Michigan
Ball State
Fronzoni, Powers Lead Wolverines to Win over Ball State
9/8/2002 12:00:00 AM | Field Hockey
| | Powers |
BSU senior forward Allison Haynes stunned the home crowd when she got the Cardinals on the board in the 11th minute to put the Cardinals up 1-0. Haynes picked up a loose ball on the right side of the circle and slapped it past the left side of sophomore goalkeeper Molly Maloney (Lake Bluff, Ill./Lake Forest HS) for the score.
Michigan answered 16:30 later, scoring the first of two goals in a 49-second span. Fronzoni provided the equalizer 26:43 into the contest, putting a rebound past Cardinals netminder Susan McDowell after junior defender Kristi Gannon (Escondido, Calif./San Pasqual HS) had taken a shot from six feet outside the circle. Powers netted the first of two goals on the afternoon at 27:32 on a penalty corner situation, tipping Gannon's shot over McDowell for the game-winner.
The Wolverines poured on the offense in the second half, scoring three times in just under six minutes to cruise to the victory. Powers made it 3-1 when she redirected a shot from Fronzoni into an open net, then junior defender Stephanie Johnson (Houston, Texas/The Kinkaid School) added her second marker in as many days on a penalty corner, blasting a shot from the top of the circle past McDowell and off the stick of a BSU defender.
Fronzoni notched her second of the game, and fifth of the weekend, to round out the scoring at 49:42, taking a long pass down the right side from Gannon and stuffing it past McDowell's left side.
Michigan outshot the Cardinals 22-7, including a 13-2 margin in the first half. Maloney stopped three of BSU's four shots on net, while McDowell stopped six shots for Ball State.
U-M will return to action on Saturday and Sunday, Sept. 14-15, hosting the Big East/Big Ten Challenge. The Wolverines will host Boston College on Saturday at 1 p.m., followed by a Sunday meeting with Connecticut at 1 p.m. Providence, Northwestern and Iowa will also participate in the weekend.
MATCH SUMMARY
| Team | 1 | 2 | F |
| Ball State | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Michigan | 2 | 3 | 5 |
Scoring, Time (Assist)
1st -- BSU, Alison Haynes, 10:13 (unassisted)
1st -- U-M, April Fronzoni, 26:43 (unassisted)
1st -- U-M, Molly Powers, 27:32 (Kristi Gannon)
2nd -- U-M, Powers, 43:52 (Fronzoni)
2nd -- U-M, Stephanie Johnson, 44:53 (Adrienne Hortillosa, Krista Meckley)
2nd -- U-M, Fronzoni, 49:42 (Kristi Gannon)
Shots: U-M 22, BSU 7
Saves: U-M 3 (Molly Maloney), BSU 6 (Susan McDowell)
Defensive Saves: None
Penalty Corners: U-M 12, BSU 3
Penalty Strokes: None
Q U O T E S
U-M Head Coach Marcia Pankratz
On Ball State's defense ... "They're a better team this year than they were last year. They're fitter so they're stronger. One-on-one against us they tackled hard, which made it a much more even match. They were better tacklers than last year."
On the first few minutes when Ball State scored its goal ... "It's hard to really pinpoint what was happening. If I knew exactly what it was it wouldn't be happening. You can probably chalk it up to them trying to be very safe and trying to do things right rather than just relaxing and playing hard. We then got organized and got our feet under ourselves and we started to play a bit tougher as the game went along."
On April Fronzoni's talent and how it compares nationally ... "I would rate her as the very best player in the country bar none at forward."
On if Fronzoni has an idea of how good she can be ... "I think it's developing. She's a very humble, respectful person on the team. She's growing every year and certainly this is going to be a big breakthrough year for her because she's an international player without question, and I'm glad we have her on our team."
Senior Forward Molly Powers
On her second goal ... "April (Fronzoni) just made a really scrappy play. She brought the ball in from all the way outside the circle and I just finished on it. She did all the work to get the ball in front of the goal and it was just a matter of finishing on it. She put her body on the turf to get the ball in there. It was a great effort on her part."
On trailing in the game early and if the heat played a factor ... "I think that we just weren't playing aggressively enough in the beginning. I don't think it had much to do with yesterday or the heat. We need to be better self-starters. We need to start off harder and stronger and that's something that we've noticed so far in the season and we're still working on it. I don't think it was unique to today."
On falling behind early in the game ... "No matter what we have confidence in ourselves that we can come back. Especially with the amount of our offensive talent there's no reason why we shouldn't score. We knew it was a matter of time so we just needed to pick up the tempo and the communication."
Junior Forward April Fronzoni
On her goal-scoring frenzy to start the season ... "I'm just very thankful that I've started off strong and the team has started out strong. It's awesome to come out and have two strong weekends. I just have to keep it going. I don't know what to say. Hopefully it will just keep rolling."
On playing at home during the early part of the season ... "It's great. I love our schedule. It's a big confidence booster for us. We love playing at home and we have great fans. We just have to keep it up and maybe we could have another shutout at home."
N O T E S
Contact: Paul Thomas (734) 763-4423
