|
#8 Michigan 8 #1 UCSB 9 |
|
|
WDIA National Championship - Round
Two Scottsdale, AZ -- In a game that seesawed back and forth, #8 Michigan (18-5) fell one goal short in the end, falling 9-8 to #1 University of California Santa Barbara (20-2). After a scoreless five minutes, the Wolverines jumped ahead 1-0 when Britt Boehm (Rocky River, OH/Magnificant) found a cutting Rachel Lary (San Diego, CA/Torrey Pines) who lifted a shot over the UCSB goalkeeper. The two teams would trade goals until the 4:31 mark in the first half when UCSB was able to open up a two goal margin, scoring with 0:20 left in the half. Many teams may have let up with short time remaining, but not these Wolverines. Lary controlled the draw herself and raced down the field, finding an open Amy Johnson (Washington, D.C./Radnor-Arms) who wristed a shot into the net with just 0:02 on the clock. Down one at the half, Michigan stayed positive, "I think goals like that are really important," said Michigan senior quad-captain, Micaela Battiste (Flint, MI/Grand Blanc). "It gave us a spark going into the second half." Using the momentum from Johnson's last second goal, Michigan came out of the break firing. Julie Baskind (Framingham, MA/Framingham) scored less than a minute into the second stanza to tie the game at five. Johnson followed with her second goal of the game just 0:44 later to give Michigan the one goal lead. UCSB called a timeout after Michigan's two quick goals which seemed to settle the Gaucho nerves. UCSB went on a 4-0 run over the next fifteen minutes as their offense controlled the ball, draining clock. The Gaucho defense toughened up, holding the Wolverines goalless for over 26 minutes. Michigan survived a three minute period where they lost two midfielders due to double yellow cards. During that stretch, freshman goalie Emmy Scheidt (Birmingham, MI/Seaholm) stepped up to keep the Wolverines in contention, "She was ridiculous once again," Battiste said, of Scheidt, "I think everyone on the team would agree that she kept us in the game." Scheidt ended the day with a season-high 19 saves. Twice during the second half, UCSB had open shots at net but Scheidt was able to come up with the save. UCSB only managed to convert two eight meter opportunities in the game. Coming out of a timeout facing a three goal deficit, Michigan used all of their remaining energy to come up with one final run. Alexis Pavle bounced in an eight meter shot, bringing the Wolverines to within one. Lary won the ensuing draw and just :26 later, Johnson earned a hat trick with a bounce shot to cut the Gaucho lead to one. UCSB took the final draw and were able to stall for the remaining 1:15 to secure the victory and advance to the semifinals where they will play #3 Colorado who knocked off #4 Cal Poly in quarterfinal action. Michigan moves into the consolation bracket where they will play at 10:00 AM PT/1:00 PM ET against #4 Cal Poly. The Wolverines can place as high as fifth should they beat Cal Poly tomorrow and then the winner of #3 Colorado State/#2 Santa Clara on Saturday. "Cal Poly is one of our big rivals," said senior captain, Becca Miller (Pittsburgh, PA/Shaler Area), "We're going to play tomorrow like we play every other game. We're going to build on the momentum that we gained in the game today and finish strong." Game Notes: Michigan scored on four of its five eight-meter opportunities...UCSB's head coach had called Scheidt, "ridiculous" in the team's previous matchup, a 7-6 UCSB victory in which Scheidt made 14 saves...Morning tournament action saw big upsets as both the #2 and #3 seeds went down. #6 Virginia Tech knocked out #3 Colorado State and #10 Florida continued its improbable run, beating #2 Santa Clara Quotes: Senior quad-captain Micaela Battiste: On how important Johnson's goal was with two seconds left before halftime... I think goals like that are really important. It paid off momentum-wise to come off that going into the second half. On freshman goalie, Emmy Scheidt's big game... She was ridiculous once again, I think everyone on the team would agree that she kept us in the game. She really stepped up her game and gave it her all. Senior quad-captain Becca Miller: On how the team will rebound for their game tomorrow against Cal Poly... Cal Poly is one of our big rivals. We're going to play tomorrow like we play every other game. We're going to build on the momentum that we gained in the game today and finish strong.
[an error occurred while processing this directive] |
|
#1 UCSB 9