Belassi, Fitzpatrick Lead U-M Domination of Ball State

Friday, September 15

Ann Arbor, Mich.

3:00 PM

Michigan

(3-5)

Ball State

(1-5)

Ball State

Michigan

Belassi, Fitzpatrick Lead U-M Domination of Ball State

9/15/2006 12:00:00 AM | Field Hockey

Box Score PDF Boxscore

By: Leah Howard

Site: Ann Arbor, Mich. (Phyllis Ocker Field)
Score: Michigan 6, Ball State 1
Records: U-M (3-5), BSU (1-5)
Next U-M Match: Sunday, Sept. 17 -- vs. Louisville (Phyllis Ocker Field), 1 p.m.

ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- Junior Lucia Belassi (Paysandu, Uruguay/Liceo #1) and freshman Kelly Fitzpatrick (Hummelstown, Pa./Palmyra Area HS) each registered a pair of goals to lead the University of Michigan field hockey team to a 6-1 victory against Ball State on Friday afternoon (Sept. 15) at Phyllis Ocker Field. The Wolverines dominated the play throughout the game, registering season-high marks in both goals and shots (34).

Belassi put Michigan on the board early in the opening half with back-to-back goals -- her second and third of the season -- within just a 37-second window. Swarming the BSU circle after the Wolverines' fourth penalty corner of the game, Belassi corralled the rebound off the direct shot and blasted a hard, low shot past Cardinal goalkeeper Caroline Lehman to the far side of the cage at the 6:10 mark, giving U-M a lead it would not relinquish.

The Wolverines rushed the Ball State cage on the ensuing restart as freshman Paige Laytos (Lititz, Pa./Warwick HS) sailed a leading pass to the left side of the circle, where Belassi collected the ball and again beat Lehman to the far right post with the eventual game-winner at 6:47.

As Michigan continued to dominate play in the opening frame -- outshooting the Cardinals 20-2 and outcornering them 11-0 -- Fitzpatrick twice took advantage of good positioning deep in the BSU circle to extend the Wolverines' lead and give them a four-goal cushion at the break. Sophomore Stephanie Hoyer (Englewood, Colo./Cherry Creek HS) set up the first tally, carrying the ball into the circle before feeding a pass to Fitzpatrick on the left post at the 20:48 mark. Laytos earned her second assist of the contest late in the frame when Fitzpatrick got a piece of her hard shot from just inside the top of the circle, tipping the ball high past a sprawling Lehman.

While the number of shots and penalty corners slowed in the second half, the Wolverines proved no less commanding as they largely contained activity to Ball State territory. Michigan again found the back of the BSU cage at the 59:55 mark following an impressive solo effort from Hoyer, who dribbled the ball into the circle from about 30 yards out, maneuvering past a handful of Cardinal defenders, below sending a hard, sweeping shot to the lower left corner of the cage.

After Ball State upset the Wolverines' shutout bid at 68:32 with a goal off a penalty-corner opportunity, junior Ashley Lennington (Carlisle, Pa./Carlisle HS) responded with her first goal of the season just 16 seconds later, flipping the ball over a sprawling Lehman to cap the U-M victory.

Michigan claimed significant advantages in final shots (34-6) and penalty corners (12-2). Senior Beth Riley (Palmyra, Pa./Palmyra Area HS) and sophomore/freshman Paige Pickett (Dallas, Texas/Episcopal School of Dallas) each played a half in the Wolverine cage, with Riley earning one save and Pickett making two. On the other end of the field, Lehman made 12 stops on the Wolverines' 18 shots on goal.

The Wolverines will wrap up their two-game homestand on Sunday (Sept. 17) when they face No. 11 Louisville in a 1 p.m. match at Phyllis Ocker Field.

MATCH SUMMARY

Team	1	2	F
Ball State	0	1	1
Michigan	4	2	6

Scoring, Time (Assist)
1st -- U-M, Lucia Belassi, 6:10 (unassisted)
1st -- U-M, Belassi, 6:47 (Paige Laytos)
1st -- U-M, Kelly Fitzpatrick, 20:48 (Stephanie Hoyer)
1st -- U-M, Fitzpatrick, 27:08 (Laytos)
2nd -- U-M, Hoyer, 59:55 (unassisted)
2nd -- BSU, Carla Chiampi, 68:32 (Lindsay Quay)
2nd -- U-M, Ashley Lennington, 68:48 (Mary Fox)

Shots: U-M 34, BSU 6
Saves: U-M 3 (Beth Riley 1, Paige Pickett 2), BSU 12 (Caroline Lehman)
Defensive Saves: U-M 0, BSU 0
Penalty Corners: U-M 12, BSU 2

NOTES

• Video highlights of the Wolverines' win over Ball State will be available on Michigan All-Access. Today's highlights will require a subscription purchase. 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."

• With today's dominant victory, the Wolverines improved to 11-5 in the all-time series against Ball State. U-M has won the last seven contests, outscoring the Cardinals 35-6 during that time.

• Four Wolverines registered multi-point games. Junior Lucia Belassi and freshman Kelly Fitzpatrick each earned two goals, sophomore Stephanie Hoyer boasted a goal and an assist, and freshmen Paige Laytos tallied a pair of assists. It was the first career multi-point game for Laytos.

• With her assist on the final goal of the match, senior Mary Fox cracked into the top 10 on Michigan's list of all-time assist leaders with 21 career helpers. She currently ranks 10th, tied with Gia Biagi (1995-95), and needs just two more assists to reach the ninth spot, currently held by Shelley Johnson (23, 1996-97).

• In today's win against Ball State Michigan recorded its greatest number of shots (34) in two seasons, dating back to Sept. 17, 2004, when the Wolverine fired 42 shots in an 11-0 victory against Central Michigan.

• Freshman Morgan Perry and Alissa Pullos each made her collegiate debut today against Ball State.

QUOTES

Michigan Head Coach Nancy Cox
On Michigan six goals ... "We spent this past week working on forward motion. We are seeing a group of young forwards who are finally starting to see the picture in terms of motion. So, that's why we saw six goals. Can it get better It needs to get a lot better if we're going to contend for a top five spot in the country this year. I think the process by which we get the ball inside our attacking 25 really needs to continue to improve."

On the penalty corner opportunities ... "What we've been struggling with is our stick stopping and inserting, and both of those kids were executing very, very well today. So from that perspective, that was a lot better."

On gaining the early lead ... "Last Sunday's game against Old Dominion, that truly was a match that could have gone either way, and at the 50th minute Michigan let down. Today, we saw our athletes playing 70 minutes of hockey, and in order to be successful at the level we need to be performing at we need to play 70 minutes. That was the difference between Sunday and today."

On scoring two in the second half ... "All 20 athletes played today, and that's really, really important when you are trying to build a team that is young. So, I think that was a very important aspect. But two goals in the second half, I wasn't particularly happy with that. When you put a team away with four goals in the first, you need to match it and exceed it in the second. The mentality our players need to bring is if we score four goals in the first, we need to score four goals in the second. We don't have this mentality yet, but it's certainly getting better."

U-M Freshman Forward Kelly Fitzpatrick
On her second goal ... "I knew I touched it. It was just a good straight shot by Paige (Laytos). I knew I was blocking the goal, and it was going right towards me, so I just reached out for it with my stick."

On the team's confidence level going into Louisville ... "I think confidence is definitely going to start setting in for us. We are ready to keep going hard with the season."

U-M Junior Forward Lucia Belassi
On building Michigan's quick lead ... "It was a really good confidence builder for me, but I feel like that's what we were supposed to do with this game. That was the game plan -- to finally score after a few games without scoring. Our main focus after that was to keep the tempo up and, as always, keep scoring. We got everybody going today. We're ready to go on Sunday and score a lot."