Wolverines Shut Out CMU to Wrap Regular Season

Tuesday, October 24

Mount Pleasant, Mich.

4:00 PM

Michigan

(16-2, 8-0)

Central Michigan

(0-17, 0-5)

Michigan

Central Michigan

Kate Walker

10/24/2017 6:44:00 PM | Field Hockey

Box Score

By: Leah Howard

» Michigan closed out the regular season with a 4-0 win at Central Michigan.
» Kate Walker, Meg Dowthwaite, Fay Keijer and Carly Bennett scored goals.
» The Wolverines established a new program record with their 11th shutout win of the season -- the 10th during their 13-game winning streak.

Site: Mount Pleasant, Mich. (CMU Field Hockey Complex)
Score: No. 3 Michigan 4, Central Michigan 0
Records: U-M (16-2), CMU (0-17)
Next U-M Event: Sunday, Oct. 29 -- vs. TBD -- Big Ten Tournament quarterfinal (Phyllis Ocker Field), noon

MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. -- The No. 3-ranked University of Michigan field hockey team closed out its regular season in dominant fashion, breezing past in-state foe Central Michigan, 4-0, in cold and rainy conditions on Tuesday afternoon (Oct. 24) at the CMU Field Hockey Complex. It was the Wolverines' 13th straight win and a program-record 11th shutout of the season – and 10th over the win streak.

Michigan commanded the statistical categories, outshooting the Chippewas, 34-1, and outcornering them, 12-0. CMU's lone shot, which missed wide, didn't occur until the final six minutes of the second half.

Four different Wolverines scored goals in the contest -- two apiece in the first and second halves. Sophomore Kate Walker netted the first and game-winning tally on a redirection from the left post at the 15:38 mark. Sophomore Meg Dowthwaite set up the play from the right corner with a hard pass into the circle. The ball redirected off junior Emma Way in front and right to Walker, who tapped it into the open cage. It was Walker's second goal of the season and second of her career.

The Wolverines scored again in nearly identical fashion just 35 seconds later, at 16:13. Freshman Kayla Reed rifled a pass into the circle from the right corner; it tipped off of junior Leah Cardarelli's stick toward the left post, where Dowthwaite knocked it in for her team-best 17th goal of the season.

Michigan maintained its pressure as conditions continued to deteriorate in the second half, with play stopping at one point for hail. The Wolverines padded their lead quickly to three goals off a penalty-corner opportunity early in the half, at 37:58, when sophomore Fay Keijer tipped the direct shot from senior Katie Trombetta and sent it high into the cage for her sixth goal of the season.

Graduate student Carly Bennett added another at 57:25 to close out scoring in the contest after whipping a pass across the goalmouth that hit a CMU defender and went into the cage. It was Bennett's ninth goal of the season and third in two games.

Senior goalkeeper Sam Swenson did not have to make a save to earn her eighth complete-game shutout of the season. Michigan's 11 shutouts this season are a program record, surpassing its previous best of 10, which it recorded on two occasions -- in 1992 and, with Swenson in the cage, again in 2015. Swenson owns 18 complete-game shutouts and has contributed to 30 over her career -- also a program record.

As the Big Ten Tournament's No. 1 seed, the Wolverines (16-2) host a pair of games this weekend at Phyllis Ocker Field, starting with the first-round matchup between No. 8 seed Ohio State and No. 9 seed Indiana at 3 p.m. on Friday (Oct. 27). Michigan will face the winner in the quarterfinals at noon on Sunday (Oct. 29). Admission is free for both contests.