Michigan
North Carolina
Wolverines to Kick Off 2023 Campaign at ACC/Big Ten Challenge
8/22/2023 11:45:00 AM | Field Hockey
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The No. 4-ranked University of Michigan field hockey team (0-0) will kick off its 51st season of intercollegiate competition at the annual ACC/Big Ten Challenge this weekend at Karen Shelton Stadium in Chapel Hill, N.C. The Wolverines will open the tournament against host No. 1 North Carolina (0-0) at 8:30 p.m. on Friday (Aug. 25) before wrapping the weekend with a 10:30 a.m. slate against No. 12 Wake Forest (0-0) on Sunday (Aug. 27). Friday's game will be broadcast live on ACC Network, while Sunday's contest will be streamed live on ACC Network Extra.
Notes
• Michigan owns an all-time record of 23-26-1 in season openers. U-M will open up against North Carolina for the 20th time over the last 22 years at the annual ACC/Big Ten Challenge. The Wolverines have claimed three of those openers against UNC -- in 2016, 2017 and 2021.
• Michigan returns 15 players from last season's squad, including four players who earned double-digit starts in 2022. The Wolverines bring back two of their top three leading scorers this fall in senior Lora Clarke, who led Michigan with 11 goals and 25 points last season, and senior Kate McLaughlin, who posted six goals. U-M returns 51.9 percent (27 of 53) of its goal production from last year's squad.
• U-M also returns much of its top-notch defensive unit, including All-American Anouk Veen, who missed much of last season due to injury, and fellow starting backs Rosie Hope, Pilar Oliveros and Claire Taylor. The Wolverine defensive ranked among the nation's leaders in 2022 with a 0.95 goals-against average and held opponents to just 6.6 shots and 3.5 penalty corners per game.
• The Wolverines graduated all of their four-year and fifth-year players from last season's squad, notably All-Americans Katie Anderson, Kathryn Peterson and goalkeeper Anna Spieker. Michigan also will be without junior Abby Tamer, who will redshirt the 2023 season to train and compete with the USA Field Hockey Women's National Team in its bid to qualify for the 2024 Olympics. Tamer, a 2022 NFHCA All-West Region second team honoree who has accumulated 13 goals and nine assists over 39 games played and two seasons at Michigan, earned her first senior-level international cap and goal in June.
• The Wolverines welcome eight newcomers to the 2023 squad in graduate transfer Isabella Palde and freshmen Abby Burnett, Esmée de Willigen, Payton Maloney, Juliette Manzur, Natalie Millman, Kelsey Reviello and Hala Silverstein. Palde was a four-year letterwinner at Cornell and earned All-Ivy League honors in 2021, while Michigan's freshman class includes four players from Max Field Hockey Class of 2023 rankings.
• Michigan earned three wins in preseason scrimmage action, defeating Kent State 3-2 in a shootout before earning decisions against Big Ten foes Michigan State (2-1) and Ohio State (4-2). McLaughlin led the Wolverines with four goals, while Erin Reilly tallied two.
• Seniors Clarke, Hope and Reilly will serve as the Wolverines' tri-captains in 2023. Determined by a vote of the team, it is the first year that all three will hold the distinction.
• Head coach Marcia Pankratz enters the season with a 347-149 career record over her 23 seasons at the helm of the Michigan program (1996-2004, '09-22). She ranks 12th all-time among NCAA Division I coaches with a .701 win percentage -- fifth among active coaches -- and lists 12th in total wins.
