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#8 Michigan 11 WDIA National Championship - Round
Four Scottsdale, AZ -- For the second game in a row, #8 Michigan (20-5) led from start to finish, earning fifth place with an 11-7 victory over #2 UC Santa Clara. Julie Baskind (Framingham, MA/Framingham) got the scoring started for the Wolverines, finding the back of the net on an eight-meter shot just over one minute into the game. Baskind scored again one minute later to put UM ahead 2-0. After Santa Clara cut the Michigan lead to one, Jess Stanley (Beverly Hills, MI/Marian) answered right back. Stanley received a pass from Alexis Pavle (Grosse Pointe/Grosse Pointe South) on the right wing. Then, cutting across the goal mouth, shot left-handed over the goalie's outstretched stick to put UM back ahead by two. Santa Clara converted on a free position shot to get within one but once again, Michigan responded. This time it was Pavle turning in the highlight goal as she cut across the crease going cross-body, over the shoulder to beat Santa Clara's First-Team All-American goalie and make the score 5-3 in favor of the Wolverines. The Broncos fought back to tie the game with consecutive goals and it appeared like the game would go into the break tied at five. However, Rachel Lary (San Diego, CA/Torrey Pines) came through, scoring a goal off her own rebound with :47 left in the half. The teams traded goals to start the second half, Michigan's coming when Amy Johnson (Washington, D.C./Holton-Arms) took a beautiful feed from Quinn Golinske (Beverly Hills, MI/Groves) and deposited it into the back of the net, putting UM ahead 7-6. Michigan would extend the lead when a pair of senior captains connected, Micaela Battiste (Flint, MI/Grand Blanc) to Lary for the marker with 20:10 to play, giving Michigan the two goal edge. For the remaining twenty minutes, the Wolverines would battle the officials along with the Broncos as they drew three yellow cards within a two minute span. The second of these cards was called on Baskind, her second card of the day which resulted in an ejection. Despite being down three players, Michigan did not surrender a goal during the penalty time. Scoring five of the last six goals, the Wolverines put the finishing touches on the win when Pavle bounced in her second goal of the game at the 4:09 mark, extending the lead to 10-7. Johnson provided the exclamation mark, finding the open net for a hat trick in the closing minute. Emmy Scheidt (Birmingham, MI/Seaholm) preserved the Wolverine lead, putting the finishing touches on her masterpiece tournament. Scheidt saved 66% of shots during the four game stretch, a feat that is even more remarkable considering it came against the first, second, fifth, and ninth seeded teams. For her efforts, Scheidt was a unanimous selection to the All-Tournament team. With the win, the Wolverines capped a spectacular season, reaching the twenty win mark for just the second time in program history and the first since 2005. "It was nice to go out with a win today," said Johnson. "The seniors been such a huge part of the team so we wanted to get the win for them and finish the season on a high note." Michigan graduates seven seniors including its four captains. The returning squad includes Johnson, the team's leading scorer with 59 goals on the season as well as fellow seniors to be, Amy Santoriello (Westfield, NJ/Westfield) and Arielle Dyner (Livingston NJ/Livingston). Dyner and Santoriello will serve as tri-captains along with junior to be, Britt Boehm (Rocky River, OH/Magnificant). Game Notes: Boehm, Dyner, and Santoriello were elected captains by their teammates as well as the three coaches...All four opponents that Michigan played during the tournament were from California (UCLA, UC Santa Barbara, Cal Poly, UC Santa Clara)...Virginia Tech defeated Colorado in the championship game while Florida topped UCSB to take third place. Quotes: Junior Attacker Amy Johnson: On sending off the seniors with a win... It was nice to go out with a win today because the seniors have given us so much over the last four years and they've been such a huge part of the team so we wanted to get the win for them and finish the season on a high note. On whether or not a West coast bias exists in women's club lacrosse... I think the fact we beat UCLA, UC Cal Poly, and UC Santa Clara proves that we can play with any West coast team. I'm looking forward to my senior year and beating all the west coast teams again. I have a good feeling about next year. Sophomore Attacker Jess Stanley: On whether the team felt slighted by its #8 seed... We knew going into the tournament that we were not the number eight seed and throughout the tournament we proved to everyone with our three wins that we can play with the top teams and that the rankings were pretty irrelevant. On what the team can carry over to next year from this tournament... Judging from our performance I know that we proved to the other teams that they should be looking out for Michigan next year.
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