Way's Hat Trick Not Enough in U-M Loss at Wake Forest

Sunday, August 31

Winston-Salem, N.C.

11:00 AM

Michigan

(0-2-0)

Wake Forest

(2-0-0)

Team	1	2	Final F
Michigan	1	2	3
Wake Forest	3	2	5

Way's Hat Trick Not Enough in U-M Loss at Wake Forest

8/31/2008 12:00:00 AM | Field Hockey

Box Score PDF Boxscore

By: Leah Howard

Site: Winston-Salem, N.C. (Kentner Stadium)
Event: Big Ten/ACC Challenge
Score: #3 Wake Forest 5, #9 Michigan 3
Records: U-M (0-2), WF (2-0)
Next U-M Match: Friday, Sept. 5 -- vs. Stanford at Michigan/Cardinal Invitational (Ann Arbor, Mich.), 5 p.m.

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. -- Despite a late rally and sophomore Meredith Way's (Newmanstown, Pa./Warwick HS) first career hat trick, the No. 9-ranked University of Michigan field hockey team could not overcome a sizable early deficit and fell 5-3 to No. 3 Wake Forest on Sunday (Aug. 31) at the Big Ten/ACC Challenge at Kentner Stadium.

Meredith Way

The Wolverines posted an advantage in both the shot and corner categories, outshooting the Demon Deacons 15-13 and outcornerning them 10-7, but could not finish on several scoring opportunities throughout the contest.

Way, who has already surpassed her goal output from her rookie season, gave her team the game's initial advantage just 1:37 into the opening frame after successfully converting on the Wolverines' first penalty-corner opportunity. Way scored on the direct shot, firing the ball off the stick of the WFU defender and over a sprawled Crystal Duffield. Senior/junior Heather Wiley (San Diego, Calif./Torrey Pines HS) and senior captain Sarah Wilhite (Hummelstown, Pa./Hershey HS) each earned assists on the play for the stop and the push, respectively.

The Demon Deacons responded, however, with three unanswered goals in the subsequent 12 minutes to award themselves a two-goal advantage at halftime. The tying marker, which followed less than four minutes after the Wolverines' opening goal, came amidst a flurry after back-to-back WFU penalty corners. Kim Romansky dished a pass in front of the U-M cage to teammate Melissa Martin, who flicked the ball past senior/junior goalkeeper Paige Pickett (Dallas, Texas/Episcopal School of Dallas).

The Demon Deacons, who scored three of their five goals on penalty corners,padded their lead to an insurmountable three goals early in the second half, converting on their first penalty-corner opportunity of the frame as Liz Fries scored on the direct shot at the 40:26 mark.

Way scored twice more in the final 19 minutes of the contest to cut the Wake Forest lead, but the Demon Deacons kept pace with another goal between. Way's second tally came on a penalty stroke after Duffield covered the ball during a U-M attack in the circle. The Wolverine sophomore fired the ball to the left side of the cage, beating Duffield on her stick side to pull Michigan within two goals at 64:13.

After WFU scored on a rebound to preserve its three-goal cushion, Way converted on another Wolverine penalty corner just three minutes later -- at 67:21 -- to wrap up the game's scoring. In a near mirror image of her first maker, Way took the push from Wilhite, stepped into the circle and rocketed a shot off a defender's stick and high into the cage.

Sophomore/freshman goalkeeper Christi Barwick (San Diego, Calif./Torrey Pines HS) made her collegiate debut in the second half, stopping two of Wake Forest's four shots on goal in the frame. On the other end of the field, Duffield posted four saves in the WFU cage.

Michigan will kick off the home portion of its 2008 season next weekend when it hosts the Michigan/Cardinal Invitational at Phyllis Ocker Field. U-M will face off against Stanford at 5 p.m. Friday (Sept. 5) before returning to the field on Sunday (Sept. 7) against No. 2 Maryland with a 1 p.m. start.

GAME SUMMARY

By Periods	1	2	F
Michigan	1	2	3
Wake Forest	3	2	5

Scoring, Time (Assist)
1st -- U-M, Meredith Way, 1:37 (Heather Wiley, Sarah Wilhite)
1st -- WF, Melissa Martin, 5:17 (Kim Romansky)
1st -- WF, Minou Gimbrere, 10:40 (Michelle Kasold)
1st -- WF, Romansky, 13:47 (unassisted)
2nd -- WF, Liz Fries, 40:26 (Kasold)
2nd -- U-M, Way, 52:14 (penalty stroke)
2nd -- WFU, Hilary Moore, 64:13 (unassisted)
2nd -- U-M, Way, 67:21 (Wilhite)

Shots: U-M 15, WF 13
Saves: U-M 2 (Paige Pickett 0, Christi Barwick 2), WF 4 (Crystal Duffield)
Defensive Saves: U-M 0, WF 0
Penalty Corners: U-M 10, WF 7

NOTES

• With today's loss, Michigan falls to 2-11 in the all-time series against Wake Forest. The Wolverines also fall to 1-13 in seven years of Big Ten/ACC Challenge competition.

• Freshman Meredith Way's hat trick was the first for a Wolverine player in three years, dating back to Katie Morris' three-goal effort against Old Dominion on Sept. 10, 2005. The last U-M player to accomplish the feat on the road was April Fronzoni, who scored three goals against James Madison on Sept. 21, 2003.

• After entering the 2008 season with two career markers and two career assists, Way has already established a career high in goals(3)and matched her career point total (6).

• Six Wolverine players made collegiate debuts this weekend -- sophomore/freshmen Katie Adams, Christi Barwick and Eileen Brandes and freshmen Jess Allen, Bryn Bain and Hannah Dawson.

• In today's other game of the Big Ten/ACC Challenge, Iowa knocked off No. 1 North Carolina 3-2.

QUOTES

Michigan Head Coach Nancy Cox
On the improvements from yesterday's game to today ... "There were tremendous positives that we can take into Tuesday's practice. The improvement from yesterday was a marked improvement. I think we outplayed them in that match, but we didn't get the outcome we were looking for. We outcornered them today and outshot them. We had two balls that hit the post, and we had another ball that hit their post player in the face and should have been a goal. Our senior captains played quite well. Steph Hoyer's play was exceptional. Sarah Wilhite was a warrior in the backfield, and Michala [McDermott], from yesterday to today, made marked improvements. Our backfield did a much better job with our structure, ball speed and possession skills. Our forwards had greater success in getting some return off what we were trying to create in the circle."

On what U-M needs to work on ... "We need to continue working on finishing in the circle, finishing on corners, corner execution and being able to settle the ball."

U-M Sophomore Midfield Meredith Way
On Michigan's attack improvements ... "Our forwards were receiving all of our balls today. They were cutting more. The midfielders were cutting off lanes for the forwards, and the forwards were seeing it. Their receiving just improved tremendously. That helped a lot. Our press also improved a lot. Wake Forest had difficulty outletting the ball with the amount of pressure we put on them.

On U-M's penalty corner and her responsibility in the execution ... "As a main striker on corners now, it's my job to score. On corners, you need to score. We really executed our corners well today; that's how we got two of our goals and nearly a third. We have some new people in new areas this year, so we definitely need to continue working on it. It's not quite where it needs to be yet, but, today, our corner execution was very good. If we can keep that up, it will definitely be one of our greatest strengths."

U-M Senior Back Sarah Wilhite
On Michigan's play vs. Wake Forest ... "I really felt that we controlled that game. We outshot them; we outcornered them. It came together for us, and I think it started with our attitude. From the time we got on the bus to the last few seconds of the game, we never lost our positive energy. In yesterday's game, after North Carolina scored its first goal, our heads went down and that was the game. But, today, we believed if they scored on us, we were going to score right back. We had a few breakdowns, and they capitalized on them. But I think we played very well both ways -- offensively and defensively. It's a shame that the score doesn't reflect how we really played, and anyone who watched the game could tell you that. It was a hard-fought game.

On starting the season against the country's best teams ... "It's an eye opener, especially coming down here to the south, where Duke, Carolina and Wake Forest are all near the top of the rankings. It's a good bench for us to come down here and see where we rank. This is how we've started in each of my years, and we can only go up from here. That's the way it's been in past years, and I'm confident that's how it will be this year. We're going to be a better team on Tuesday in practice, and next Friday, for our home opener, we'll be an entirely different team."

On what U-M can take from the weekend ... "One thing we really need to realize is that this is just a process. It's all going to come together. We can improve in different areas. We can continue to improve our corner execution as well as drawing corners. I think our forwards get a little flustered in the circle, but they just need to calm down and they'll be fine. We have a good attack corner right now, and we need to draw more of them. We also need to continue improving our overall fitness."