 11 points in Michigan's three-match run to the title (Nov. 5-7) and added another goal in Michigan's NCAA Championship victory over Wright State (Nov. 10). Beitel, an All-Big Ten First Team honoree, has netted a team-high 15 goals and 34 points on the season, the second highest single-season goal total and third highest points total. The torrid stretch has pushed Beitel's career totals to 34 goals and 81 points. Her 34 goals are the second most by a Wolverine and the seventh most in Big Ten history, while the 81 points are the second highest total by a Wolverine and the seventh highest in Big Ten history. Amber Berendowsky holds the school's career scoring records with 39 goals and 113 points.
Most Career Points
PLAYER (YEARS) POINTS AMBER BERENDOWSKY (1996- ) 113 KACY BEITEL (1997- ) 81 Jessica Limauro (1995-98) 79 Ruth Poulin (1994-97) 72 Debbie Flaherty (1994-97) 62 EMILY SCHMITT (1996- ) 60
Assisting Her Way to the Top
Senior All-America candidate Emily Schmitt recorded four assists during the Big Ten Tournament (Nov. 5-7) and has 13 helpers on the season, the second highest single-season assist mark in Michigan history and the third most by a Big Ten Conference player in a single season. Schmitt has 19 assists for her career, one behind Debbie Flaherty (1994-97) for second on the school's all-time list. Classmate Mari Hoff has doled out 15 career assists, the fourth most by a Wolverine, two behind Jessica Limauro (1995-98) and two ahead of junior Kacy Beitel. Quietly, freshman Abby Crumpton has accumulated eight assists on the season, the third highest single-season total by a Wolverine. Amber Berendowsky, who has a share of the Big Ten Conference career assists mark, holds the school records with 31 career assists and 17 assists in 1997.
Most Career Assists
PLAYER (YEARS) ASSISTS AMBER BERENDOWSKY (1996- ) 33 Debbie Flaherty (1994-97) 20 EMILY SCHMITT (1996-) 19 Jessica Limauro (1995-98) 17 MARI HOFF (1996- ) 15 KACY BEITEL (1997- ) 13
Most Single-Season Assists
PLAYER ASSISTS (YEAR) Amber Berendowsky 17 (1997) EMILY SCHMITT 13 (1999) ABBY CRUMPTON 8 (1999) Jessica Limauro 7 (1998) Debbie Flaherty 7 (1997) Debbie Flaherty 7 (1994)
Consistent Crumpton
Freshman Abby Crumpton, an All-Big Ten first team honoree, had her best performance of the season in the Big Ten Tournament finals, with two goals and an assist in Michigan's 4-2 victory over top-seeded Penn State (Nov. 7). In the three games of the tournament, she scored three goals and two assists for eight points. She continued her postseason success with an assist in the NCAA first-round match against Wright State (Nov. 10), raising her season totals to 12 goals, eight assists and 32 points. Crumpton needs just two goals and one points to tie the Michigan records for goals (14) and points (33) by a freshman. Both marks were established by Kacy Beitel during the 1997 season.
Most Goals (Freshman Season)
PLAYER GOALS (YEAR) Kacy Beitel 14 (1997) ABBY CRUMPTON 12 (1999) Mari Hoff 8 (1996) Amber Berendowsky 7 (1996) Ruth Poulin 7 (1994) Marie Spaccarotella 6 (1996)
Most Points (Freshman Season)
PLAYER POINTS (YEAR) Kacy Beitel 33 (1997) ABBY CRUMPTON 32 (1999) Amber Berendowsky 19 (1996) Mari Hoff 17 (1996) Ruth Poulin 15 (1994) Debbie Flaherty 15 (1994)
Stewart Reaches 2,000
Junior goaltender Carissa Stewart (Topsham, Maine/Mt. Ararat HS), who recorded her 30th career victory in Michigan's Big Ten Tournament first-round win over Michigan State (Nov. 5), surpassed the 2,000-minute mark for the 1999 season in the first half of the Wright State match (Nov. 10) and has played 2072:43 this year. Stewart has made nine saves during the postseason to raise her career total to 206, 17 saves behind Jessica Jones' (1995-98) school record of 223 stops. Her 81 saves this season are the third highest total by a Wolverine, eight behind Jones' school-record of 89 in 1996.
Single-Season Saves
PLAYER SAVES (YEAR) Jessica Jones 89 (1996) Jori Welchans 85 (1994) CARISSA STEWART 81 (1999) Carissa Stewart 65 (1998) Jori Welchans 64 (1995)
Another Big Ten Record for Berendowsky
Senior forward Amber Berendowsky (Brighton, Mich./Brighton HS) set the Big Ten Conference record for career assists with a pair of helpers in the NCAA Championship first-round match with Wright State (Nov. 10). She set the record on Marie Spaccarotella's (Livonia, Mich./Churchill HS) goal with 20 seconds remaining in the first half. Berendowsky, who has 33 career assists, entered the game tied with former Penn State star Rachel Hoffman (1994-97). Berendowsky finished the game with a goal and two assists for four points, moving her career total to 113, the fourth highest total in conference history.
Contact: Jay Levin (734) 763-4423
