Way's Winner Completes U-M Comeback over No. 14 James Madison

Friday, September 10

Ann Arbor, Mich.

4:00 PM

Michigan

(1-4)

James Madison

(2-3)

OT 1

James Madison

Michigan

Way's Winner Completes U-M Comeback over No. 14 James Madison

9/10/2010 12:00:00 AM | Field Hockey

Box Score PDF Boxscore

By: Kent Reichert

Site: Ann Arbor, Mich. (Phyllis Ocker Field)
Score: Michigan 4, #14 James Madison 3 (OT)
Records: U-M (1-4), JMU (2-3)
Next U-M Match: Sunday, Sept. 12 -- vs. Central Michigan (Phyllis Ocker Field), 1 p.m.

ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- Senior Meredith Way's (Lititz, Pa./Warwick) goal 7:47 into overtime capped a comeback for the ages by the University of Michigan field hockey team in a 4-3 win over No. 14 James Madison on Friday afternoon (Sept. 10) at Phyllis Ocker Field. The Wolverines were down 3-0 at halftime but clawed their way back with three goals of their own in the second half, including two from freshman Rachael Mack (Bromsgrove, England/Bromsgrove School).

Meredith Way (left) and Alicia Mayer

In what was truly a tale of two halves, JMU took a three-goal lead into the halftime intermission. The Dukes started the scoring at 15:39 as Amy Daniel scored her fourth goal of the season on a shot from the right side of the circle that was tucked in the left corner. Daniel got the assist on the second goal at 22:03 as her shot was deflected by Lindsay Cutchins for her third goal of the season. At 26:07, JMU made it 3-0 when Daniel gathered a rebound off the stick of Cutchins for her second multi-goal game of the season. The Dukes had a 7-4 shot advantage in the first 35 minutes.

The Wolverines came out inspired in the second half and cut the deficit to one just 4:29 into the period. Mack scored both on direct penalty corners off assists from redshirt senior Paige Laytos (Lititz, Pa./Warwick) and redshirt junior Eileen Brandes (Falmouth, Maine/Falmouth). Then at 47:28, senior Zara Saydjari (Skowhegan, Maine/Skowhegan Area) received a cross from senior Alicia Mayer (Selinsgrove, Pa./Wilson) and deposited it in the back of the cage to tie the game at three. Both teams had chances to break the tie, but redshirt junior Christi Barwick (San Diego, Calif./Torrey Pines) made two late saves and JMU goalkeeper Margo Savage stopped three to send the game into overtime.

Michigan had all five shots in the 7-on-7 overtime period; Mack had three on goal, but all were saved by Savage. Then on the Maize and Blue's third penalty corner of the frame, Way received a Mack pass from the top of the circle and scored the game-winning goal at 77:47.

Both keepers had seven saves on the day, while the Wolverines had the 16-11 shot and 10-5 penalty-corner advantage.

Michigan will look for the program's 400th victory on Sunday (Sept. 12) against Central Michigan. Game time is at 1 p.m. at Ocker Field.

GAME SUMMARY

By Periods	1	2	OT	F
James Madison	3	0	0	3
Michigan	0	3	1	4

Scoring, Time (Assist)
1st -- JMU, Any Daniel, 15:39 (unassisted)
1st -- JMU, Lindsay Cutchins, 22:03 (Daniel)
1st -- JMU, Daniel, 26:07 (unassisted)
2nd -- U-M, Rachael Mack, 38:07 (Paige Laytos, Eileen Brandes)
2nd -- U-M, Mack, 39:29 (Laytos, Brandes)
2nd -- U-M, Zara Saydjari, 47:28 (Alicia Mayer)
OT -- U-M, Meredith Way, 77:47 (Mack)

Shots: U-M 16, JMU 11
Saves: U-M 7 (Christi Barwick), JMU 7 (Margo Savage)
Defensive Saves: U-M 0, JMU 0
Penalty Corners: U-M 10, JMU 5

NOTES

• Freshman Rachael Mack scored her first two goals in her Michigan career in the 4-3 win over James Madison. Mack became the first U-M freshman to score two goals in a game since Jess Allen did the trick in a 10-0 win over Saint Louis on Sept. 13, 2008.

• Meredith Way scored her seventh career game-winning goal in the win over the Dukes. Way now has 34 goals in her Wolverine career, which is one away from tying her for 10th place on Michigan's career goal list.

• The win also was the first overtime win for the Wolverines since the first round of the 2007 NCAA Tournament when U-M defeated Ohio 1-0 on a goal from current Wolverine assistant Lucia Belassi-White.

• The three-goal comeback was the largest deficit the Wolverines have overcome since being down 3-0 and scoring five straight goals in a 5-3 win over Miami (Ohio) on Oct. 8, 2006.

QUOTES

Michigan Head Coach Marcia Pankratz
On changes made at halftime ... "We didn't play a very good first half. That is something we've been working on -- trying to play a consistent 70-minute match. The first half was sluggish and I thought some of the players weren't leading by example on the field. We had a little bit of an attitude adjustment at halftime and everyone came out more focused. I thought we played a very strong second half with a lot of character and I was really proud of them for that."

On freshman Rachael Mack's performance ... "Rachael brings a lot of experience. She started playing field hockey as a young girl, probably younger than most Americans. She has a very dangerous shot as you can tell from the game today. Her technical skills are really solid. She traps well and she can maintain possession. She's a force up there."

On nearing the program's 400th win ... "It's always wonderful to have a milestone with a lot of tradition behind it. We're not focused on that ,but it's nice. We're trying to get some momentum and some good combinations in there that will give us a lot of confidence going into the Big Ten season."

On Michigan's four-goal game ... "Four goals in one half really helped a lot. I think we were starting to doubt and play tentatively in the first four games of the season. It's kind of like baseball -- you get into a slump and then all of a sudden you have a nice hit and you get into a roll. It's just one of those things, so hopefully this will bring us a lot of confidence and help our psyche for the rest of the season."

U-M Senior Back Meredith Way
On scoring the game-winning overtime goal ... "It's really exciting. It's my senior year home opener. We're all tired. It's overtime. I played the whole game, and it's like, 'Just go in.' It just feels so good."

On changes made at halftime ... "We had our halftime talk. It was one of those halftime talks that are not as much fun. We definitely knew that we were not playing to our ability and this is our home field, we can't let someone walk all over us here. We came out hard and the first goal helped get the momentum up and the second one was just awesome. By the time we got the third, there was no way we were going to lose this game. We just needed the first goal to get us going and Rachael [Mack] definitely put that one in."

On Michigan's four goals ... "Every practice we had this week has been 90 percent shooting drills. We've been working a lot on scoring, shooting, and getting rebounds. That was big for us this game -- being able to score four goals, which we haven't been able to do yet. Especially over the past few years we've been having a hard time scoring, so today to score four goals was awesome."