Michigan
(6-4, 2-0Big Ten)
Penn State
(5-4, 0-1Big Ten)
Way's First-Half Tally Leads U-M Past No. 7 Penn State
9/23/2007 12:00:00 AM | Field Hockey
Site: Ann Arbor, Mich. (Phyllis Ocker Field)
Score: #12 Michigan 1, #7 Penn State 0
Records: U-M (6-4, 2-0 Big Ten), PSU (5-4, 0-1 Big Ten)
Next U-M Match: Friday, Sept. 28 -- at Ohio State (Columbus, Ohio), 4 p.m.
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The No. 12-ranked University of Michigan field hockey secured its fourth consecutive victory with a 1-0 upset against No. 7 Penn State Sunday afternoon (Sept. 23) in front of 743 fans on Phyllis Ocker Field. Freshman Meredith Way (Newmanstown, Pa./Warwick HS) tallied the lone goal on the contest early in the first half, while junior/sophomore goalkeeper Paige Pickett (Dallas, Texas/Episcopal School of Dallas) earned three saves in the U-M cage to claim her second shutout win of the season.
Michigan took the initial advantage for just the second time this season when Way slammed in a rebound goal at the 10:21 mark for her second collegiate tally. Junior Stephanie Hoyer (Englewood, Colo./Cherry Creek HS) carried the ball into the PSU circle from the left side of the field, weaving past several Nittany Lion defenders before she fired a close shot along the near post. Penn State goalkeeper Jen Beaumont made the save, but the ball kicked out to the middle where Way batted it high past Beaumont on the stick side.
Pickett recorded all three of her saves in the opening half, including one in the waning seconds of the frame when she got her blocker on a high shot. It would prove to be the Nittany Lions' last attempt, however, as Michigan held them without a single shot or penalty-corner opportunity in the second half. It was the second time in as many games that U-M achieved the defensive feat.
While the Wolverines monopolized the scoring chances in the second frame, they were unable to convert on a series of early penalty-corner opportunities. Michigan twice drew back-to-back-to-back corners, and the resulting direct shots accounted for half of U-M's total. Senior strikers Lucia Belassi (Paysandyu, Uruguay/Liceo #1) and Kristen Tiner (Houston, Texas/The Kinkaid School) drove all but one shot through the crowd in front of the PSU cage but none could find gaps around the sprawled Beaumont.
Michigan outshot the Nittany Lions 12-4 through 70 minutes of play and outcornered them 6-1, marking the fourth time this season that U-M led in both offensive categories. Pickett was perfect in the U-M cage for her second shutout in three games, while Beaumont made eight stops on Michigan's nine shots on goal.
The Wolverines will square off against a pair of regional opponents next weekend. The Wolverines travel to Columbus, Ohio, to face rival Ohio State Friday (Sept. 28) at 4 p.m., before welcoming Miami (Ohio) to Phyllis Ocker Sunday (Sept. 30) at 1 p.m.
MATCH SUMMARY
| Team | 1 | 2 | F |
| Penn State | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Michigan | 1 | 0 | 1 |
Scoring, Time (Assist)
1st -- U-M, Meredith Way, 10:21 (unassisted)
Shots: U-M 12, PSU 4
Saves: U-M 3 (Paige Pickett), PSU 8 (Jen Beaumont)
Defensive Saves: U-M 0, PSU 0
Penalty Corners: U-M 6, PSU 1
NOTES
• With today's victory, Michigan improved to 10-21 in the all-time series against Penn State. U-M has won eight of the last 11 meetings between the conference rivals.
• The Wolverines have not allowed a second-half goal in three contests. During that stretch, U-M outshot the opposition 29-4 and outcornered it 17-1.
• Michigan kicked off the Big Ten Conference season 2-0 for the first time since the 2004 season. U-M claimed a share of the regular-season trophy that year.
QUOTES
Michigan Head Coach Nancy Cox
On today's victory ... "I think the most important thing is that over the course of each consecutive half, we continue to get better. I was really pleased today with the backfield ball speed, and, once we got the lead, our team was able to maintain it by working really hard on possession passing across the backfield and not trying to move the ball forward until we had a play ahead of the ball set up. So, I think we have gotten better at that, and we just need to continue to get a whole lot better at that. From an outcome result, we got the win. From a performance perspective, we need to continue to make strides like we have been doing."
On how the team has progressed since the first weekend ... "I think first and foremost it's about every day on the practice field and every day in match competition making strides to improve where we need to improve. From the beginning of the season to now our ability to finish with shots has improve -- although it still needs to exponentially improve -- and, in our attacking 25, we need to make significant strides. We have from the first weekend to this weekend. We're getting in the circle; now we need to improve our productivity once we're in the circle, whether it's a goal, a shot or drawing a corner. I think our leading across the forward line is getting better, but there's still significant room for greater improvement."
On Michigan shutting down PSU in the second half ... "To do that in the Big Ten against formidable opponents like Iowa and Penn State, that is impressive. [Penn State coach] Char [Morett] has an impressive team across the forward line. Today we outshot them in the second half and outcornered them in the second half, but we got no productivity from our own corners in the second half. We're looking to score on 20 percent of those. We're not quite where we need to be."
U-M Freshman Midfield Meredith Way
On starting the Big Ten season with a 2-0 record ... "It's great to be in this position. This is exactly where we wanted to be. We just need to realize that we need to continue improving. Every team is good in the Big Ten, and we need to take this momentum and keep rolling with it and keep getting better.
On scoring the first goal of the game ... "We know that we've been a second-half team this season, so we have started coming out at the beginning of the game, saying 'we're down 0-2, so we need to work our way back.' We just have that mentality now that we need to play like we're behind, and it seems to work."
U-M Junior Forward Stephanie Hoyer
On the Wolverines finding their groove ... "We've been trying to find our groove all season, and, finally, I think we've all clicked. We're flowing right now, and we seemed to have found our tone, our flow, our game. We've known all along that we're right with all these teams. We've been seeing it in spurts in different games -- in halves or 10-minute spans -- against teams like Maryland or Wake Forest. We would nearly win certain games but just not come through at the end. So, we knew we could. I think we sealed the deal with Iowa, because we didn't ever give up. We've had the skill all along, but we had to find our heart to get there."
On Michigan's status as a 'second-half team' ... "I don't really know what the mentality is; I wish we could bring it to the first half. I just think, in the second half, we realize that it's all we have left and we need to put everything out there. Once we bridge the gap between the first and second, I think we'll be unstoppable. We did better this weekend, but we just need to keep working on it as the season progresses."
Team Stats
Way, Meredith
rebound, hard shot to left side of cage
10:21
