Wolverines Lose OT Heartbreaker to No. 5 Ohio State

Sunday, October 22

Ann Arbor, Mich.

Noon

Michigan

(10-8, 3-2Big Ten)

Ohio State

(13-2, 4-1Big Ten)

OT 1

Ohio State

Michigan

10/22/2006 12:00:00 AM | Field Hockey

Box Score PDF Boxscore

By: Leah Howard

Site: Ann Arbor, Mich. (Phyllis Ocker Field)
Score: #5 Ohio State 3, #18 Michigan 2 (OT)
Records: U-M (10-8, 3-2 Big Ten), OSU (13-2, 4-1 Big Ten)
Next U-M Match: Sunday, Oct. 29 -- vs. Northwestern (Phyllis Ocker Field), 1 p.m.

ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The No. 18-ranked University of Michigan field hockey team saw its five-game winning streak come to an end Sunday (Oct. 22) as the Wolverines lost a 3-2 overtime heartbreaker against No. 5 Ohio State on Sunday (Oct. 22) at Phyllis Ocker Field. U-M rallied from a two-goal halftime deficit to knot the score midway through the second frame, but the Buckeyes ended the contest with an unassisted marker just 1:51 into the first overtime.

Linda Haussener scored the game-winning tally as Ohio State swarmed the Wolverine zone early in the extra frame. The Buckeye forward, who also scored her team's first goal of the contest, carried the ball into the circle and directly across the goal mouth before chipping a low shot past U-M goalkeeper Beth Riley (Palmyra, Pa./Palmyra Area HS) to the corner of the cage.

Down two goals at the halftime break, the Wolverines retook the field with new life and, despite being outshot 10-3 and outcornered 5-1 in the frame, had OSU on its heels for much of the half. After the Buckeyes had an early goal waved off, Michigan responded by making one of its one count as freshman Kelly Fitzpatrick (Hummelstown, Pa./Palmyra Area HS) put the Wolverines on the board at 43:53. Senior captain Mary Fox (St. Louis, Mo./Cor Jesu Academy) sent a bouncing pass across the circle to the left post, where Fitzpatrick swatted the ball out of the air past Ohio State's sprawling goalkeeper Lindsay Quintiliani.

The Wolverines continued to pressure in the OSU defensive third over the next 10 minutes before drawing their only corner of the game, which set up their second tally. Fox pushed the ball to senior captain Kara Lentz (Manchester, Mass./St. Paul's School), who was positioned on the arc of the scoring circle. Lentz wound up and drove the ball to the opposite post, where it deflected off a Buckeye defender into the near corner of the cage.

The two squads exchanged scoring opportunities over the final 17 minutes of half, but strong defense largely ruled the remainder of regulation. Riley stopped a pair of back-to-back point-blank shots in the last minute of play to keep the score even and send the game into extra time.

Ohio State held substantial advantages in both statistical categories, oushooting the Wolverines 21-6 and outcornering them 9-1. Riley earned 12 saves in the U-M cage and senior/junior Kristen Tiner (Houston, Texas/The Kinkaid School) picked up her second career defensive save, while Quintiliani allowed in both Michigan shots on goal.

The Wolverines will wrap up the regular-season portion of their schedule next Sunday (Oct. 29) when they square off against conference rival Northwestern. The game is slated for a 3 p.m. start at Phyllis Ocker Field.

MATCH SUMMARY

Team	1	2	OT	F
Ohio State	2	0	1	3
Michigan	0	2	0	2

Scoring, Time (Assist)
1st-- OSU, Linda Haussener, 15:33 (Saskia Mueller, Yesenia Luces)
1st -- OSU, Lauren Kruse, 25:59 (unassisted)
2nd -- U-M, Kelly Fitzpatrick, 43:43 (Mary Fox)
2nd -- U-M, Kara Lentz, 52:21 (Fox)
OT -- OSU, Haussener, 71:51 (unassisted)

Shots: U-M 6, OSU 21
Saves: U-M 12 (Beth Riley), OSU 0 (Lindsay Quintiliani)
Defensive Saves: U-M 1, OSU 0
Penalty Corners: U-M 1, OSU 9

NOTES

• Highlights of today's match against Ohio State will be available on Michigan All-Access (subscription required). Rates are set at $6.95/month and $49.95/year. For more information, visit Michigan All-Access and select "Field Hockey" from the "All Sports" menu, then go to "Highlights."

• The Wolverines fell to 27-22-1 in the all-time series against Ohio State.

• Senior Mary Fox assisted on both Michigan goals against OSU, bringing her career total to 28 career helpers. She climbed to the fifth spot among U-M's all-time assists leaders, where she is tied with three-time All-American Kelli Gannon (1997-2000). Fox needs three more assists to reach the fourth position, currently held by Jennifer Lupinski (31, 1992-95).

• Members of the Wolverines' 2001 NCAA Championship team were honored during halftime of today's contest in celebration of the five-year anniversary of Michigan's first NCAA team title in a women's sport. Among those alumnae in attendance were Ali Balmer, Kate Dillon, Catherine Foreman, April Fronzoni, Kristi Gannon, Adrienne Hortillosa, Krista Meckley-LaRosa, Molly Maloney, Katy Moyneur, Stephanie Johnson, Jessica Rose, Laura Stinson, Maureen Tasch and Laura Woitkewitsch.

QUOTES

Michigan Head Coach Nancy Cox
On the OSU goal that was waved off ... "I think that was a big momentum shift in the match, and I think our athletes recognized that. At the beginning of the game, we were being outperformed by Ohio State in terms of our technical execution. Tactically, we made some adjustments at halftime, and that's why we got back in the ballgame. We had some people around who were more effectively outletting the ball in the second half."

On the Wolverines' first-half difficulities ... "I just couldn't effectively outlet the ball in the back third. We weren't effectively moving the ball across the back third of the field, and when you can't move it across our defensive third then you can't get it to your midfielders and you can't get it to your forwards. Their press was effective against us, so we made adjustments and got back into the game."

On improvements in the second half ... "I think Sarah Wilhite stepped up in the second half against Curlyne Wynn, who is an All-American. I think Sarah did a nice job in managing her. Their ball speed and their tempo was really quite good, but I think in the second half our players decided that they needed to technically be more solid over the ball. But you can't wait 35 minutes when you're tied for first place in the Big Ten. That was the difference. We had to work hard in the second half to go into overtime, but then we gave up a soft goal in overtime. It's been the same refrain all year for Michigan: we can play with anybody in the country. Today we played with No. 5 in the second half of the match. We have to come out and play 70 minutes of hockey."

U-M Junior Forward Lucia Belassi
On rallying in the second half ... "We came out confident in the second half. We started with a breakaway, and Ohio State had that goal taken back. We were excited. We knew we could hang in there, come back and win. We had momentum with us. It was home field, and the crowd was cheering. It was a hard loss for all of us, especially in overtime like that."

On what U-M can take away from the loss ... "I think we're more confident for the Big Ten Tournament. We had a bit of a rough time in the first half with our tactics but made the necessary changes. So now we are confident that we can play strong from the beginning and take them."