Michigan Rallies for First-Round NCAA Win Over Terriers

Saturday, November 12

Columbus, Ohio

11:00 AM

Michigan

(16-7)

Boston University

(16-6)

Team	1	2	OT 1	Final F
Boston University	3	0	0	3
Michigan	1	2	1	4

Michigan Rallies for First-Round NCAA Win Over Terriers

11/12/2005 12:00:00 AM | Field Hockey

Box Score PDF Boxscore

By: Leah Howard

Site: Columbus, Ohio (North Turf Field)
Event: NCAA Tournament (First Round)
Score: #7 Michigan 4, #17 Boston University 3 (OT)
Records: U-M (16-7), BU (16-6)
Next U-M Match: Sunday, Nov. 13 -- vs. Old Dominion at NCAA Second Round (Columbus, Ohio), 2 p.m.

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Junior/sophomore Eleanor Martin (Anchorage, Ky./Louisville Collegiate School) tallied her first goal of the season just over five minutes into the overtime period to give the University of Michigan field hockey team a 4-3 victory against Boston University on Saturday (Nov. 12) in the first round of the NCAA Tournament at Ohio State's North Turf Field. The overtime goal was the culmination of a major second-half rally by the Wolverines, who scored three unanswered markers to overcome a two-goal halftime deficit.

After a slow opening half, U-M dominated the second stanza and overtime period, outshooting the Terriers 18-5 and outcornered them 9-3 in the final 40 minutes. Just moments after U-M had an apparent goal waved off, Martin notched the game-winner off an impressive individual effort from freshman Erin Dallas (Marlow, N.H./Keene HS), who muscled the ball past a BU defender in the striking circle. As Terrier goalkeeper Erin Prediger came out to the play the ball, an off-balance Dallas pushed it foward toward the BU cage, where Martin collected it and batted it into the open goal.

The Wolverines kicked off their rally coming out of the halftime intermission, scoring on their first penalty corner opportunity of the frame, at the 42:08 mark, to pull within one goal of BU. Positioned at the top of the circle, junior striker Kara Lentz (Manchester, Mass./St. Paul's School) blasted a hard shot that beat Prediger high to the top right corner of the cage. Continuing to pressure throughout the half, U-M knotted the score at three apiece a little more than 10 minutes later on a redirect goal from Dallas. Senior captain Lori Hillman (Gibbsboro, N.J./Eastern Regional HS) played the ball into the circle on a free hit just outside the arc. Dallas crashed to the front of the cage to get her stick on it, redirecting the ball past Prediger on the right side. Hillman picked up her third assist of the game on the play.

The Terriers controlled play throughout the opening half, capitalizing on a pair of early chances to build a 2-0 advantage within just the first eight minutes of the contest. Holly Wiles opened the game's scoring just four minutes into the contest off a BU penalty corner, sending a hard shot from the top left side of the U-M striking circle past junior goalkeeper Beth Riley (Palmyra, Pa./Palmyra Area HS) on the far side. Boston University extended its lead just at 7:07 when Amy Seaman intercepted an attempt by Riley to clear the ball and slammed a shot to the far lower corner of the cage.

The Wolverines put themselves on the board on a direct penalty corner opportunity at the 18:38 mark. Junior/sophomore striker Kristen Tiner (Houston, Texas/The Kinkaid School) blasted a hard shot from the top right side of the BU striking circle that hit the scrum in front of the cage and redirected high past Prediger. U-M was unable to sustain the momentum, however, as Boston University responded in the closing minutes of the half with another goal off a penalty corner and took a 3-1 advantage into the halftime intermission.

Overall, both two halves and a breif overtime period, U-M outshot the Terriers 24-14 and outcornered them 14-7. Riley earned eight saves in the U-M cage, improving her career NCAA Tournament record to 4-2, while Prediger also made eight stops in the losing effort.

The Wolverines will return to action tomorrow (Sunday, Nov. 13) when they will face No. 3-ranked Old Dominion, a 5-4 first-round winner over Ohio State, in the NCAA Tournament second round in Columbus, Ohio. The game is slated for a 2 p.m. start at OSU's North Turf Field. U-M defeated ODU at home earlier this season (Sept. 10) by a 4-3 score as Katie Morris (Ann Arbor, Mich./Pioneer HS) recorded a hat trick.

MATCH SUMMARY

Team	1	2	OT	F
Boston University	3	0	0	3
Michigan	1	2	1	4

Scoring, Time (Assist)
1st -- BU, Holly Wiles, 3:52 (Pam Spuehler)
1st -- BU, Amy Seaman, 7:07 (unassisted)
1st -- U-M, Kristen Tiner, 18:48 (Lori Hillman, Mary Fox)
1st -- BU, Sarah Shute, 28:05 (unassisted)
2nd -- U-M, Kara Lentz, 42:08 (Hillman)
2nd -- U-M, Erin Dallas, 53:00 (Hillman)
OT -- U-M, Eleanor Martin, 75:34 (Dallas)

Shots: U-M 24, BU 14
Saves: U-M 8 (Beth Riley), BU 8 (Erin Prediger)
Defensive Saves: U-M 0, BU 0
Penalty Corners: U-M 14, BU 7

NOTES

• With the win over Boston University, the Wolverines improved to 12-5 in NCAA Tournament games. They are 6-1 in first-round contests.

• Fourteen of Michigan's 17 NCAA Tournament games have been decided by just one goal. The Wolverines are 10-4 in those contests.

• Today's game was also the sixth NCAA Tournament overtime game for Michigan. U-M owns a near-perfect 5-1 mark when heading to the sudden-death frame.

• Senior captain Lori Hillman earned a single-game personal best with three assists in today's win against Boston University. The performance also brought her season total to nine helpers, matching her career-best season mark.

• With her three-assist performance, Hillman also moved to sixth among Michigan's career assists leaders with 27, tied with Sharon Cantor (1986-89). Hillman needs just one more helper to reach the fifth spot on the list, currently held by Kelli Gannon (28, 1997-2000).

• Hillman registered her 87th game played for the Maize and Blue, giving her sole posession of the 10th spot among the Wolverines' all-time leaders in the category. She needs two more starts to reach the ninth position on the list, currently held by Courtney Reid (89, 1997-2000).

• Junior/sophomore Eleanor Martin's goal was her second career game-winner and her first in the overtime period.

QUOTES

Michigan Head Coach Nancy Cox
On the game ... "The first half was frightening, because our midfielders were making blind passes. The kids weren't executing the game plan as we had designed it and talked about it. At halftime, we had a discussion about that and what they needed to do to get back into the game. They climbed back into it because they did what we asked them to do. I think some of the seniors feel they have to put the team on their shoulders and carry them. When you're at this point in your season, it comes to faith and trust in one another. The ball distribution improved in the second half. We eliminated our blind passes, and that was the difference in the game. We finished our chances a lot better. They really turned it around in the second half, and that was so important."

U-M Senior Captain Lori Hillman
On the difference between the first and second halves ... "I just think we came out in the second half with so much more fire, and we just had to get back to what has been working for us all season. We had to trust one another more than we've ever had to before and just stick to the game plan."

On advancing in the NCAA Tournament ... "I know I'm excited, and I know everybody else on the team is. Nancy said today, after the game, 'We're one of eight teams left in the country that get to play.' It's exciting to represent the university. We just have to lay it all out there, and I know that everyone is really fired and ready to go out from the start. Today was an interesting game, and maybe we weren't expecting it to be like that. At the same time, I think that it's okay to have a game like that, because it's good to have that in our back pocket and know that we can come back from relatively anything."

On having several close games this season ... "All year, whenever we were in overtime or we were down and had to come back, we were saying that it was great practice for postseason. We had to play overtime so many times, and we only lost once. I think that we're experienced and confident enough that if we have to go into overtime, we're ready."

U-M Junior Goalkeeper Beth Riley
On the game ... "I think in the beginning of the game, we just struggled to make good passes to one another, we turned the ball over a lot. [Boston University] came out with a lot of fire, and I think we were a little surprised at that. We were kind of on our heels. But once we scored, we kind of got back into the groove. At halftime, we said we need to have faith in each other and connect with each other, make better passes. We played with a lot of fire in the second half, and that made a big difference."