Penalty Corner Conversion Paces Wolverines Past VCU

Thursday, October 19

Ann Arbor, Mich.

3:00 PM

Michigan

(10-7)

Virginia Commonwealth

(3-12)

Virginia Commonwealt

Michigan

10/19/2006 12:00:00 AM | Field Hockey

Box Score PDF Boxscore

By: Leah Howard

Site: Ann Arbor, Mich. (Phyllis Ocker Field)
Score: #18 Michigan 5, Virginia Commonwealth 1
Records: U-M (10-7), VCU (3-12)
Next U-M Match: Sunday, Oct. 22 -- vs. Ohio State (Phyllis Ocker Field)

ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The No. 18-ranked University of Michigan field hockey team took advantage of penalty corner opportunities en route to a 5-1 victory over Virginia Commonwealth on Thursday afternoon (Oct. 19) at Phyllis Ocker Field. With the victory, the Wolverines extended their winning streak to five games.

Michigan drew a season-high 18 penalty corners, including 11 in the opening half, and was successful on three opportunities. Senior captain Kara Lentz (Manchester, Mass./St. Paul's School) scored a marker in both halves to register her first career multi-goal effort, while Michigan's other primary striker, junior Kristen Tiner (Houston, Texas/The Kinkaid School), netted the gamewinner -- her second in as many games -- at the 29:24 mark.

Michigan (10-7, 3-1 Big Ten) found itself trailing early in the contest when the Rams scored on their first shot of the game at the 3:50 mark. Nikki Lloyd sent a bouncing pass into the circle, where Emily Guerra swatted it out of midair over senior goalkeeper Beth Riley's (Palmyra, Pa./Palmyra Area HS) head into the top of the cage.

However, the Wolverines continued pressuring in the VCU zone, drawing three quick corners before Lentz knotted the score three minutes later on a direct shot from the top of the scoring circle. The ball ricocheted off a Ram defender in front of the goal, flying high into the VCU cage past goalkeeper Britanny LoVullo. Later in the frame, Tiner's game-winning tally came on a similar play, as the Wolverine junior maneuvered a rocket shot through a crowd to the back of the Ram cage. Senior captain Mary Fox (St. Louis, Mo./Cor Jesu Academy) and junior Jillianne Whitfield (Costa Mesa, Calif./Newport Harbor HS) earned assists on both plays with the stop and the push, respectively.

Fox delivered the most productive effort of her career with a goal and three assists, contributing to all but one of the Wolverines' five tallies. She padded the Maize-and-Blue advantage to a pair of goals entering the halftime intermission with her chip-in score at the 32:22 mark. Freshman Paige Laytos (Lititz, Pa./Warwick HS) fired a hard pass to the front of the VCU cage, where Fox got ahold of the ball and pushed it to the lower corner.

The Wolverines picked up where they left off in the second half, registering seven shots and four penalty corners in the opening seven minutes of the frame. Lentz converted on her own rebound for her second tally of the game at the 42:27 mark, a play that originated on a corner setup with Lentz taking the direct shot from the high right side of the circle. The ball was blocked by a Ram defender but kicked straight back to Lentz, who took a step forward and fired another shot to the board.

Junior Ashley Lennington (Carlisle, Pa./Carlisle HS) rounded out the Wolverines' offensive production at 59:09, taking a forward pass from Fox, carrying the ball into the VCU circle, and lifting a fluttering shot over the stick of LoVullo.

Michigan dominated both major statistical categories, outshooting the Rams 31-10 and outcornering them 18-3. Both U-M goalkeepers saw playing time, with Riley earning the victory behind six saves. LoVullo made nine stops in the VCU cage, and Alaina Vernetti picked up a defensive save.

The Wolverines return to Ocker Field on Sunday (Oct. 22) to square off against No. 5 Ohio State at 3 p.m.

MATCH SUMMARY

Team	1	2	F
Virginia Commonwealth	1	0	1
Michigan	3	2	5

Scoring, Time (Assist)
1st-- VCU, Emily Guerra, 3:50 (Nikki Lloyd)
1st -- U-M, Kara Lentz, 6:55 (Jillianne Whitfield, Mary Fox)
1st -- U-M, Kristen Tiner, 29:24 (Whitfield, Fox)
1st -- U-M, Fox, 32:22 (Laytos)
2nd -- U-M, Lentz, 42:27 (unassisted)
2nd -- U-M, Ashley Lennington, 59:09 (Fox)

Shots: U-M 31, VCU 10
Saves: U-M 6 (Beth Riley 6, Paige Pickett 0), VCU 9 (Brittany LoVullo)
Defensive Saves: U-M 0, VCU 1
Penalty Corners: U-M 18, VCU 3

NOTES

• Highlights of today's match against Virginia Commonwealth will be available on Michigan All-Access (subscription required). Rates are set at $6.95/month and $49.95/year. For more information, visit Michigan All-Access and select "Field Hockey" from the "All Sports" menu, then go to "Highlights."

• Today marked the first-ever meeting between Michigan and VCU. With the win, the Wolverines improved to 19-8 all-time against teams from the Colonial Athletic Association.

• The Wolverines did not allow a VCU penalty corner opportunity until midway through the second half.

• Senior Mary Fox tallied three assists against VCU, bringing her career total to 26 helpers over her four collegiate seasons. She climbed to the eighth spot among U-M's all-time assists leaders, where she is tied with two-time All-American (and current volunteer coach) Kristi Gannon (2000-03). Fox needs just one more assist to reach the fifth position, currently held by two-time All-American Lori Hillman (27, 2002-05) and Sharon Cantor (27, 1986-89).

QUOTES

Michigan Head Coach Nancy Cox
On Michigan's defensive play ... "As we move toward the end of the season and the Big Ten Tournament, and as we move toward securing that bid outright for the NCAA Tournament or getting an at-large bid, we have to eliminate opposing teams' corner opportunities against us. So, that means playing great defense individually, and it means collectively playing a great defensive-third defense. So it is a pointed focus at this point in the season, because statistically, if you compare Michigan to teams in the top 10, we need to make marked improvements in that area."

On the biggest positive from today's game ... "I'm pleased with the variety in those who are taking shots. You see midfielders are now coming up and having the ability to get shots on goal. As the season has progressed, our midfielders haven't had a lot of opportunities or created many opportunities. I think it starts from our ballspeed across the backfield, and our fullbacks being a lot more comfortable with their distribution skills. As the ballspeed improves across the back, it opens seams to our midfielders, and you can statistically see the results."

On the Wolverines' improvements ... "Anytime you can have multiple goalscorers and have different people accepting that as their own responsibility, it is a positive. Our athletes have recognized that, and I think they have really taken that to heart and accepted that as a challenge. It has been a reoccurring theme in practice -- who is going to step up They are all making strides in doing that."

U-M Senior Back Kara Lentz
On finding success on the penalty corner ... "We actually have started something new called the 20 percent conversion, and, in the last couple of games, we've had about four or five different people score goals. So, we're focused on 20 percent scoring and 20 percent on corner conversions. That's our main objective right now -- to get 20 percent success on corners. It's finally kicking in; it's working. Hopefully, it will peak by Big Tens."

On the Wolverines' current winning streak ... "It has been confidence. We've been having really good practices, and we're getting a few good wins under our belt. We just really want to be on our top game by the time of the Big Ten Tournament."

On Sunday's match against Ohio State ... "We have all been waiting to play Ohio State since last year. So, it's going to be a very intense game. We both have one loss in the Big Ten, and we definitely want to give them another one. It's going to be a very good game."

U-M Senior Goalkeeper Beth Riley
On the Michigan's strong defensive play ... "One of our objectives was to not let in a defensive corner, so we really focused on that all week and we tried hard to make that happen during the game. We broke down a little at the end, but I think that was because we had different personnel and we were just trying to work on different things by the end."

On the Wolverines' current momentum ... "We have definitely built a lot of confidence. We've been finishing, getting the shots, getting corners, controlling the play. I think we're going to continue climbing up, and I think Sunday will be a real test as to how far we've come."