Seniors Boost Michigan Past Wisconsin in Big Ten Win

Sunday, October 21

Ann Arbor, Mich.

1:00 PM

Michigan

3-8-4, 1-4-3Big Ten

Wisconsin

5-9-1, 1-6-0Big Ten

Wisconsin

Michigan

10/21/2007 12:00:00 AM | Women's Soccer

Box Score PDF Boxscore

By: Ryan Sosin

Site: Ann Arbor, Mich. (U-M Soccer Field)
Score: Michigan 2, Wisconsin 1
Records: U-M (3-8-4, 1-4-3 Big Ten), Wisconsin (5-9-1, 1-6 Big Ten)
Next U-M Event: Friday, Oct. 26 -- vs. Illinois (U-M Soccer Field), 7 p.m.

ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- Senior Melissa Dobbyn (Livonia, Mich./Stevenson) delivered the game-winning goal in the 79th minute to give the University of Michigan women's soccer team a 2-1 victory over Wisconsin on Sunday (Oct. 21) on U-M Soccer Field. The win keeps Michigan in the hunt for a Big Ten Tournament berth.

Sarah Banco

The Wolverines turned to seniors Sarah Banco (Medfield, Mass./Noble and Greenough School) and Dobbyn for their biggest offensive outburst in a month, snapping a scoreless streak of 469:40 when they needed to most.

The Michigan defense allowed just a single shot on goal and held the Badgers without a corner kick. Sophomore Amy Klippert (Newport Beach, Calif./Newport Harbor) spent the entire game shadowing Wisconsin's top scorer, Tricia Krombach, and held her to just one shot.

Banco got the Wolverines on the board in the 13th minute for her third marker on the season. Senior Katie Bohard (Indianapolis, Ind./North Central) carried the ball up to the 18-yard box and fed a soft touch toward the box. Banco picked up the pass and let a shot fly into the upper-90 on the far side.

Wisconsin got the equalizer 15 minutes later from Marissa Sarkesian to knot the game a 1-1. Coming in off a throw, Taylor Walsh broke off a Wolverine defender and angled a pass toward the center of the box, where Sarkesian's head redirected the ball into the back of the cage.

With the prospect of a trip into overtime looming, Michigan turned to Dobbyn for the go-ahead goal with 11 minutes left on the clock. The Wolverines seized possession at midfield and began moving the ball around in a series of crisp passes until it came to the foot of junior Kristin Thomas (Centennial, Colo./Cherry Creek). With Dobbyn crashing into the box, Thomas threaded a through-pass to the right of the goal. Dobbyn ripped a shot from 15 yards out to the bottom corner on the far side.

Michigan will play host to Illinois on Friday (Oct. 26) before heading to Oakland for a one-game road stand on Sunday (Oct. 28).

GAME SUMMARY

Team	1	2	F
Wisconsin	1	0	1
Michigan	1	1	2

Scoring, Time (Assist)
1st -- U-M, Sarah Banco, 12:52 (Katie Bohard)
1st -- UW, Marissa Sarkesian, 27:34 (Taylor Walsh)
2nd -- U-M, Melissa Dobbyn, 78:54 (Kristin Thomas)

Shots: U-M 13, UW 8
Saves: U-M 0 (Madison Gates), UW 4 (Jamie Klages)
Corner Kicks: U-M 6, UW 0
Fouls: U-M 11, UW 14
Cards: U-M, Emily Kalmbach, 37:08 (yellow); UW, Roxanne Carlson, 40:47 (yellow); UW, Bench Warning, 40:47 (yellow)

NOTES

• With an assist against Wisconsin, junior Kristin Thomas set a new career high for assists in a season with two.

• Senior Katie Bohard's assist set a new career mark for points in a season. Bohard has five points on a goal and three assists.

• Senior Sarah Banco bookended the Wolverines' scoring drought, having scored Michigan's last goal before today's game. The scoreless streak was ended after 469:40 minutes, dating back to Banco's goal against Iowa (Sept. 30).

• Senior Melissa Dobbyn snapped the second longest scoreless streak of her career at nine games. Dobbyn scored in three straight games after snapping her career-worst 11-game span during her freshman year (Sept. 24-Oct. 30, 2004).

QUOTES

Michigan Head Coach Debbie Rademacher
On the victory ... "It feels really good. We knew we needed to win this game to have any shot at going to the Big Ten Tournament, and that is our goal right now. We've talked so much about it that we know exactly what is needed. They were focused. We knew it would be a physical game and that we would have to just fight and battle the counterattacks. I thought we stuck with it and finally got an opportunity."

On carrying this result into next weekend ... "We just have to keep working on our finishing. Two goals is big for us. We've got a tough Illinois team next weekend, but we know we're at home and that's where we like to be. I think we needed a win and now everybody can see what we are fighting for."

On the play of Melissa Dobbyn ... "She is a senior and she's been our leading scorer and I think she just needed to get that monkey off of her back. This is the time we need her to start creating all those opportunities and putting it the back of the net."

U-M Senior Forward Sarah Banco
On having an early lead ... "It was amazing to get on the board first. It is something we haven't done much this season -- getting on the board early and having a 1-0 lead in the first 15 minutes. It was great. This was a team we knew we could beat. We look at every team on our schedule and we know we can beat them. It's just a question of putting the goals away and holding onto the win, and we did that today."

On if her goal gave the whole team a sense of relief ... "Yes, I think it gave us a sense of accomplishment. We wanted to come out today and we wanted to win. It was the last Sunday home game for the seniors, and we hadn't won on a Sunday all season. It was a sense of relief and a sense of accomplishment."

U-M Senior Forward Melissa Dobbyn
On her feeling after ringing one off the crossbar late in the game ... "It felt like it was coming. We had a ton of shots and then that one hit the crossbar. I knew I had to keep shooting, so that's what I did."

On the magnitude of each game down the stretch ... "We had to win today to know that we can continue our season (into the Big Ten Tournament), and we have to win the next two games, too. It makes us a little nervous, but we can handle the pressure."