The Michigan Wolverines may not consider themselves to be particularly religious.
But Sunday afternoon, the Michigan women's soccer team gave Dayton goalie Tiffany King a baptism by fire in the form of a 26-shot, three-goal outburst.
The offense combined with solid defense and goalkeeping to secure a 3-0 victory.
With both his No. 1 and No. 2 goaltenders injured and unable to play, Flyers' coach Mike Tucker pressed the freshman defender into service as a goaltender in the Flyers' matinee contest.
"It's hard enough playing a position that I haven't been at since fourth grade," King said. "But it was really scary facing such a good offense."
The Wolverines (3-3-1 Big Ten, 7-6-3 overall) dominated play over Dayton (9-8-0), posting two goals in the opening stanza and an insurance goal in the final period.
Michigan forward Ruth Poulin started the scoring with 25:11 left in the first half by heading an Amber Berendowsky pass by a sprawled King.
Emily Schmitt tallied her fifth goal of the year at 36:38 in the first half.
Schmitt displayed tremendous patience by maneuvering past three Dayton defenders and calmly depositing the ball in the back of the Flyers' goal.
The final Michigan goal was scored by sophomore defender Kristin Buckley with 28:19 left in the contest.
"We're coming together as a team both mentally and physically - we are playing well," Michigan coach Debbie Belkin said.
The shutout was Michigan's sixth of the season, dropping the team's overall goals-against average to 1.21 per a game.
With the victory, the Wolverines are riding the crest of a four-game unbeaten streak that has not only seen them post wins over the Spartans and Northwestern but also a scoreless tie with No. 11 Wisconsin.
When asked about the teams' preparation for a non-conference foe, Belkin said; "We aren't good enough to take anyone lightly. We have a lot of momentum right now, and we need to take advantage of that."
The Wolverines are quickly approaching the end of their regular season slate.
"We have been up and down all year, sometimes we show up and play like we did against Wisconsin, and other times we don't," junior defender Jamie Ross said. "The key to the rest of the year and the Big Ten tournament will be coming out to play every game."
The Wolverines can look forward to Thursday's game when they play host to Detroit-Mercy at the Michigan Soccer Field.
"This next game against Detroit is huge," Belkin said. "We have a bit of a rivalry with them and we can't let down at all."
DAMIAN PETRESCU/Daily
Wolverines like defender Michelle Brach fired plenty of shots at Dayton freshman defender-turned-goalkeeper Tiffany King on the way to a 3-0 victory Sunday. The Flyers were hampered by injuries to their first two goalies, forcing Dayton coach Mike Tucker to search his bench for an able-bodied replacement.