Michigan
Ball State
Wolverines Ignite Offensive Explosion over Ball State
9/15/2000 12:00:00 AM | Field Hockey
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The University of Michigan field hockey team unloaded its offensive weapons in a 7-2 defeat over Ball State on a chilly Friday afternoon (Sept. 15) at Ocker Field. Three different Wolverines scored a pair of goals for the Maize and Blue.
April Fronzoni (Larksville, Pa./Wyoming Valley West HS) started and ended the Wolverine arsenal scoring, with the opening goal at 27:58 and the last, an unassisted score, at 18:01 of the second half. Ali Balmer (Ephrata, Pa./Ephrata HS) was credited with the first assist.
Continuing her goal-happy season, Molly Powers (Oak Park, Ill./Oak Park-River Forest HS) put Michigan up 2-0 on a goal created by Jessie Veith (Oak Park, Ill./Oak Park-River Forest HS) setting up Powers at the net. Powers added her team-leading seventh goal of the season -- passing her 1999 total of six -- at 21:52 of the second half.
Kelli Gannon (Escondido, Calif./San Pasqual HS) scored her fifth goal of the season and extended her point streak to seven games, taking the Wolverine advantage to 3-0 at 17:55 of the first half. Gannon was assisted by Courtney Reid (South Deerfield, Mass./Northfield Mt. Hermon HS), who had three helpers on the afternoon to increase her all-time Michigan assist total to 43.
Ball State got on the board with a goal by Afton Hess with nine minutes remaining in the first. The Maize and Blue retaliated by ending the half with Kristi Gannon (Escondido, Calif./San Pasqual HS) scoring on a penalty corner with no time remaining, with assists going to Balmer and Jeanne Shin (Lake Forest, Ill./Lake Forest HS).
Kristi Gannon scored on another penalty corner with three and half minutes into the second half. She credited her teammates for the Wolverines' scoring onslaught. "We made some incredible passes today. Everybody was on the same page feeding each other."
Head coach Marcia Pankratz was pleased with her team's performance, but still feels they have areas to work on. "I'm real happy how everyone stuck to the game plan. Our passing was real crisp and we made some pinpoint passes, but we need to get better on our one-on-one defense."
The No. 4-ranked Wolverines will return to action tomorrow (Saturday, Sept. 16), taking on Rutgers at 1 p.m. at Ocker Field.
MATCH SUMMARY
| Team | 1 | 2 | F |
| Ball State | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| Michigan | 4 | 3 | 7 |
Scoring, Time (Assist)
1st -- U-M, April Fronzoni, 27:50 (Ali Balmer)
1st -- U-M, Molly Powers, 21:09 (Jessie Veith)
1st -- U-M, Kelli Gannon, 17:55 (Courtney Reid)
1st -- BSU, Afton Hess, 9:00 (Shana Fritz)
1st -- U-M, Kristi Gannon, 0:00 (Balmer, Jeanne Shin)
2nd -- U-M, Kristi Gannon, 31:23 (Catherine Foreman, Reid)
2nd -- U-M, Powers, 21:52 (Reid)
2nd -- U-M, Fronzoni, 18:01 (unassisted)
2nd -- BSU, Hess, 10:59 (Tracy Beck, Heather Weinhold)
Shots: U-M 28, BSU 5
Saves: U-M 2 (Maureen Tasch), BSU 13 (Nina Gruen 4, Susan McDonald 9)
Penalty Corners: U-M 11, BSU 2
Contact: Jason Binge (734) 763-4423
