Wolverines hang on to share of 1st place

Four goals should be enough to survive a Big Ten soccer game, but the Wolverines almost let one slip away yesterday.

But instead of collapsing, Michigan held off Northwestern to remain undefeated and hold on to a share of first place in the conference.

Michigan piled up a 4-0 halftime lead, but played a lackluster second half and held on to win, 5-3. The Wildcats lashed back and clawed their way to within two goals but Michigan used a one-player advantage - courtesy of a first half Northwestern red card - to hold on to its seventh-consecutive victory.

No. 15 Michigan (4-0 Big Ten, 9-1 overall) blanked Wisconsin 6-0 on Friday after cruising to another 4-0 halftime lead.

The Wildcats weren't quite as tame.

"They threw everybody forward and came out way more inspired," Michigan coach Debbie Belkin said. "We were kind of flat and they caught us on our heels."

Down four goals, Northwestern completely changed the momentum of the game in the second half, virtually controlling the ball for the first 10 minutes of the stanza. Senior Stephanie Erickson put the Wildcats on the board with a penalty kick only three minutes into the half.

"We agreed to handle it one goal at a time in the second half," Northwestern coach Marcia McDermott said. "We made a minor adjustment pulling an extra player forward and just decided to go for it all."

Northwestern's fully offensive-geared strategy paid off as sophomore Erica Westrich tallied another goal - a chip shot over the head of Michigan goalie Jessica Jones - within a minute of the first, cutting Michigan's lead to 4-2.

But a four-goal deficit proved too much for the Wildcats.

Michigan junior Jessica Limauro put the momentum and the match back in Wolverine territory when she followed through with the second of two breakaway attempts. Limauro's goal with 35 minutes left in the game once again gave Michigan an insurmountable three-goal lead.

"That fifth goal helped out," Belkin said. "I really didn't feel comfortable in the second half with how quickly they were scoring."

Despite Michigan's player advantage and giant lead, Northwestern refused to go quietly into the night. Junior Kristen Palmer turned a direct kick on goal into a pretty banana shot, curving the ball around defenders into the net with 27 minutes left in the game.

The Wildcats played even soccer with Michigan the entire second stanza. But, ultimately, the first half made the difference. The Wolverines amassed an incredible 34 shots on goal - most of them coming before the break.

Michigan senior captain Debbie Flaherty opened yesterday's scoring on a penalty kick, 10 minutes into the match. That score and events leading up to it set the tone for the entire day because it was Northwestern defender Christina Crawford's handball in the box that set up Flaherty's free kick.

Crawford's mistake was ruled intentional and the senior took an early seat with a red card.

The Wildcats played with only 10 players on the field, which contributed to Michigan's onslaught of goals.

"It was a little bit overwhelming for us when we lost a person and they got that first goal," McDermott said. "But it was my fault that I didn't prepare my team to play a man down."

Unlike its risky second half strategy, Northwestern played reserved, defensive soccer and the Wolverines took advantage of it. Michigan knotted three more goals within the next 18 minutes, courtesy of forward Amber Berendowsky and midfielders Kacy Beitel and Mari Hoff.

Appropriately, the Wolverines opened Sunday's game right where they left off on Friday. Berendowsky scored twice to go with goals from Hoff, Shannon Poole, Ruth Poulin and Jen Stahl, against the Badgers.

Berendowsky's score on Sunday marked her third goal of the weekend and ninth of the season - a new Michigan record. As if that wasn't enough, the sophomore set Michigan's single-season assist record 11 minutes later on a feed to Beitel - Berendowsky's eighth assist of the season. The catalyst now holds all of Michigan's single-season offensive records.

But the Wolverines showed no signs of a one-person team. Eight different players scored in Michigan's two wins this weekend and six different players assisted in those scores. Most of the goals came early on, giving Michigan plenty of momentum throughout the matches.

"The keys to success were scoring early goals," Belkin said. "To get eleven goals against Big Ten teams is more than I can ask for."

09-29-97