Season Review: 2023 Michigan Women's Soccer

• Team Captains: Sarah Bridenstine, Kacey Lawrence, Sammi Woods
• Record: 7-7-4, 3-5-2 Big Ten Conference (9th place)
• NCAA Tournament: First Round

Team Highlights

• The University of Michigan women's soccer team compiled a 7-7-4 overall record and a 3-5-2 Big Ten Conference mark to finish the season in ninth place in the league. After missing out on the Big Ten Tournament, U-M returned to the pitch after a nearly two-week layoff and fell 1-0 to Princeton in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

• U-M's NCAA Tournament berth was the 16th in program history, and the Wolverines are now 5-4 there under head coach Jennifer Klein.

• Ten of U-M's 18 opponents in 2023 earned NCAA Tournament berths. The Big Ten as a whole earned a conference record nine selections. The Wolverines' strength of schedule ranked No. 15 in the nation.

• The Wolverines outscored opponents 21-20 on the season, highlighted by a 13-9 advantage in second-half goals despite a 138-125 shot deficit.

• U-M held their opponents scoreless for 431 minutes, starting in the second half against Pepperdine on Aug. 19 and concluding at the 37:31 mark against Western Michigan on Sept. 10 -- a span of 23 calendar days.

• After a season-opening loss at then-No. 22 USC (Aug. 17), Michigan went on an eight-match unbeaten streak (6-0-2). The streak included a six-match win streak, highlighted by a victory at No. 11 Notre Dame (Sept. 7).

• The top offensive output of the campaign came against Ohio State (Oct. 22) with four goals and three assists (11 points). The season-best shot mark of 27 was accomplished twice, versus Western Michigan (Sept. 10) and Notre Dame (Sept. 7). The high-water mark for shots on goal was 13 (versus Ohio State), while the corner-kick mark was 13 against Minnesota (Sept. 15).

Individual Highlights

• Senior Sammi Woods led the team in goals with eight, ranking seventh in the conference. She owns 24 goals in her U-M career, placing her ninth on the program list.

• Freshman Gabrielle Prych tied for second in the Big Ten for goals by a freshman with five, and her four assists were also tied for the team lead.

• Prych topped the assist category along with a pair of defenders in Sarah Bridenstine and Avery Peters. It is the first time since 2011 that a defender has led or tied for the team lead in assists.

• Peters played the full 90 minutes in 17-of-18 matches, logging 1,609 minutes played of a possible 1,620 minutes to lead the team.

• Woods and junior Avery Kalitta (third team), as well as Prych and Lilley Bosley (freshman team), and senior Stephanie Sparkowski (sportsmanship honoree) all earned All-Big Ten recognition.

• Against Michigan State, U-M scored two goals in the final three minutes with Woods (87:20) and sophomore Kali Burrell (89:09) scoring goals, the shortest span between tallies of the season.

• Sparkowski totaled seven clean sheets on the season, with five coming in U-M's first eight contests. In her first season as the starting goalkeeper, she played nearly every minute with a 1.12 goals-against average, 86 saves and an .811 save percentage.

• Kalitta ranked No. 1 in the league in both duels won and defensive duels won, and she ranked second in the conference in ball recoveries, passes completed and total smart passes.

Honors and Awards

Sammi
Woods

Avery
Kalitta

Lilley
Bosley

Gabrielle
Prych

Stephanie
Sparkowski

Sarah
Bridenstine

Kacey
Lawrence

Avery
Peters

Big Ten Conference
All-Big Ten (Third Team): Avery Kalitta, Sammi Woods
All-Freshman Team: Lilley Bosley, Gabrielle Prych
Sportsmanship Award: Stephanie Sparkowski

College Sports Communicators
Academic All-Region: Avery Kalitta, Sammi Woods

Academic All-Big Ten (15)
Taylor Brennan, So., LSA Undeclared
Sarah Bridenstine, Sr., Applied Exercise Science
Kali Burrell, Jr., Business Administration
Sophie Homan, So., LSA Undeclared
Vickie Jones, So., LSA Undeclared
Avery Kalitta, Jr., Architecture
Kacey Lawrence, Sr., Sport Management
Aniyah League, So., LSA Undeclared
Syah Mangat, Jr., Economics
Avery Peters, Jr., Biology, Healthy, & Society
Sierra Sargent, So, Business Administration
Stephanie Sparkowski, Sr., Civil Engineering
Sam Suplee, So., Business Administration
Tamia Tolbert, Jr., Business Administration
Sammi Woods, Sr., Psychology