Scoring Surge Propels Wolverines Past UMass for First Win

Friday, August 31

Amherst, Mass.

6:00 PM

Michigan

(1-2)

Massachusetts

(1-2)

Michigan

Massachusetts

Scoring Surge Propels Wolverines Past UMass for First Win

8/31/2018 9:05:00 PM | Field Hockey

Box Score

By: Leah Howard

» No. 5 Michigan used a scoring surge late in the first half to cruise to a 5-0 win at Massachusetts -- its first victory of the 2018 season.
» Emma Way netted two goals, including the first and game-winning tally off a reverse shot at the 25:42 mark; Halle O'Neill, Meg Dowthwaite and Regan Leavitt also scored.
» Goalkeeper Anna Spieker made one save to earn the shutout and her first collegiate win.

Site: Amherst, Mass. (Gladchuk Field Hockey Complex)
Score: #5 Michigan 5, Massachusetts 0
Records: U-M (1-2), UMass (1-2)
Next U-M Event: Sunday, Sept. 2 -- at Connecticut (Storrs, Conn.), noon

AMHERST, Mass. -- The No. 5-ranked University of Michigan field hockey team used a scoring surge late in the first half, netting three goals in the final 10 minutes of the frame, to cruise to a 5-0 win against Massachusetts on Friday night (Aug. 31) at Gladchuk Field Hockey Complex. The win was the Wolverines' first of the 2018 season.

The Wolverines used a suffocating attack to dominate possession from start to finish, but struggled to get their offense going inside the UMass circle until senior Emma Way's breakthrough goal -- the game-winner and first of her two markers in the contest -- at the 25:42 mark late in the first half. Senior Regan Leavitt and junior Meg Dowthwaite set up the goal with passes from the UMass defensive 25 to the right corner and then into the circle, where Way spun and delivered a reverse chip to the near-side lower-right corner.

Sophomore Halle O'Neill tallied her third goal of the season just 1:17 later, at 26:59, off a Michigan penalty corner. Dowthwaite directed the initial sweep shot toward the right post, where O'Neill lunged to tip it into the near-side corner of the cage. O'Neill nearly had a second, identical goal a couple minutes later but the tip shot was stopped on the goal line, a stroke was called, and the Wolverines could not convert.

After assisting on U-M's first two goals, Dowthwaite found the board herself at the 32:14 after tipping in a forward pass from freshman Emma Tamer from outside the circle. Dowthwaite just got her stick on it from the stroke mark and redirected it into the left corner to earn her first goal of the season and Tamer her first collegiate point.

Way used a similar tip to net her second goal less than 90 seconds into the second half, at 36:23, after senior Maggie Bettez hammered a pass in from outside the circle. Way got low and tipped it high, beating the UMass goalkeeper to the near side. It was her fourth career multi-goal game. She shares the team lead with O'Neill with three goals this season.

Leavitt added one more Michigan goal late in the game, at 59:37, off another penalty-corner opportunity. Leavitt inserted and, after the direct shot was saved, banged in the rebound out of an extended scrum in front of the cage. It was Leavitt's first goal of the season and second of her career.

Michigan outshot the Minutewomen, 24-2, and outcornered them, 7-0. Freshman goalkeeper Anna Spieker earned one save -- a lunging play to challenge a one-on-one midway through the second half -- to earn the shutout and her first collegiate victory in the Wolverine cage. Two goalkeepers appeared for UMass; Johanna von dem Borne allowed four goals and posted 13 saves, while Megan Davies allowed one goal and earned four saves.

The Wolverines (1-2) will wrap up the east-coast road trip against No. 1 Connecticut, the defending NCAA champion, on Sunday (Sept. 2), traveling to Storrs, Connecticut, for a noon slate at the George J. Sherman Family Sports Complex.