Michigan Blanks No. 25 Liberty in Home Opener

Friday, September 1

Ann Arbor, Mich.

7:00 PM

Michigan

(3-0)

Liberty

(0-2)

Liberty

Michigan

Meg Dowthwaite

9/1/2017 10:17:00 PM | Field Hockey

Box Score Photo Gallery

By: Leah Howard

» Michigan opened its home slate with a 3-0 win against No. 25 Liberty at Phyllis Ocker Field.
» Meg Dowthwaite scored two goals in the first half, upping her season total to four, while Carly Bennett added an insurance tally early in the second.
» Goalkeeper Sam Swenson earned six saves to earn her 11th career complete-game shutout.

Site: Ann Arbor, Mich. (Phyllis Ocker Field)
Score: #11 Michigan 3, #25 Liberty 0
Records: U-M (3-0), LU (0-2)
Next U-M Event: Sunday, Sept. 3 -- vs. UConn (Phyllis Ocker Field), 1 p.m.

ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The No. 11-ranked University of Michigan field hockey team earned its first shutout win of the season, blanking No. 25 Liberty, 3-0, in its home opener on Friday night (Sept. 1) in front of 587 fans at Phyllis Ocker Field. With the victory, the Wolverines improved to 3-0 -- their best start since 1997.

Sophomore Meg Dowthwaite tallied a pair of first-half goals, scoring early and late to provide the Wolverines an early cushion. The game-winner came at the 9:09 mark and with a little bit of flash. After accepting a long 50-yard forward from senior Katie Trombetta on the Liberty 25, Dowthwaite dribbled into the circle, used some stick work to create space and buried a reverse chip into the opposite, lower right corner of the cage.

Dowthwaite added another on a corner attack at 27:25, rocketing the direct shot to the board on the left side. Junior Emma Way and sophomore Guadalupe Fernandez Lacort earned assists on the insert and stop, respectively. With the two markers tonight, Dowthwaite already boasts four on the season.

The Wolverines cushioned their lead with a deflection early in the second half, at 45:29, when graduate student Carly Bennett pushed a crossing pass toward the Liberty cage, and the ball knocked off a Flame defender and into the goal -- Bennett's second of the season and in similar own goal fashion.

Michigan outshot the Flames, 17-9, including an 11-3 differential in the first half, and outcornered them, 5-4. Senior goalkeeper Sam Swenson posted six saves, including three in a narrow 30-second window late in the contest, for her 11th career complete-game shutout. Liberty goalkeeper Allison Schaefer stopped seven of 10 Michigan shots on goal.

Tweet of the Game Twitter logo

Fun to watch an exciting @umichfldhockey victory with friends tonight. Great game! #GoBlue pic.twitter.com/cktSmHCBkY
— Sean Bormet (@Sean_Bormet) September 2, 2017

The Wolverines will wrap up the weekend against No. 4 UConn at 1 p.m. on Sunday (Sept. 3) at Ocker Field. Admission to all regular-season home games is free, while the game will also be streamed live -- for free -- on MGoBlue.com.