Back to Back: U-M Blanks Indiana for Tournament Title

Sunday, November 6

Iowa City, Iowa

1:00 PM CT

Michigan

(15-7, 3-3)

Indiana

(16-4, 4-2)

Michigan

Indiana

2005 Big Ten Field Hockey Tournament Champions

Back to Back: U-M Blanks Indiana for Tournament Title

11/6/2005 12:00:00 AM | Field Hockey

Box Score PDF Boxscore

By: Leah Howard

Site: Iowa City, Iowa (Grant Field)
Event: Big Ten Tournament (Championship Game)
Score: #10 Michigan 3, #8 Indiana 0
Records: U-M (15-7), Indiana (16-4)
Next U-M Match: Saturday, Nov. 12 -- NCAA Tournament First Round (Campus Sites)

IOWA CITY, Iowa -- The No. 10-ranked University of Michigan field hockey team captured its second straight Big Ten Conference Tournament title with a 3-0 victory over No. 8 Indiana on Sunday (Nov. 6) at Iowa's Grant Field. It is the fourth conference tournament crown in program history, with all coming in the last seven years.

The Wolverines wasted no time in jumping to an early lead as freshman Erin Dallas (Marlow, N.H./Keene HS) scored the game-winning tally at the 1:29 mark. The U-M freshman snatched away the ball from a Hoosier defender and used her speed to break away deep into the IU striking circle. Dallas wrapped the shot around Hoosier netminder Haley Exner, who came out to contest the shot, to put U-M up 1-0.

Indiana tallied its best scoring opportunity of the game midway through the opening half when Kayla Bashore ringed the post following back-to-back IU penalty corners. The Wolverines responded several minutes later, at the 22:36 mark, with a goal off their first penalty corner opportunity of the contest. Positioned in front of the Hoosier cage,senior/junior Katie Morris (Ann Arbor, Mich./Pioneer HS) got her stick on the direct shot from junior striker Kara Lentz (Manchester, Mass./St. Paul's School) to redirect it past Exner and register her second goal of the weekend.

Junior Mary Fox (St. Louis, Mo./Cor Jesu Academy) capped U-M's dominant and even-handed opening half with an unassisted tally in the closing minute of the frame. Fox blasted a hard shot past Exner from the right side of the cage to give the Wolverines a three-goal cushion entering the intermission.

The Hoosiers went on the attack early in the second half, registering three corners and four shots on goal within the first 12 minutes of the frame. Junior Beth Riley (Palmyra, Pa./Palmyra Area HS) held strong in the U-M cage, however, turning away every instance to register her fifth shutout of the season. The Wolverine goalkeeper earned seven saves, while Exner recorded two stops on Michigan's five shots on goal.

Michigan, which earned an automatic NCAA berth, will await the NCAA Championship selections on Tuesday (Nov. 8) at 7 p.m. The 16-team tournament opens with first- and second-round matches Saturday and Sunday, Nov. 12-13, at four campus sites to be announced. The selection show will be aired live on CSTV (DirecTV channel 610) and on www.NCAAsports.com.

The Big Ten Tournament championship game will be televised tape-delayed by CSTV on Tuesday (Nov. 8) at6 p.m. EST.

MATCH SUMMARY

Team	1	2	F
Michigan	3	0	3
Indiana	0	0	0

Scoring, Time (Assist)
1st -- U-M, Erin Dallas, 1:29 (unassisted)
1st -- U-M, Katie Morris, 22:36 (Kara Lentz)
1st -- U-M, Mary Fox, 34:27 (unassisted)

Shots: U-M 11, IU 7
Saves: U-M 7 (Beth Riley), IU 2 (Haley Exner)
Defensive Saves: U-M 0, IU 0
Penalty Corners: U-M 9, IU 2

NOTES

• With their fourth Big Ten Tournament title, the Wolverines have tied Penn State for the most conference tournament crowns since its inception in 1994. Michigan won back-to-back trophies in 1999 and 2000 and again in 2004 and 2005. Michigan also matched PSU for the best winning percentage in the Big Ten Tournament; both teams boast a 14-8 mark (.636).

• Junior Lori Hillman was named the Big Ten Tournament's Most Valuable Player for her contribution in the U-M backfield. The Big Ten all-tournament team consisted of Hillman, U-M junior Beth Riley, Indiana's Mallory Reabold and Morgan Albini, Iowa's Lauren Pfeiffer, Michigan State's Christina Kirkaldy, Northwestern's Cassie Miller, Ohio State's Lucy Clayton and Florencia Stier and and Penn State's Bekah Hostetler and Sara Cahill.

• Hillman is the first Wolverine to earn back-to-back Big Ten Tournament MVP honors. She joins Kelli Gannon (1999) and Courtney Reid (2000) as U-M student-athletes to garner the distinction.

• Michigan's win today marked only the second championship game shutout in the 12-year history of the Big Ten Tournament. The Wolverines were on the losing end of the first instance, falling 3-0 to Michigan State in the 2002 final.

• With the shutout victory, junior goalkeeper Beth Riley inched closer to the top of Michigan's career shutouts list with 14th perfect game of her career. She needs just one more shutout to reach the fourth spot on the list, currently held by Molly Maloney (14.5, 2000-04).

QUOTES

Michigan Head Coach Nancy Cox
On Michigan finishing its scoring chances ... "We've really invested a considerable amount of time in practice on penalty corner conversions, and you can see that the time spent in practice, really significant amounts of time in practice, is now starting to correlate with increased incidence in goal scoring. They are executing now."

On Michigan's progression this season ... "What a wonderful story. Given past history for our kids and what the expectations of the program have been, continue to be and will always be, for them to embrace the adversity and the challenges and just continue to progress each and every day is just fantastic. That's what this is -- it's a four-year progression for each athlete. I think that maybe some thought this year was a down year for Michigan. Maybe people underestimated us coming into the tournament, but we've made tremendous strides across all four lines, goalkeeper included. That's just how the program is; each day we're going to get better."

On Lori Hillman being named Tournament MVP ... "Lori Hillman, in my opinion, was clearly the best defender in this tournament. Her ability to break the ball out of the backfield under pressure, her ability to ice the ball under pressure, her ability to distribute the ball to her teammates, I think her striking ability and her ability to read the game is just exceptional. That's what seniors in our program are expected to do."

U-M Junior Goalkeeper Beth Riley
On the game ... "There weren't a lot of shots; it was basically a game between the 25s. We came up big in the first half. Indiana came out pretty strong in the second half, because they knew they were behind. When you're in that position, you come out hard. We just had to deal with that and play our game and keep our opportunities alive."

On battling through the tournament ... "We knew we had to fight for every ball and for every goal in every game. It started on Friday when we played Iowa and carried all the way through to today's game."

U-M Junior Midfield Kara Lentz
On the difference between today's game and the regular-season game against Indiana ... "Our team defense has only progressed throughout the season and has really gotten better with each game we've played. So, there is a huge difference between now and then. Also, revenge is just a sweet thing. We had another chance to play them when it really counted. Kids usually come out more fired up, and that's exactly what we did."

On Michigan's penalty corner efficiency ... "One of our goals is to have a high corner execution. We came out this weekend, and we were really successful over the past two games with our corners. That's a huge accomplishment, and it was a huge goal coming into this weekend. We definitely made use of that."

On preparing for next weekend ... "It's a big thing to know you're one of 16 teams that are still practicing around the country. We're coming out of a great weekend with this tournament, so we're going to try to keep that high. We want to keep up that intensity in practice and keep doing what we've been doing well. Hard work is definitely paying off."

U-M Senior Back Lori Hillman
On the win ... "It was an awesome win. Beth (Riley) had an awesome game and worked hard the entire tournament. The defense really wanted to not give up as many corners as we have in the past games. It was just an awesome effort by the whole team: offense, defense and Beth."