The Massachusetts women’s soccer team traveled to Ann Arbor last Friday to face Michigan in the newly unveiled UM Stadium.
However, The Minutewomen fell 5-0 to the Wolverines, and then lost to Oakland, 3-2, on Sunday, putting their record at 3-4-0 on the season.
Michigan took its first stab at the Maroon and White defense in the 35th minute. Nkem Ezurike sent a shot from 20 yards out into the far right-hand side of the net, off a throw-in by Amanda Bowery.
The UMass offense didn’t threaten the Wolverine defense until the 57th minute when senior Therese Smith ringed a shot off the crossbar from just inside the 18-yard box. Just under two minutes later, Ezurike distributed the ball to Kayla Mannino with a lead pass. Mannino sprinted forward for the breakaway goal with a dribbler that snuck inside the far post.
With the deficit at two to begin the second half, the Minutewomen looked to push the tempo and get back in the game. Michigan did not let up, however, as it tacked on three more goals. Ezurike struck once again with her second goal of the game at 62:33. Meghan Toohey stole the ball at the midfield, then proceeded with a pass to Ezurike, who hit a strike from the top of the 18-yard box.
The suffering continued for UMass when Tori McComb scored off her own rebound in the 64th minute. With the game out of reach, Courtney Mercier put the icing on the cake for the Wolverines with a goal in the 87th minute. Shelby Chambers-Garcia sent a well-placed corner kick to Bowery who tipped it into the box where Mercier headed it in.
The Maroon and White never got it going on the offensive side of the ball as it was outshot, 20-4, by the Wolverines and only had one shot in the first half. They also held a 5-1 advantage in corner kicks over UMass, while the Minutewomen had two shots on goal produced by junior Meghan Collins and freshman Lauren Skesavage.
The Wolverines improved to 4-1-2 on the season. The win may have been a little bittersweet for Michigan coach Angela Napoli, as she enjoyed seeing many familiar faces from her team of a year ago as the Minutewomen coach of 2009.
Michigan goaltender Haley Kopmeyer had two saves in the shutout, while Emily Cota had six in the losing effort.
On Sunday, UMass had a much easier time getting on the board, but struggled to hold off the Oakland University Golden Grizzlies.
Oakland scored its first goal of the game almost nine minutes into the match when Dani Haelewyn converted from 20 yards out off a pass from Julianne Boyle. The midfielder finished the game as the team leader in shots (four).
The Minutewomen came right back later in the half with a goal from junior Deanna Colarossi, who scored her fourth of the season.
More action picked up in the second half when Sarah Lynch received a through pass from Shannon Doyle to put her team up 2-1. About 16 minutes later, senior Therese Smith retied the game after Cota booted a goal kick to freshman Jen Houtmann, who headed the ball to Smith.
Cota registered three saves in the game, but it was not enough to stop Oakland from scoring. OU narrowly outshot the Minutewomen, 17-16, but it was the last shot that made the difference in the contest.
Nicole DeLuca scored on a pass from Lynch after going around the right corner of the net from 20 yards out and tallied the game-winner.
The Golden Grizzlies improve their record to 3-4-1 on the season. Their goalkeeper, Shannon Coley, finished with six saves.
Michael Counos can be reached at [email protected].
