The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/213966
big ten/NCAA championships: women's soccer "This rest gave us a chance to build our team the way we wanted to in order to prepare for this first match. The team trained tremendously hard, then we gave them another recovery day and had two solid days of training leading up to the game. You could see off the bat that they were ready to get after it." Like they had all season, the Wolverines relied on stellar defense, limiting Milwaukee to a single shot on net, and terrific offense. Senior forward Nkem Ezurike, who is Michigan's all-time leading scorer with 48 career markers, netted two in the NCAA win and now has a program-best four career tallies in the NCAA Tournament. However, Ryan was most encouraged by the performance of Ezurike's teammates, who are capable of taking some of the pressure off the Canadian talent's shoulders. "To me, the biggest difference between this game and what I've seen more of the season is the performances from our younger players," he said. "Our veterans have been solid all year, but the younger players were great. [Freshman midfielder/forward] Madisson Lewis was a huge difference-maker. [Sophomore midfielder] Christina Ordonez played big minutes. [Sophomore midfielder/ forward] Corinne Harris was fantastic every time she was out there. [Freshman midfielder/forward] Nicky Waldeck went up top and played some. And [freshman midfielder/defender] Anna Soccorsi got in behind and created a chance in the first half. "Knowing you have such a veteran team and now seeing these young players add to it, it's exciting going forward. They don't feel like freshmen or sophomores anymore. They feel like they are ready to make an impact in this NCAA Tournament. "Teams are going to focus on Nkem. You have to be able to get goals from other players." Ezurike has accounted for 32.5 percent of the offense this season, and she has routinely come up big in key moments. Now she is receiving help, with four teammates netting four goals or more this fall. If U-M is to win two more games, though, and advance to its first quarterfinals since 2002 and only its second quarterfinals in the program's 20-year history, the defense will lead the way. The Maize and Blue are currently setting a program record by allowing just 0.49 goals per game. Michigan has surrendered only 10 goals in 20 games (the 0.49 comes from a division of goals by minutes played, which is slightly more than 20 based on overtime sessions). If the Wolverines come up shy against Illinois State, they will be disappointed, but this has already been a successful season. Still they enter play the favorite, as the higher seed and with a 10-1-1 mark at home this season and a 14-0-0 record when scoring first. — Michael Spath