Hoyer's OT Marker Gives U-M Big Ten Semifinal Victory

Friday, November 2

Columbus, Ohio

Noon

Michigan

(16-4, 6-0Big Ten)

Penn State

(13-7, 4-2Big Ten)

OT 1

Penn State

Michigan

Hoyer's OT Marker Gives U-M Big Ten Semifinal Victory

11/2/2007 12:00:00 AM | Field Hockey

Box Score PDF Boxscore

By: Leah Howard

Site: Columbus, Ohio (North Turf Field)
Event: Big Ten Tournament (Semifinals)
Score: #5 Michigan 3, #9 Penn State 2 (OT)
Records: U-M (15-5), PSU (13-7)
Next U-M Match: Sunday, Nov. 4 -- vs. Iowa at Big Ten Tournament (Columbus, Ohio), 1 p.m.

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Junior Stephanie Hoyer (Englewood, Colo./Cherry Creek HS) netted the game-winning goal 5:27 into the overtime frame to propel the No. 5-ranked University of Michigan field hockey team to a 3-2 victory over No. 9 Penn State in the first semifinal game of the Big Ten Conference Tournament on Friday (Nov. 2) at Ohio State's North Turf Field.

With the victory, the Wolverines (16-4) advance to the championship game at 1 p.m. EST Sunday (Nov. 4) on CSTV. Michigan will face No. 3 seed Iowa, which was a 3-2 overtime winner over No. 2 seed Michigan State in the second semifinal match Friday. U-M will be looking to claim its third conference tournament crown in four years.

Hoyer's goal came in the aftermath of Michigan's fourth penalty-corner opportunity of the contest and occurred just moments after U-M went down a player after an overtime yellow card. Freshman Meredith Way (Newmanstown, Pa./Warwick HS) stripped the ball from a Nittany Lion player and carried it down the field and into the circle, where she drew the corner. PSU goalkeeper Jen Beaumont stopped the direct shot from fifth-year senior Kristen Tiner (Houston, Texas/The Kinkaid School), but the ball kicked out to the middle of the circle, where Hoyer chased it down, spun and lofted a shot to the left side of the cage for her seventh marker of the season.

Michigan was nearly perfect in its penalty-corner execution, going 3-for-4 with a goal in each stanza. The Wolverines struck early in the contest, converting their first corner opportunity as senior Ashley Lennington (Carlisle, Pa./Carlisle HS) used a redirection along the right post to pick up her eighth goal of the season. Senior captain Lucia Belassi (Paysandu, Uruguay/Liceo #1) took the direct shot at the top of the circle, placing a hard, low shot just wide of the cage, where Lennington stretched out to knock it behind Beaumont and give Michigan the initial advantage just 4:52 into the opening frame.

After Penn State quickly responded with back-to-back penalty corners of its own, the contest turned into a defensive affair with only two combined shots for the remainder of the half. The Nittany Lions controlled the ball in Michigan territory for much of the frame, but Michigan's backfield -- led by seniors Jillianne Whitfield (Costa Mesa, Calif./Newport Harbor HS) and Tiner -- subdued every PSU attack.

Michigan recorded the first quality scoring opportunity of the second frame -- on a point-blank shot from freshman Alicia Mayer (Selinsgrove, Pa./Selinsgrove HS) -- but it was Penn State which found the back of the cage early. Allison Scola corralled a rebound in the penalty-stroke area and lifted a shot past junior/sophomore goalkeeper Paige Pickett (Dallas, Texas/Episcopal School of Dallas) at the 38:38 mark.

Penn State scored again six minutes later to take its first lead of the match. Scola fired the ball into the circle on a free hit just outside the scoring arc and found the stick of Brittany Long, who redirected the ball across the front of the cage and into the bottom left corner.

U-M secured its second penalty-corner goal of the game on its second opportunity -- at the 57:27 mark midway through the second half. Tiner completed the perfect execution on the direct shot from the top of the circle, using a defender's stick to tip the ball past Beaumont and just above the board. Whitfield and junior Sarah Wilhite (Hummelstown, Pa./Hershey HS) earned assists on the stop and the push, respectively.

The Wolverines had a chance to end the game in regulation, drawing a penalty corner with time expired, but Belassi's direct shot hit traffic in front of the cage and dribbled wide.

Penn State narrowly outshot the Wolverines 9-8, but Michigan held the deciding 4-2 advantage in penalty corners. Pickett earned saves in the U-M cage en route to her 16th win of the season, while Beaumont stopped three of Michigan's six shots on goal.

MATCH SUMMARY

Team	1	2	OT	F
Penn State	0	2	0	2
Michigan	1	1	1	3

Scoring, Time (Assist)
1st -- U-M, Ashley Lennington, 4:52 (Lucia Belassi)
2nd -- PSU, Allison Scola, 38:38 (unassisted)
2nd -- PSU, Britney Long, 44:38 (Scola)
2nd -- U-M, Kristen Tiner, 57:27 (Jillianne Whitfield, Sarah Wilhite)
OT -- U-M, Stephanie Hoyer, 75:27 (unassisted)

Shots: U-M 8, PSU 9
Saves: U-M 3 (Paige Pickett), PSU 3 (Jen Beaumont)
Defensive Saves: U-M 0, PSU 0
Penalty Corners: U-M 4, PSU 2
Penalty Strokes: None

NOTES

• This season's Big Ten Tournament marks the eight time that U-M has advanced to the conference tournament final in the last 11 years. The Wolverines own a 4-3 record in those championship game appearances.

• Michigan improved to 11-21 in the all-time series against Penn State and has won nine of the last 12 contests. The Wolverines improved their record against PSU in the Big Ten Tournament to 4-4 with wins in the last two tournament meetings.

• Michigan improved its 2007 overtime record to 6-1.The Wolverines have defeated nearly every Big Ten team in extra time this season -- Iowa (3-2), Michigan State (2-1), Ohio State (3-2), Indiana (1-0) and Penn State (3-2).

• Each member of the 2007 senior class tallied a point in today's semifinal game against Penn State. Ashley Lennington and Kristen Tiner recorded goals, while Lucia Belassi and Jillianne Whitfield earned assists.

• Senior captains Kristen Tiner and Lucia Belassi lead all active Wolverine players in Big Ten Tournament scoring, each boasting two goals and one assist in five and seven career games, respectively.

• Today's contest marked senior Lucia Belassi's 88th career game appearance, moving her into a tie with two-time All-American Lori Hillman (2002-05) for the 10th spot among Michigan's all-time leaders in the category.

QUOTES

Michigan Head Coach Nancy Cox
On today's Michigan game ... "Who would have thought that we would be down in numbers in overtime And who would have though that Meredith Way, a freshman, would take the ball into the circle, get a corner opportunity for us, and we would finish it So, that's what it was. It's about 22 players, and it doesn't matter if you're a freshman or a senior, a sophomore or a junior. Everybody stepped up to the plate today, and it was an overall team effort. You have to applaud the team from Penn State. In the first half, I don't think they were prepared for the way we pressed them, because it was pretty atypical Michigan field hockey. It surprised them. So, in the first half, I think we dominated. But, in the second, they brought it to us. We managed to tie it up late in the game and finish in overtime."

On the Wolverines' penalty-corner execution ... "You want to bat 20 percent on your penalty-corner conversion, and we did better than that. So, good for the Wolverines that all those practices in which we focused on switching things up a little bit worked."

On playing in another overtime game ... "When we went into the intermission between regulation and overtime, my first words were, 'Oh, I was hoping it would finish tied, so we could go to overtime again,' and I think it lightened the moment. I think we came into this game quite anxious. It benefits the team who doesn't have the bye to be able to get out and play right off the bat. So, today, I was incredibly pleased with our first-half performance, and, when we went into overtime, our players were flat-out pounding them. When they yellow-carded Lucia Belassi ... our team is prepared for adversity. One of the things we consistently talk about is expect adversity and be able to respond to it, and they certainly did that today."

On Michigan's first-half strategy ... "We laid off on our press. We didn't press as hard as we typically do, and the reason we did that, tactically, was to open up space in the upfield. We wanted to get under and get behind Jen Long and Allie Scola, because those two kids are very formidable players. So, tactically, we asked our team to lay off so we could get Lucia [Belassi] above them, and it worked. They weren't anticipating us to press in that way. In the second half, we switched it up a little bit. We probably should have stayed in our ball-away, because the ball-away was working."

On the physicality of today's game ... "It's always physical against Penn State. You can count on it. They play a very nice give-and-go, two-touch hockey, so you have to match up strong on them because you're physically in their presence and you're zonal marking them."

On senior captain Lucia Belassi ... "Lucia is the center of the spokes of the wheel when she's in the middle of the field. The brilliance of Lucia is she's a tremendous ball distributor, and she never gets too high, never gets too low. I think her teammates look at her and feed off of that."