The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/641955
OLYMPIC SPORTS UPDATE In its first 13 non‑conference games, Jan. 22 through Feb. 7, Michi‑ gan played 13 teams ranked in the top 25. In the span of just more than two weeks, Michigan played more than half of the nation's ranked teams. It won 10 of them, with the only losses season coming versus No. 7 Hawaii (11‑10), No. 2 UCLA (11‑7) and at No. 1 Stanford (12‑7). Among Michigan's impressive victories were wins over No. 11 UC Santa Barbara (14‑8), No. 10 UC Ir‑ vine (6‑2) and No. 8 San Jose State (18‑9 and 8‑7, in separate weeks). The early part of the season has been a grind for the Wolverines. Ac‑ cording to head coach Dr. Marcelo Leonardi that was all part of the plan. "The way that I planned our sched‑ ule is to try and not play anybody outside the top 25," Leonardi said. "Because I feel it hurts our RPI and at the end of the day it doesn't pre‑ pare us for what we're trying to do, which is win the conference and go to NCAAs. "By having our strength of sched‑ ule, by the time we get to conference play we'll be so battle‑tested and so sharp that I feel we'll be prepared to make a run." Given the challenging 13‑game opening stretch that took place, how does the coach think the 10‑3 record stands up? About as well as he could have hoped for. "Overall, I think we've done pretty well," Leonardi remarked. "Especially playing three high‑level tournaments all against ranked op‑ ponents, we've been able to get bat‑ tle‑tested early on in all spectrums. "If I had to predict where we were going to be, I think we would be somewhere around the same, but I don't know if we would be 10‑3. I think [the team] is definitely step‑ ping up to the challenge of being ranked as one of the top teams in the country." Individually speaking, the Maize and Blue offer more than a few names to keep an eye on going for‑ ward. Senior attacker and captain Ali Thomason led the team with 40 goals and 47 points, and has posted six games with four or more goals. "Ali is the heart and soul of this team," her coach said. "On both ends of the pool, in and out of the water, she's our captain and leader." Sophomore Carolina Anderson, who was second behind Thomason with 38 points, and senior captain Kelly Martin, who was tied for third on the team with 16 goals, round out the attacker position. At the center position, junior Dani‑ elle Johnson has made a significant impact. She was tied for third on the team with 16 goals, and second in both assists with eight and steals with 15. Furthermore, a young newcomer has provided a true spark for the Wolverines. "We have a freshman wonder named Kimberly Johnson, who is second in scoring and our primary center defender," Leonardi said. "She's doing a fantastic job for being a freshman." Johnson had 25 goals on the year