Belassi, Wilhite Lead Wolverine Domination of Vermont

Sunday, September 18

Ann Arbor, Mich.

1:00 PM

Michigan

(5-3)

Vermont

(2-6)

Vermont

Michigan

Belassi, Wilhite Lead Wolverine Domination of Vermont

9/18/2005 12:00:00 AM | Field Hockey

Box Score PDF Boxscore

By: Leah Howard

Site: Ann Arbor, Mich. (Ocker Field)
Score: #8 Michigan 5, Vermont 0
Records: U-M (5-3), Vermont (2-6)
Next U-M Match: Friday, Sept. 23 -- at Ohio State (Columbus, Ohio), 4 p.m.

ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- Backstopping the No. 8-ranked University of Michigan field hockey team to a 5-0 victory over Vermont on Sunday (Sept. 18), junior goalkeeper Beth Riley (Palmyra, Pa./Palmyra Area HS) earned her 35th career victory and claimed a share of the Michigan career wins record. The shutout was the second straight for the streaking Wolverines, who have posted five consecutive non-conference wins.

U-M dominated the play throughout the game, registering season-high marks in both shots and penalty corners. Freshman Sarah Wilhite (Hummelstown, Pa./Hershey HS) and sophomore Lucia Belassi (Paysandu, Uruguay/Liceo #1) each registered a pair of goals to lead the Wolverine scoring effort, while senior/junior captain Katie Morris (Ann Arbor, Mich./Pioneer HS) extended her scoring streak to four games with a goal and two assists.

Wilhite opened the game's scoring at the 10:50 mark, capitalizing on a give-and-go with Morris for her first collegiate goal. The Wolverine freshman pushed the ball into play from the goal line, feeding it to Morris at the top of the circle. Morris uncorked a hard shot to the left side of the Catamount cage, where Wilhite redirected it behind UVM goalkeeper Erin Hickey.

Less than three minutes later, Belassi tallied her first marker of the season as the Wolverines rallied after a missed penalty-corner opportunity. With the push-in soaring well past the top of the circle, senior/junior Nicole Lonsway (Rockville, Md./Thomas Wootton HS) corralled the ball, carried it back to the top of the circle and sent a hard low shot toward the UVM cage. Belassi got her stick on it from the middle of the circle, tipping the ball to the lower right corner of the goal.

The Wolverines scored another quick pair of goals late in the opening frame to give themselves a four-goal cushion at the halftime break. Morris scored her sixth goal in four games at the 24:04 mark. As the ball bounced across the middle of the circle, the U-M captain used her backhand to swat it into the lower right corner. Belassi tallied her second marker of the game just four minutes later, tipping a hard shot from junior striker Kara Lentz (Manchester, Mass./St. Paul's School) past a steadfast Hickey into the upper right corner.

Wilhite added a U-M insurance tally late in the second half, carrying a pass from Morris to the middle of the Catamount striking circle, where she sent a hard, sweeping shot past Hickey to the left side.

Michigan outshot the Catamounts 29-8, including a 16-2 differential in the first half, and outcornered them 13-5. Riley earned her second straight shutout win with six saves -- four in the second half -- while Hickey made 17 stops on Michigan's 22 shots on goal.

Michigan will head to the Buckeye State next weekend for contests against Ohio State and Kent State. The Wolverines kick off the Big Ten Conference portion of their 2005 slate against OSU at 4 p.m. on Friday (Sept. 23) in Columbus, Ohio, before traveling to Kent, Ohio, for a noon meeting against the Golden Flashes on Sunday (Sept. 25).

MATCH SUMMARY

Team	1	2	F
Vermont	0	0	0
Michigan	4	1	5

Scoring, Time (Assist)
1st -- U-M, Sarah Wilhite, 10:50 (Katie Morris)
1st -- U-M, Lucia Belassi, 13:30 (Nicole Lonsway)
1st -- U-M, Morris, 24:04 (Wilhite)
1st -- U-M, Belassi, 28:14 (Kara Lentz)
2nd -- U-M, Wilhite, 65:12 (Morris)

Shots: U-M 29, Vermont 8
Saves: U-M 6 (Beth Riley), Vermont 17 (Erin Hickey)
Defensive Saves: U-M 0, Vermont 2
Penalty Corners: U-M 13, Vermont 5
Penalty Strokes: U-M 1, Vermont 0

NOTES

• Today's contest was the first-ever meeting between Michigan and Vermont. U-M now owns a 1-0 record against the Catamounts and is 8-4 all-time wins against the America West Conference (4-1 against Maine, 3-1 vs. New Hampshire, 1-0 vs. Vermont and 2-2 against Boston University).

• Sharing the U-M career wins record with Katie Oakes (1997-99), junior Beth Riley reached her 35th career win in her 46th game played at Michigan, one game earlier than Oakes.

• With her second shutout of the season -- and 11th of her career -- Riley needs just two more shutouts to reach the Wolverines' top five career leaders in that category as well. Maureen Tasch (1998-2001) holds the fifth spot with 13.

• Sophomore/freshman Jeannie Goldfarb made her first collegiate appearance in the second half. Senior/junior Catherine Pickard made her season debut.

• Junior Kara Lentz took her first collegiate penalty stroke in the second half. Lentz shot the ball hard to the lower left side of the cage, but UVM goalkeeper Erin Hickey dove to make the save.

QUOTES

Michigan Head Coach Nancy Cox
On Michigan's game ... "It did go well today. There are certainly many things we need to get better at, particularly our defensive ball patterns, but we're getting much better on the attacking end and on the defensive end. We are still nowhere near where we're going to be. That being said, our leadership in this program is really stepping up. Beth Riley was huge for us today. Katie Morris scores when she needs to score. Kara Lentz is evolving into a center-midfield player, and she's never had that expectation. For her to go from a right back to one of the central players in the middle of the field, and be able to really take that role, embrace it and make it hers, that's a big transition for a kid. So, we're right where we need to be."

On the youthfulness of the team ... "Being young is great, because the kids are like sponges and they just want to keep getting better. We want to evolve into the benchmark program for the rest of the country. Our kids know that's our next goal, and we're going to be there."

On the backfield stepping up in Lori Hillman's absence ... "We have sophomores and freshmen stepping up in the backfield, and that's what we expect in the Michigan field hockey program. You expect the younger athletes to step up, because that's what it's about -- your depth chart. As the youngsters go, we will go, and as the senior leaders go, we will go. The seniors are picking it up at the right time."

On the Michigan freshmen ... "It's wonderful to watch these kids put on your jersey and step into the roles. There are many challenges for them every day in practice, because they're still not accustomed to the ball speed. Today, we strung together eight, nine, 10 passes in a row, and now we're starting to play at tempo. We just have to keep moving in that direction. I think they've responded very positively, and by the end of the season, they will be able to perform in those roles we need them to get to the Final Four."

U-M Senior/Junior Forward Katie Morris
On the recent winning streak ... "I think any time you start four freshman, you're going to start out young, and it's just a matter of working out the kinks out and building confidence throughout the season. Playing those first three games of the season was great competition for us. It let us see where we stood against them and how far we had to go to match up. We took those three games as a learning opportunity we had to build off of. Right now, I think we're just gaining confidence with every game, and we try to improve with every practice. So, I think everyone is just feeling more comfortable, and the confidence level is going up."

On specific team improvements ... "We tried to be more aggressive in the circle and finish the plays that we started. The goal scorers weren't getting the goals we wanted, and now I think those people feel more comfortable and are starting to get their first goals in. [Today's success] lets us know that we can get those opportunities in the circle; we have the ability to draw corners. We need to work on finishing them. Anytime you can keep the ball down in our 25, it's always a confidence boost. I think our offense felt better today, and we'll just keep building off of that."

U-M Junior Goalkeeper Beth Riley
On Michigan's play in today's win ... "The game was a really big win for us. We had a pretty strong game plan coming into it, and I would say we executed pretty well. We scored on corners, and that's always important. I just thought we played really well as a team. [The backfield] did their part. If I don't touch the ball, that shows that I have a great team in front of me."

On reaching the career wins record ... "I actually give a lot of credit to my teammates, because without them, I wouldn't have that record. It's quite an honor, because I really look up to all the girls who came before me, like Katie Oakes, Maureen Tasch, Molly Maloney and Amy Helber. I came here because I love the team, it was good field hockey, and I wanted a good education. I feel like this was just another exciting win."

U-M Freshman Back Sarah Wilhite
On today's game ... "We really connected today. Our season didn't start as we anticipated with a 0-3 mark, but we knew what we had to work on. We came out to practice every day and worked as hard as we could to fix the things that needed to be fixed. We're really connecting as a team. We build onto our improvements every day and with every game. We're getting to know each other, and we're working off each other, which helps a lot during a game. Our passes are coming together, our transfers through the back, and I think it's just growing together over time. We clicked in the beginning, but we're just clicking even better now."

On the absence of Lori Hillman in the backfield ... "We do miss Lori. We've had to work on our ball speed in the back, because she can really hit the ball quickly and get it onto teammates' sticks. That's what we really had to work on. Our transfers through the back had to be quicker. The couple girls that are stepping up back there are doing a great job, and they recognize that they had to step up, because Lori's really an enforcer."