The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/603303
OLYMPIC SPORTS exiting the program. Freshman Marcello Borges, who missed almost half the season due to injury and international play for the U.S. U-18 National Team, figures to fill one of the forward roles, while redshirt sophomores Michael Kapit- ula and Tyler Anderson improved greatly in the midfield and are ca- pable of filling Murphy's vacated central attacking role. Freshman midfielder Francis At- uahene led the team with 10 goals, and will return a stronger, faster and more experienced version of himself in 2016. The entire back four, plus sophomore goalkeeper Evan Louro, will also return. Making the NCAA Tournament in 2015 was a lofty goal for the men's team, but the women fully expected to be playing in the postseason. When they were left out of the mix after a 12-7-2 season, a 3-4-2 mark against teams in the field of 64 and an RPI of 46, head coach Greg Ryan and his team were stunned. "I think after people have a chance to reflect on the tournament, they'll say that Michigan was a shocking omission," Ryan said. "There was no doubt in my mind that we should be in, and I think it was a huge mistake by the NCAA. "It's the second year in a row that we've been left out. Last year we had a pretty strong argument, but this year it was no question. There are times when you can say it's sour grapes, but this isn't one of those times. It was a clear omission, and unfortunately it's a poor reflection on the people that made the selections." Despite an unbelievably disap- pointing end to the 2015 season, Ryan has a lot to be proud of and still looks at the season as a success. "The positives are that we played the strongest schedule that a Michi- gan team has played since I've been here, and I think the performances and the quality of the soccer was the best overall that I've seen," Ryan said. "We didn't get a lot of breaks and some of the things were just bad luck that didn't go our way, but over- all we had some dominating perfor- mances this year." Seven seniors graduate from Mich- igan's 2015 roster, including four key contributors in forward Lulu Hai- dar, midfielders Corinne Harris and Christina Murillo, both first-team All-Big Ten selections, and defender Christina Ordonez. Haidar saw ac- tion in 19 games, while the other three were on the pitch for every contest. The four seniors take a lot of ex- perience with them, but the Wolver- ines return offense and playmaking ability in sophomore forward Taylor Timko and redshirt sophomore for- ward Ani Sarkisian, who tied for the team lead with seven goals apiece. Sarkisian earned All-Big Ten first- team honors, while rookies Reilly Martin and Sura Yekka were both named to the Big Ten All-Freshman Team. In addition, freshman mid- fielder Abby Kastroll had four goals of her own. That nucleus of young talent has Ryan very excited about 2016.