The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/230001
NCAA tournament: women's soccer character we have, because it was tight." The senior class is comprised of Zadorsky, All-American forward Nkem Ezurike, All-American midfielder Meghan Toohey, midfielder Tori McCombs, defender Kayla Mannino, forward Shelby Chambers-Garcia and fifth-year senior defender Holly Hein. It's a group that led Michigan to three NCAA Tournaments in four years, with a Sweet 16 appearance in 2012, the school's first since 2003, and an Elite Eight berth this year, the first since 2002. "It's kind of crazy," Zadorsky said. "It's hard for us to grasp the impact we made as a group. I think as a senior class, we have had tremendous success, individually and together. For us, we just made memories together. Having this coaching staff and all those players who really made it a family. We're living in the now with it, but I think we'll be able to look back and say we helped build something bigger and special for Michigan soccer." They posted a 53-22-10 record along the way, and helped put Michigan women's soccer on the map. "This class came in, and that was the year the stadium was built," Ryan said. "This was the first recruiting class to play in that stadium, which is a fantastic facility. They made the NCAA Tournament that first year, and it was the freshmen that carried us. Nkem Ezurike scored a ton of goals that year, and without her we wouldn't have had a prayer. And Toohey and Tori, with how hard they work and fight, they were dominating teams with veterans all over the park when we had a bunch of young kids. "Everything that this program has done up to this point in a positive sense, I attribute to the entire team, but there's a special shout out to the senior class." To get to the Elite Eight, the Wolverines had to get through a tough threegame slate in the first three rounds of the NCAA Tournament. Comfortable wins over Milwaukee (4-0) and Illinois State (3-0) set up a Sweet 16 showdown against then-No. 23 Notre Dame in Ann Arbor. Freshman goalkeeper Taylor Bucklin pitched a four-save shutout in the defensive battle, and Toohey knocked in the game-wining goal on a second-half penalty kick to win, 1-0. "That's maybe the most excited I have ever seen them," Ryan said. "Like last year, when we made it to the Sweet 16, it was another defining moment for the progress that this program has made and how far the kids have come. It was extremely exciting." "It's a day I will never forget. Collectively, we really came together to take over a game in the second half," Zadorsky added. "The first half was pretty even. We kind of found our stride and really showed how badly we wanted to make it to the Elite Eight." — Andy Reid