The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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AUGUST 2025 ❱ THE WOLVERINE 23 2024-25 YEAR IN REVIEW Graduate student Lora Clarke earned Big Ten Tournament MVP honors with a goal and two assists, while classmate Erin Reilly also grabbed All-Tourna- ment honors. The Wolverines earned the 1-0 vic- tory over eventual NCAA champion Northwestern in the title game, handing the Wildcats their only loss of the year with an aggressive 60-minute defensive output to nab their first win over NU since the 2022 season. "We knew in the second half that they were going to start coming at us with some speed, and so we talked a lot about managing their speed and try- ing to double- and triple-team some of their really clever players," U-M coach Marcia Pankratz said, via the Michigan Daily, after the victory. "And North- western is an amazing team. They're awesome. And for us to be able to have team defense against them was really a great thing for us." Redshirt freshman goalkeeper Hala Silverstein had 4 saves in the win to help preserve a hard-fought victory. "You just have to focus on the mo- ment," Silverstein said. "We just fo- cused on everything we've been prac- ticing and how we studied for the game, and just relied on each other. It worked out, and we were able to play a full hard 60 minutes." Michigan scored 66 goals during the 2024 season, nearly doubling its total from the previous year (38) and was the most since scoring 74 in 2017. Fourteen players on the roster scored at least one goal, and five players had 7 or more. U-M ranked fourth in the country with a 3.3 goals-per-game average and was third with a 2.21 scoring margin. De- fensively, the group was elite and posted shutouts in nine of their last 16 games, which included five of eight Big Ten matches and the Big Ten Tournament title game. The Wolverines ranked fifth nationally with 9 shutouts and were 10th in goals-against average at 1.08. U-M also was unblemished against rivals Michigan State and Ohio State during the 2024 season, defeating the Spartans 3-0 on Sept. 23 and the Buck- eyes 1-0 on Oct. 6. Redshirt junior Abby Tamer earned first-team All-America and first-team All-Big Ten honors. She became the 16th player in program history with first-team All-America recognition and seventh in the last 10 years. She led the team in scoring with 12 goals, 14 assists and 38 points, which were all career highs after redshirting during the 2023 season to prepare for the Olympics, where she led Team USA in scoring at the 2024 Paris Games. Joining Tamer on the All-Big Ten first team and also grabbing second-team All- America honors was graduate Lora Clarke, who ended her U-M career as a two-time All-American. She posted 3 goals and 9 assists on the year and capped off her ca- reer starting 83 of 95 games played. Other players with honors included graduates Kate McLaughlin and Erin Reilly, who were All-West Region second-team and second-team All-Big Ten honorees. An- jolie Norton made the Big Ten's all-fresh- man squad, while graduate Lindsey Stagg earned the Sportsmanship Award from the conference. Pankratz announced her retirement after 25 years on the Michigan sidelines on April 17, handing the baton to long- time assistant Kristi Gannon Fisher to lead the program. Under Pankratz's watch, the Wolverines won the NCAA championship in 2001, 10 Big Ten regular-season titles and eight (of the program's nine overall) Big Ten Tourna- ment titles. "The Michigan field hockey pro- gram is strong and poised for excellence moving forward with an experienced Michigan coaching staff," Pankratz said in her statement. "Coming off another Big Ten championship and a dedicated fan base with tremendous support, the program will continue to be The Leaders and Best. "It has been an amazing journey filled with wonderful memories and mean- ingful relationships that I will always cherish. Being a part of the Michigan field hockey family has been a lifelong passion, and I am profoundly grateful to have shared this experience with so many student-athletes, parents and fellow coaches over my career here. I look forward to cheering on our amaz- ing team and forever, Go Blue!" ❏ Runners-Up Field hockey took home our top female team honors this year, but there were other stand- out performances across the U-M athletic department. Here are the other women's teams that staked their claim for the top prize. 2. Women's Tennis — The Wolverines ended the season with a 27-5 overall record, won the Big Ten regular-season title and earned a program-best No. 3 seed in the NCAA Tourna- ment. The 27 wins are the second-most in school history. The season ended with a 4-1 loss to No. 2 Texas A&M in the NCAA Tournament semifinals on May 17. Julia Fliegner, whose career came to a close with 113 total victories (fifth in U-M history), and Piper Charney were named All-Americans in singles by the ITA, the first career honors for each. For the first time since 2017, Michigan was one of seven schools that had multiple singles All-Americans. 3. Softball — U-M finished the 2025 season with a 39-21 overall record and won its second straight Big Ten Tournament championship, which was the 12th in program history. Head coach Bonnie Tholl earned her 100th career win in April, and her team grabbed two top-10 wins over Oregon and UCLA on the way to their tournament crown. The season came to a close in the Austin Regional of the NCAA Tournament, where they fell to eventual national champion Texas. Sophomore Jenissa Conway was named first-team All-Big Ten and a third-team All-American after putting up a .379 batting average and leading the team with 59 runs, 75 hits, 18 home runs, 52 RBI and a .737 slugging percentage. She was the program's 70th All-American and first since the 2021 season. Conway, senior Lauren Derkowski and junior Indiana Langford also made the All-Great Lakes Region first team, while freshman Lauren Putz was on the second team. Putz also was named to the Big Ten All-Freshman team and selected as a first-team D1 Softball Freshman All-American. 4. Women's Swimming And Diving — The Wolverines wrapped their season at the NCAA championships on March 22, finishing ninth overall. The group also took third at the Big Ten Championships in February. Juniors Malia Amuan, Kiarra Milligan, Ella Jo Piersma and senior Letitia Sim grabbed all-district designation for their efforts this season. The team of Stephanie Balduccini, Lindsay Flynn, Brady Kendall and Claire Newman finished fourth in the 200-yard freestyle relay at the NCAA Championship, posting a time of 1:26.04 which established a new program record and earned the quartet All-America honors. — Anthony Broome