Sarkisian's Hat Trick Lifts Wolverines Past Illinois

Sunday, October 11

Ann Arbor, Mich.

2:00 PM

Michigan

10-4-1, 5-1-1B1G

Illinois

8-3-3, 2-2-3B1G

Illinois

Michigan

10/11/2015 12:00:00 AM | Women's Soccer

Box Score Photo Gallery

Oct. 11, 2015

» Ani Sarkisian became the 10th player in program history to record a hat trick, scoring all three of Michigan's goals.
» The Wolverines outshot their opponent for the 13th time this season, holding a 22-7 advantage in shots.
» With the win, Michigan remains in a tie for second place in the Big Ten with a 5-1-1 record.

• Boxscore | Photo Gallery

Site: Ann Arbor, Mich. (U-M Soccer Stadium)
Score: Michigan 3, Illinois 1
Records: U-M (10-4-1, 5-1-1 Big Ten), ILL (8-3-3, 2-2-3 Big Ten)
Attendance: 1,232
Next U-M Event: Thursday, Oct. 15 -- at Wisconsin (Madison, Wis.), 7 p.m. CDT

ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- Junior/sophomore Ani Sarkisian of the University of Michigan women's soccer team became the 10th player in program history to record a hat trick, helping the Wolverines defeat Illinois, 3-1, on Sunday (Oct. 11) at U-M Soccer Stadium.

Michigan outshot Illinois, 22-7, and held the Big Ten's leading scorer, Jannelle Flaws, to four shots, including just one shot on goal.

"The number one thing today was our team defending," said head coach Greg Ryan. "We put them under a lot of pressure, and they had a hard time getting into any kind of rhythm."

With the game tied 1-1 at the start of the second half, the Wolverines came out pressuring. In the 49th minute, a corner kick from senior Christina Murillo found the head of junior Nicky Waldeck, but Waldeck's header nailed the cross bar dead center for the second time on the day. Two minutes later, Waldeck had a shot blocked inside the box, and Sarkisian's hard follow-up shot was saved by Illini keeper Claire Wheatley.

Sarkisian eventually helped put the game out of reach, scoring back-to-back goals at 65:58 and 68:20 to add to her first-half goal and complete her hat trick. On her second goal, sophomore Taylor Timko crossed a ball from the right corner, and Sarkisian was there on the back post to knock it home. Less than three minutes later, freshman Reilly Martin played a ball ahead to Sarkisian at the top of the penalty box, Sarkisian took a touch inside the box and found herself one-on-one with Wheatley, and Sarkisian fired the ball inside the left post to beat Wheatley.

"It was really fun to get the hat trick," said Sarkisian. "It's nice to score and is rewarding after all the hard hours of work you've put in, but my teammates put me in great position to do that. I found the goal open twice with only the goalie to beat, and that's the best position a forward could ask for."

Michigan outshot Illinois 4-2 over the final 20 minutes, but the score stood at 3-1.

Illinois got on the board first, as a Michigan own-goal gave the Fighting Illini a 1-0 lead at the 17:53 mark.

Sarkisian evened the match in the 21st minute as she dribbled through several Illinois defenders, going parallel with the penalty box, right to left, and fired a hard left-footed shot into the right side of the net. The match was still knotted 1-1 at halftime, with the Wolverines leading 9-2 in shots.

Tweet of the Game

.@umichwsoccer's Sarkisian rips one from deep to even up the score at 1. This goal was nasty. #GoBlue http://t.co/QsSYCnQUMh

-- BTN Student U (@BTNStudentU) October 11, 2015

"Ani had a great day -- she's been great all year, but today she really had that determination to go to goal," said Ryan.

Sarkisian is now second on the team with 15 points on six goals and three assists this season. She is the second player to net a hat trick this season, joining Timko, who had a trifecta in the season opener against Eastern Michigan.

"Right now we're just going game by game, taking each team as they come for 90 minutes," Sarkisian added. "All we can hope for is to come out and play our best game and put one game away at a time and increase our record one day at a time. The goal is to get to the NCAA Tournament, and this keeps us on the right road."

With the win, Michigan remains in a tie for second place in the Big Ten with a 5-1-1 record and will now hit the road for a pair of Big Ten matches next week. The Wolverines will play at Wisconsin on Thursday (Oct. 15) at 7 p.m. CDT and at Minnesota on Sunday (Oct. 18) at 1 p.m. CDT. Minnesota is currently in first place in the Big Ten, while Wisconsin is tied for second with Michigan. The Wisconsin game can be seen live on the Big Ten Network, while the Minnesota matchup will be streamed live via BTN Plus.

Communications Contact: Whitney Dixon

Game Summary