Conqu'ring Heroes 209 - Dave DiIanni Transcript
10/1/2026 8:04:00 AM | MGoBlue Podcasts
Brian Boesch • 00:00
Women's soccer is our spotlight this week with head coach Dave DiIanni joining us in about five minutes. But let's start our weekly update with men's soccer. Michael Haikal picked a great time to deliver his first goal as a Wolverine on Tuesday night, breaking a one one tie with an eighty seventh minute bullet from just outside the eighteen, propelling Michigan to a two to one victory over Oakland. Heichel scored eleven times in four seasons at Division two Bentley University before joining U of M for his final collegiate season and Haikal describes the game winning
Michael Haikal • 00:29
goal for us well, I just saw the ball come out, I knew thirteen, big guy in the back, great player, headed it out. I knew I just had to take a touch and have a hit, be a little selfish and it went in and I just kind of blacked out. Celebrated with the boys, but it felt good.
Brian Boesch • 00:43
It was much needed for a Michigan team that has endured plenty of injuries throughout the season. The Wolverines over their last four matches were zero three one all three losses by exactly one goal before the big bounce back against the Golden Grizzlies. Michigan back in action at the UM Soccer Stadium on Sunday for another non conference clash, two o' clock against Portland. It was a tough start to conference play for Michigan volleyball, dropping home matches to Penn State three sets to one on Friday and then to Washington three sets to zero on Sunday. The Wolverines are already out in Los Angeles getting ready for a big weekend as Michigan faces USC late night. It's a Friday eleven o' clock eastern time match. That one airs on Big Ten Network. Twenty three hours later they get going with UCLA out in Los Angeles. Despite a season high six saves from Hal Silver.
Brian Boesch • 01:32
Scene Field hockey dropped a one nothing decision at Indiana back on Saturday. Huge weekend coming up for Kristi Gannon Fisher's crew with a pair of top five teams coming to Ann Arbor. Number five Iowa, Friday at five, number one Northwestern Sunday at noon. Speaking of big weekends, the start of hockey season is always big and there are huge expectations for Michigan this season. The Wolverines kick things off with a home and home against Bowling Green. Seven o' clock here in Ann Arbor on Friday, then six o' clock Saturday down at BG. Our good friend Al Randall begins his thirty second season as the radio voice of Michigan hockey. He and the great Fred Pletsch bring you the action on ninety four point seven WCSX in Detroit, ten fifty AM in Ann Arbor and of course across the Michigan Sports Network from Learfield. If you are out of the listening area, get it for free on the Michigan Athletics App or the Varsity Network app.
Brian Boesch • 02:26
Both cross country teams participated in the Sean Earl Loyola Lakefront Invite in Chicago this past Friday. The men a solid showing second place out of seventeen. The women ninth. Nathan Lopez's eighth place finish. Trent McFarland's eleventh place showing helped the Wolverines on the men's side to eighty eight points, just three shy of first place. Arizona men's golf shared eleventh place at the Brian Bros. Collegiate hosted by South Carolina. Both the men's and women's programs getting set to travel together down to the Barbara Nicklaus Cup. That's this coming Monday and Tuesday in Dublin, Ohio. Ohio State the host Michigan will be alongside the Buckeyes, Charlotte and Clemson. Men's and women's swimming and diving had a couple of combo events last week, finishing third at the inaugural Collegiate Swimming League event before hosting the Team Be Better Invitational in a non scoring meet.
Brian Boesch • 03:15
Both the men's and women's tennis programs are in the midst of fall action, as is softball. Wolverines winning at Western Michigan Sunday nine to nothing. Wolverines will play at home this weekend Friday at six against Toledo, Saturday at one and three thirty against Detroit Mercy. Free admission for all of the action and baseball opens its four game fall slate Saturday at one o' clock in Traverse City against the Spartans. Speaking of Michigan State, the Spartans were number one in women's soccer until Michigan pulled off a huge win. Then there were two tough setbacks for the Wolverines. The Been a wild year for first year head coach Dave DiIanni. He reflects on the wild stretch and looks ahead to the stretch run. A great conversation with Coach DiIanni coming at you right after this. On Conqu'ring Heroes.
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Jeff Laurence • 04:03
Welcome to your one Stop podcast for all things Michigan athletics. Updates on every team on campus and interviews with players and coaches are all on the way. This is Conqu'ring Heroes. Here's your host, Brian Boesch.
Brian Boesch • 04:17
It's a pleasure to welcome Dave DiIanni, new Head coach Michigan Women's Soccer here to the program for the first time. Coach, we'll get into your path here and all of that first, but gosh what a what a whirlwind of year one for you. Some incredible highs obviously some challenges. How have you and the team handled the ebbs and flows through ten matches?
Dave DiIanni • 04:36
Yeah, it's been amazing. February first came came really fast and all the work we had to do in the winter and the spring to to reshape the roster but also build the culture and create a foundation of consistency quite honestly. Standards being transparent with the standards and accountability and expectations that our Young women want. That was expressed pretty prominently. Standards and expectations. And bringing my staff over from Iowa, bringing over everyone from Iowa helped create a more consistent message. But then, you know, really, you know, once you get in the fall, it goes fast and furious. And so, you know, we really like where we're at. I think, well, looking back, the last three games in the Big Ten that we, we lost three of the last four games, probably should have won two of those three. But we're still building who we are as a team and who we are as players.
Dave DiIanni • 05:38
And I'm all about the process. So the process is, takes what it takes and, and we're going to continue to invest in it and I think the great results in the future are here for us.
Brian Boesch • 05:51
What are a few of the non negotiables in order to establish the culture you want? I'm sure there's a lot of facets, but what are a few that have stayed true in your lengthy and successful career?
Dave DiIanni • 06:01
Yeah, I think service based, being a service based human is important. I think that means we're here for more than just ourselves. We're here for, for the block M, we're here for the university, we're here for our teammates. I think that's, that's incredibly important and then acting upon that. I think, you know, being good communicators is, is incredibly important. You know that it's not always as good as you think, it's not as always as bad. But how can you problem solve through good communication. It means you have, you know, respect for each other to be able to discuss, discuss that. But it also allows you to be a good teammate, you know, pick, pick people up when they're, when they're not doing as well and championing when they are. And so, and that, that's for me is like outside of the, you know, the field, but also being fit. Being fit. This team has had a history of injuries in the past for the last three, four years.
Dave DiIanni • 06:59
And being fit and having a standard, we want to play a certain way, we want to play fast, we want to be athletic. Being fit is a non negotiable. It allows you to perform at a higher level, allows you to be injury free or at least preventive, you know, preventing injuries. So those things are very simple things for me that are important. And then building on that foundation is a lot easier to do.
Brian Boesch • 07:28
Something that certainly establishes quite a foundation. And an example was that win over number one Michigan State back on september twentieth. And obviously that's not just any number one. When you win over arrival. That's a big deal too. How did your team do it and what did it mean for the program?
Dave DiIanni • 07:44
I think, you know, being Canadian and you know, not growing up in Michigan, but spending most of my time in Michigan with as a college student athlete, but also at Grand Valley State before I went to Iowa, I'm very familiar with the rivalry, so I knew that what was at stake there and I also knew that Michigan hadn't won in four years, hadn't even scored a goal in four years. So this would have been five years. So for us we've been building a resolve, you know, and consistency to hard and knowing that it's, it's the path is always not easy to success. And I think that game was a great example of that, to be honest. The build up to that game has been a great example of that. Go out to Utah, which is a trip I probably wouldn't have scheduled if I was the one building the schedule. Go to Utah on the first weekend and with altitude and we, we pull up, we don't play great, but we pull off two, two ties against what's turning out to be two very difficult opponents that are success successful in the future with their future games beyond our game and building our resolve.
Dave DiIanni • 08:59
And Michigan State game was exactly that. We, we got punched in the nose a little bit early on in the game. We make a couple big saves, Malia Zillman makes a couple big saves and then we kind of find our feet. And then the second half, same thing. We give up a goal early on against the run of play, something that we would have wanted back. But then we again build our resolve to difficulty and adversity and you know, quite honestly, our Michigan kids came to life. We have a lot of Michigan kids that have not been successful in the, in the series and that want the Michigan Wolverines to be a bit more prominent in the state. Ella Jablinskey, Beanie Harshe, Lilley Bosley, Ellie Fife, Elle Ervin, all, you know, players that, that it matters. It matters to, to win in that rivalry. And they had their best games and as did Melisa Kekic, a freshman and you know, Campbell Jewell.
Dave DiIanni • 09:54
But the Michigan kids are the ones driving this. This read this. This culture and program rebranding.
Brian Boesch • 10:03
More women's soccer conversation coming your way in a moment. But this field hockey season, Michigan athletics and Farm Bureau Insurance of Michigan are teaming up in the fight to end hunger. Coming up Friday, october thirtieth. Join that Michigan field hockey team at five o' clock as they take on Ohio State and Fans attending the game are encouraged to bring non perishable food items to be donated to local Ann Arbor food banks. To learn more about how Farm Bureau Insurance of Michigan is working to end hunger in Michigan, visit michfb dot com that's michfb dot com. Great to have Dave DiIanni here with us on Conqu'ring Heroes. Now you mentioned outside of that Michigan State game, a few tough losses, two tightly contested matches since then, both one nil. Was there any hiccup in the prep because of the high of Michigan State or was it just a couple of tough battles and in Big Ten play that it just didn't go your way?
Dave DiIanni • 11:02
It's a great question. You know, I think our kids did a pretty good job of getting grounded. We spoke a lot about it throughout the week. I think when you aren't successful on a consistent basis, you don't know how to handle success. And quite honestly, that's where we're at right now is the they've lost a lot for a long period of time and that's not a knock on the former staff, but they have not sustained success for a long time. And when you don't have success, you don't handle it appropriately. We talked a lot about again, it's never as good as you think, it's never as bad and just kind of like attacking each day the same way without emotion, quite honestly. So enjoying the victory against Michigan State, but enjoying it for twenty four hours and then acting like it should have happened. And that's one of the things we talk about like when, when you act like when you act like you're surprised and it's too emotional, then you, you get kind of out of whack and we want to get to a place where we, when we win we just go about their day, who's next?
Dave DiIanni • 12:08
And we're not quite there yet. And so I think honestly we played quite well against Washington. We deserve to win that game. But when you there's a big and same against Nebraska, quite honestly we statistically we dominate both games, but there's a big difference between playing well and being a winning team. And right now we're not quite consistent enough over a ninety minute period in all facets as individuals as well to win some of these games. And so our goal is to continue to close the gap between playing well and being a winning team. And all I can say is I got a great group of women who are dying to win and want to be coached and I've done this a very long time and you can Do a lot with student athletes that have that mindset.
Brian Boesch • 12:58
Let's talk about a few of your student athletes. You alluded to your goalkeeper a bit ago, Malia Zillman as a freshman, less than a goal allowed per game. You and your team have been in a lot of, of close matches. How has she adapted and adjusted to the landscape and to the program?
Dave DiIanni • 13:14
Yeah, well, I mean I'd be, I'd be remiss to not mention, you know, sadly we don't have Sophie home in our fifth year, you know, who tore Kelly's two date two days into preseason. And that would have been an unbelievable competition but also like relationship for those two to be able to got a fifth year woman and a seventeen year old freshman. So. But you know, she's been a good mentor for her for Malia. JP Valadares is an excellent goalkeeper coach, but we also have on staff, Macy Enneking who played for me, played a lot of big games at Iowa, who's our director of ops, who's a mentor for Malia. I think everybody wants the moment until they come to the Big Ten and then they gotta, they've got to figure it out and think, oh my gosh, this is fast and the balls come quicker and there's a lot to being successful in the Big Ten and Malia is going through that process right now both on the field and off the field.
Dave DiIanni • 14:08
And so but she's, she's done exactly what we thought she'd do when you know, former national team, youth, national team goalkeeper who our goal is to get her back into that program. But she's an unbelievable athlete. She's a fierce competitor and her bravery is off the charts. And so in her athletic, you know, with her athleticism she's able to go at five, seven, go above and beyond people in the box to get balls that are very difficult to get to and has sure fire hands, very strong hands, a whole ball. So she's been important in the success of that what we've had so far. But we also want her to grow in that space as well.
Brian Boesch • 14:48
You mentioned a few others. Ella Jablinskey, your team leader in goals. Lilley Bosley, a good foundation you've built. Obviously talented players you've brought in who are some who have kind of led this group or maybe stood out more than you would have expected if we had this conversation back over the summer.
Dave DiIanni • 15:05
I think Ellie Fife has come a long way in her career and you know, obviously she's from Ann Arbor and she's. So this is important to her as well, her sister's coming in next year as well. And I, I think when, you know, when you grow as a player, which is, which is, I, I know that sounds incredibly obvious, but not every program have players that develop from freshman year to senior year. And Ali Fife has certainly done that. She didn't, she didn't really have a freshman year of Vanderbilt and came in and she's somebody who's continued to get better. Ella Jablinskey was one of the top fifty players in the country who came in from high school. And I think you're finally seeing the Ella Jablinskey that everyone thought was going to happen in the college game. And I don't think that has anything to do with me other than she and I have a very good relationship.
Dave DiIanni • 15:56
We've been very clear about what the expectations are for her. She knows that I believe in her, that I, that I believe that the best version of her is still to come. And some, sometimes people just want to be told that, that you have that, that you have her back, you have their back. And so Lillie Bosley, I think, is very appreciative of what we have been able to help with her growth and development. Beanie Harshe is somebody who has never started games in her career here. She's another Michigan kid and she's been this, you know, started for us the last, this year. And so Campbell Jewell, a senior, who I think is playing her best soccer the last three games, four games are all like kind of the foundation. Elle Ervin, also a Michigan kid who has not had as much success this, this fall with scoring goals yet, but has really developed other parts of her game that she didn't have.
Dave DiIanni • 16:57
So, and then you add Melisa Kekic and Torah Betteridge and Malia Zillman, who are freshmen that are playing a lot of Mints as well. So we have an interesting group that are like all the way through, built throughout the ages of our roster that are, that are leading. We need to score more goals. That's what I know we need to do. And that's to come both in the future players coming, but we need to find ways to score more goals, win games.
Brian Boesch • 17:26
Before I let you go, obviously you had been in the Big Ten twelve seasons at Iowa, had been in the state with eleven incredible years, national championship type seasons at Grand Valley State. So why Michigan and what does it mean to be a part of this program?
Dave DiIanni • 17:41
Yeah, I, I've answered that question a lot, you know, especially early on when I got here. I mean, the first, first, first part was I Wanted to bring my family home. I think when you're a college coach, your family pays the price, right? They're moving all across the country. You don't see them as much. My all my in laws, my wife's family is from Michigan. Every in law that I, that she, that I have is from the state of Michigan. I'm Canadian, I'm only three hours away from home. And so this is as close as I could be to seeing my family missing birthdays and special events and, and doing it at a highest level. So that's the first reason. And then second is, is clear. It's University of Michigan. It's who I grew up following. It's who I bought the Wolverines. But I knew, I was very aware of what the University of Michigan and the education, the elite education matter meant and the community that exists within Arbor, the diversity, the eclecticness, the liberal like, the education, all of those things are how I want to raise my family.
Dave DiIanni • 18:48
And you got, you got some of that at the University of Iowa. But the total package of what it meant for my family and my career was the University of Michigan. In that regard, it was a no brainer.
Brian Boesch • 19:00
Well, we're fortunate to have you and your staff. Been a fun ride following along. Seven games left in the regular season. Wish you all the best, coach. Thanks for making the time.
Dave DiIanni • 19:08
Yeah, thank you very much for having me on. I loved it.
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Brian Boesch • 19:18
A pleasure to have Dave DiIanni on the program for the first time. Thanks to him for his time. Michigan women's soccer, a noon matchup with Indiana coming up on Sunday down in Bloomington. That one airs live on Big Ten Network the next time the Wolverines are at home. A week from Sunday, a one o' clock matchup with Wisconsin. That is Pups at the pitch. Always a fun event over at the um soccer stadium. Just seven regular season matches remain for the Maize and Blue and they're right in the hunt. Four, three and three and two, three and oh in league play. So thanks to Coach DiIanni, thanks to Sydney Miller and Alex Whisnant for their contributions this week and of course thanks to all of you in the trenches presented by Meijer. Back later on Thursday afternoon with John Jansen's keys to the Michigan Minnesota game. We'll have the post game recap for you on Saturday afternoon into the evening as the Wolverines try to keep the Little Brown Jug in Ann Arbor.
Brian Boesch • 20:11
For Coach DiIanni, I'm Brian Boesch. Thanks so much for listening to this episode of Conqu'ring Heroes and as always, go Blue.
Jeff Laurence • 20:18
Thanks for listening to Conqu'ring Heroes, part of our Michigan Athletics Podcast Network, MGO Blue Podcasts. The preceding has been a Learfield presentation of the Michigan Sports Network.
