Michigan
Michigan State
Seniors Lead Wolverine Stickers to Big Ten Crown
10/27/2000 12:00:00 AM | Field Hockey
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The fifth-ranked University of Michigan field hockey team claimed its first outright Big Ten regular-season championship with a 4-0 thrashing of No. 19 Michigan State on Friday (Oct. 27) at Ocker Field. The seniors, who were honored at the start of the contest, played well for the Wolverines in their last regular-season game.
The intrastate rivalry began with both teams feeling each other out until U-M senior co-captain Kelli Gannon (Escondido, Calif./San Pasqual HS) redirected a pass from April Fronzoni (Larksville, Pa./Wyoming Valley West HS) at 20:58 and the first half ended at 1-0.
Gannon led the charge into the second half, setting up Molly Powers (Oak Park, Ill./Oak Park-River Forest HS) at 20:02 of the second half. Five minutes later, Gannon blasting a shot past the Spartan goalkeeper on a penalty corner set up by senior Courtney Reid (S. Deerfield, Mass./Northfield Mt. Hermon HS) and Catherine Foreman (Happy Valley, S. Australia/Westminster).
"It's a great feeling to be Big Ten Champions again," said Gannon, who was a freshman on U-M's 1997 team which shared the regular-season title with Penn State. "I'm glad I was able to come up with the goal on the penalty corner; you don't get too many shots that fly right into the net. It's an awesome sound when it happens."
Reid notched her second assist of the afternoon -- and added to her all-time U-M assist mark (55) -- when she blew past the Spartan defense and fed senior co-captain Regan Wulfsberg (Moorestown, N.J./Moorestown HS) at 11:59 to take the final score to 4-0. Reid was happy that fellow senior Wulfsberg was at the net at the time she made the play. "I just took the ball around the left side and I was so glad that Regan was there to put it in."
The Michigan defense, led by senior Jeanne Shin (Lake Forest, Ill./Lake Forest HS), held Michigan State to just one shot on the afternoon. Shin expressed after the contest the gratification of winning another regular-season Big Ten title. "It seems like I came full circle in my career here at U-M. When I was a freshman we shared the conference [regular-season] title with Penn State and now it's all ours."
Goalkeepers Maureen Tasch (Ann Arbor, Mich./Pioneer HS) and Molly Maloney (Lake Bluff, Ill./Lake Forest HS) shared the Wolverines' sixth shutout of the season.
"We had a shaky start, but we turned it on in the second half," said head coach Marcia Pankratz. "I feel our team is ready and well-prepared for the postseason."
The Wolverines (16-3, 6-0 Big Ten) will be the No. 1 seed and have a first-round bye at the Big Ten Tournament, which U-M will host Friday through Sunday (Nov. 3-5) at Ocker Field. The Maize and Blue will play the winner of the fourth and fifth seeds on Saturday (Nov. 4) at 11:30 a.m.
MATCH SUMMARY
| Team | 1 | 2 | F |
| Michigan State | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Michigan | 1 | 3 | 4 |
Scoring, Time (Assist)
1st -- U-M, Kelli Gannon, 20:58, (April Fronzoni)
2nd -- U-M, Molly Powers, 20:02 (Kelli Gannon)
2nd -- U-M, Kelli Gannon, 15:09 (Courtney Reid, Catherine Foreman)
2nd -- U-M, Regan Wulfsberg, 11:59 (Reid)
Shots: U-M 19, MSU 1
Saves: U-M 1 (Maureen Tasch 0, Molly Maloney 1), MSU 5 (Annie Zinkanich 5, Laurenn Hess 0)
Penalty Corners: U-M 6, MSU 3
Goalkeeper Entry: U-M, Maloney (13:12, 2nd); MSU, Hess (8:02, 2nd)
N O T E S
-- The Wolverines finished the regular season with their first undefeated home record (9-0) and Big Ten record (6-0) in the history of the program.
-- With the victory today, head coach Marcia Pankratz is now tied with Patti Smith (1989-95) for the U-M all-time coaching win record (74). Pankratz's career record is 74-33.
-- With two goals on the afternoon, Kelli Gannon brought her career total to 48 and moved her past Julie Flachs (1994-97) into second place on the U-M all-time goals list.
Big Ten Conference Standings (through 10/27/00)
Place, Team W L T Pct. GF GA 1. MICHIGAN* 6 0 0 1.000 21 2 2. Penn State 4 1 0 .800 21 4 3. Ohio State 3 2 0 .600 15 7 Iowa 3 2 0 .600 10 11 5. Northwestern 2 3 0 .400 12 12 6. Michigan State 1 4 0 .200 8 14 7. Indiana 0 5 0 .000 0 37 * clinched regular-season championshipRemaining Big Ten Schedule
Saturday, Oct. 28
Penn State at Ohio State, 1 p.m. EDT
Sunday, Oct. 29
Northwestern at Iowa, noon CST
Indiana at Michigan State, 1 p.m. EST
Contact: Jason Binge (734) 763-4423
