The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/213966
big tens: field Hockey U-M's Season Ends Early With Loss In First Round Of Conference Tournament When Marcia Pankratz was first named Michigan's head field hockey coach in 1996, she took over a program that had never finished higher than third in the conference standings or made it to the NCAA Tournament. After a 7-11 campaign in her inaugural year, she tied for the conference championship in 1997, and from 1999 to her final year in 2004 she won seven Big Ten regular-season and tournament titles and led U-M to the NCAA Tournament every year, with the Wolverines winning the whole thing in 2001. When Pankratz returned to Ann Arbor for her second tenure as the Wolverines' coach, she quickly turned around a program that had fallen on hard times since she built it up, winning both the Big Ten regular-season and tournament titles in 2010, and earning the program's first NCAA Tournament bid since 2007. She has had the program humming along since then. But a 12-8 finish and a first-round exit from the Big Ten Tournament in 2013 had the Wolverines sitting at home for the postseason for the first time since 2009. Although the Wolverines' finish in 2013 is seemingly a step back, the players can see a foundation that has been laid that will be strong for years to come. "The coaching staff we have here is second to none," senior forward Rachael Mack said. "They're a fabulous group of people, three very diverse coaches from different backgrounds. Marcia has the discipline and drive to make Michigan field hockey one of the best programs in the nation. "From my freshman year to now, we have taken huge steps, which might not have been seen in the results this year. But being part of that program, I have seen it grow and seen a different kind of culture be established, one that will continue to grow. You'll definitely see Michigan in the top 10 and higher as the years go by." The Wolverines' hopes for the season were intact late into the second half of their first-round game against Iowa Nov. 7 in Big Ten Tournament. In a defensive battle knotted at 0-0, with the clock winding down, the Hawkeyes launched a counter attack, and a pass from Iowa sophomore forward Natalie Cafone slipped behind the Wolverine defense. Freshman forward Stephanie Norlander found daylight in front of the net to sneak one past Michigan fifth-year senior goalie Haley Jones, breaking the tie at the 58:58 mark. Michigan tried to stage a comeback, but there was just not enough time — and the 1-0 score stood. The game was a microcosm of the season at large: on the verge of breaking through, but never quite getting there. The Wolverines upset then-No. 16 Louisville 2-1 Sept. 14 and notched huge wins in Big Ten play, besting Iowa 3-2 Oct. 5 and downing eventual Big Ten champion Penn State 2-1 in overtime Nov. 1. But they also had big setbacks, with losses to Northwestern (4-1) and Michigan State