Jones, Michigan Shut Out No. 16 Louisville in Home Opener

Saturday, September 14

Ann Arbor, Mich.

1:00 PM

Michigan

(2-3)

Louisville

(4-2)

Team	1	2	Final F
Louisville	0	0	0
Michigan	1	0	1

Jones, Michigan Shut Out No. 16 Louisville in Home Opener

9/14/2013 12:00:00 AM | Field Hockey

Box Score PDF Boxscore

By: Leah Howard

Site: Ann Arbor, Mich. (Phyllis Ocker Field)
Score: Michigan 1, #16 Lousville 0
Records: U-M (2-3), Louisville (4-2)
Next U-M Match: Sunday, Sept. 15 -- vs. UC Davis (Phyllis Ocker Field), 1 p.m.

ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The University of Michigan field hockey team was victorious in its home debut, claiming a 1-0 shutout victory over No. 16 Louisville on Saturday afternoon (Sept. 14) in front of 267 fans at Phyllis Ocker Field. The Wolverines had opened 2013 with two straight weekends on the road.

Haley Jones

Michigan (2-3) took advantage of a broken penalty corner to net the only goal of the contest at the 14:56 mark. After failing to get off the direct shot, senior Rachael Mack (Bromsgrove, England/Bromsgrove School) fed the ball back to senior/junior stopper Ainsley McCallister (Ann Arbor, Mich./Huron HS), who fired a reverse shot toward the goal. Mack got her stick on the ball from in front of the cage, directing it to the lower right corner past Louisville goalkeeper Sydney King for her fifth goal of the season.

The Wolverines largely controlled the first half, outshooting Louisville, 5-2, and outcornering them, 2-0. Michigan just missed on a scoring opportunity in the waning moments of the frame when junior Emy Guttman (Ann Arbor, Mich./Pioneer HS) could not quite get a shot off on a break deep in the circle.

Louisville pressured early in the second half, drawing three corners and firing off four shots in quick succession. Fifth-year senior goalkeeper Haley Jones (Ann Arbor, Mich./Pioneer HS) made three saves during the surge, including back-to-back stops on Cardinal direct shots.

Michigan took back some momentum late and maintained possession to eat up clock in the final five minutes.

Shots were even at 9-9 in the contest, while Michigan narrowly outcornered the Cardinals, 4-3. Jones earned five saves en route to her first shutout win of the season -- and 14th of her career -- while King stopped four of U-M's five shots on goals.

Michigan will wrap up its home weekend tomorrow (Sunday, Sept. 15), facing UC Davis at 1 p.m. at Ocker Field. The Wolverines will honor former coach and U-M director of women's athletics Phyllis Ocker as well as Wounded Warrior Project alumni and their families.

GAME SUMMARY

By Periods	1	2	F
Louisville	0	0	0
Michigan	1	0	1

Scoring, Time (Assist)
1st -- U-M, Rachael Mack, 14:56 (Ainsley McCallister)

Shots: U-M 9, UL 9
Saves: U-M 5 (Haley Jones), UL 4 (Sydney King)
Defensive Saves: None
Penalty Corners: U-M 4, UL 3

NOTES

• With today's win, Michigan improved to 8-2 in the all-time series against Louisville.

• Louisville represented the Wolverines' fourth ranked opponent in five games this season.

• Michigan improved to 12-7 in home openers at Phyllis Ocker Field.

• Senior Rachael Mack has scored at least one goal in four of five games this season.

• Fifth-year senior goalkeeper Haley Jones owns 14 complete-game shutouts in her career. Adding another combined shutout from 2013, she moved into a tie for fifth among U-M's career shutout leaders with Molly Maloney (14.5, 2000-04). Eight of Jones' shutouts have come at Ocker Field.

QUOTES

Michigan Head Coach Marcia Pankratz
On today's performance ... "I think both teams played very well. Louisville came to play today. They have an outstanding team. They're sharp, well coached, and gave us all we could handle. I thought our first half was solid. Our team did everything that we asked them to do and made really good decisions. I thought we really controlled the match in the first half.

"It always feels good to win. To be able to play in a close match and perform and really bring it home -- that's important. We had some adversity down the stretch, but we stayed poised while they were pressing us. That was key, and they did a really good job."

On the Wolverines' adjustments ... "We're still quite young. It's mostly sophomores out there. They're making some great strides. Defensively, we made some adjustments from last weekend that worked well -- we got a shutout. Haley (Jones) made some great saves. We just have to fine tune some attack. If we start putting the ball in like we normally do, we're going to be great. We just need to practice it a little more."

On sophomore back Lauren Thomas ... "Lauren played great today. She's a great player, so it's nice to see her really anchor the defense. She's the field general out of the back. She's a year older, and that leadership is starting to shine through. We have complete confidence in her play."

U-M Senior Rachael Mack
On the Wolverines' performance ... "As a team, I thought we played really well. We had a really good week in practice, and we did the things we practiced. We learned from our mistakes last weekend. We took both those losses into the week's practices and then into the game today. Louisville is a good team; they're a top-20 team. They kept coming at us, and we kept stopping them. It was just a great team result."

On her first-half goal ... "It was from a corner, which didn't exactly go as planned. But we still managed to put it in the net. That's a sign of a good team -- even when it's not going well to find a way to score. I'm glad that one fell."

On bouncing back from last weekend ... "It was really good to get the win. We've had a tough start to the season. When the rankings came out this week, we weren't listed where we wanted to be. So this was a good way to stamp our feet back down and start the season anew."