The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/130469
postseason: water polo I was able to start a lineup that I felt was our best," he said. "It was based on injuries. "Transfer Danielle Robinson injured an elbow ligament when she got to town. I expected her to be in the starting lineup. She broke her wrist and missed the first two months of the season. "Sophie Hoegh was another in contention to start, and she busted her middle finger and missed the whole season. "Injury-wise, we were never able to start a lineup that I felt was our best until the Brown game." Those thrust into the starting lineup filled in admirably, but the team got off to a rocky start, going 4-10 to open the schedule. A tough loss to UCLA at home followed by blowouts on the road against both Stanford and Cal could have shaken the freshmen, but they began to exhibit the type of leadership that will serve the program well in the coming years. The injuries turned out to be in part a blessing in disguise. They provided the opportunity the freshmen needed to showcase their immense talent. Michigan then proceeded to win 10 games in a row, highlighted by a 25‑2 thrashing of Mercyhurst, with U-M registering the most goals scored in a match in school history. Freshman Barbara Lanier netted six goals in that contest. It gave a glimpse of what the Maize and Blue's young players could do when thrust into a starting role. The Wolverines averaged just more than 10 goals per game on the season. In games in which they scored 10 or less, they went only 4-13. Lack of goal scoring was undoubtedly a huge reason why the Wolverines could not match up with elite competition. U‑M tallied only 373 goals this season, but 155 were courtesy of the freshman class, which contributed 41.6 percent of the total offense. Michigan will miss outgoing senior Kiki Golden's 59 goals. But, with freshmen Pender, Beckwith and Lanier maturing, the trio will take on an even larger role next season as sophomores. They scored 38, 38 and 17 goals, respectively. This could project to high numbers on the scoreboard for the Michigan offense next season. "Because of injuries, the freshmen were thrown into a huge role on the team," Anderson explained. "I don't recall all year ever getting on the freshmen for effort, intensity, desire to win. Everything they did was basically experience-type mistakes, but other than that, as good as a freshman class I could've asked for. "We became a young team, rather than the experienced team I thought we were going to be. It bodes well for the future. We came up just a little short, but [it was] such a great turnaround from where we were at the beginning of the year, given injuries and lineup questions." — Geoff Chiles