Women's soccer pulls Big Ten two-step

By Jeff Phillips

Daily Sports Writer

The weekend games were longer than expected for the Michigan women's soccer team, but it returns with familiar results - wins over Big Ten foes Iowa (1-3 Big Ten, 7-4 overall) and Illinois (2-2, 6-4).

The Wolverines improved their record to a combined 9-0 against the two opponents.

"Coming off (yesterday's win), our confidence is high," Michigan coach Debbie Belkin Rademacher said.

The Wolverines came out firing yesterday, defeating Illinois 4-1. Michigan got off to a quick start by breaking out to a 2-1 halftime lead while going against a strong wind.

"Mentally, knowing you are going with the wind in the second half is nice," Rademacher said.

In the first half, two of Michigan's leading scorers, senior co-captain Kacy Beitel and freshman Stephanie Chavez, each garnered an assist for the Wolverines, delivering passes to sophomores Michelle Pesiri and Carly Williamson, respectively. It wasn't long before the two hooked up again.

Michigan notched its first goal of the second half when Beitel knocked in a Chavez pass to go up 3-1. The goal was Beitel's second of the season, putting her just five goals away from Michigan's all-time goal scoring record.

"Kacy played a very good game from center midfield," Rademacher said.

Rademacher was also impressed with the play of Chavez.

"She is very dangerous and getting more and more confident," Rademacher said. "She is a player other teams should look out for."

Freshman Erika Kleinholz rounded out the scoring for Michigan by scoring her second goal in a Wolverine uniform.

On Friday, it took two overtime periods to decide a winner, but Michigan still finished on top.

The Wolverines again finished the first half with a lead at 2-0 behind goals by Kleinholz and senior Marie Spaccarotella. But Michigan let the Hawkeyes creep back into the contest.

Midway through the second half, Iowa scored two goals - only three minutes apart.

"We were dominating the game, but for a 10 minute span we let them back into the game," Rademacher said.

After Michigan was unable to score in the second half, and then in the first overtime period, Chavez scored her second double-overtime goal of the season off an Abby Crumpton pass to end the 2-2 stalemate.

"We had to work very hard in overtime after blowing a lot of opportunities," Rademacher said.

Michigan continued its weekend rotation of goalkeepers by playing senior Carissa Stewart on Friday and freshman Suzie Grech on Sunday.

The weekend also marked the return of senior co-captain Stephanie McArdle, who returned from a knee injury to play against Illinois.