Goalpost gives Blue scare in win

By David Roth

Daily Sports Writer

Go Bled!

Go Blue and Go Red cheers collided yesterday as a raucous crowd watched an intense Michigan-Ohio State Big Ten field hockey game that went down to the wire.

Who knew that just as influential as the players who bled their team colors would be a pair of goalposts and a cross bar indifferent to the zealous fans?

Shots from Molly Powers and Kelli Gannon post-marked the ball, as the stubborn rods played a huge role in helping out the Buckeyes. Ohio State held onto a 1-0 lead all the way down to 13:36 left when Powers finally shot it between the enemies and tied it up.

"We hit the post twice and we hit the crossbar," Powers said. "Who hits the crossbar- it doesn't happen!"

The posts helped out the Buckeyes when they needed it the most- defending Michigan penalty corners. The corners are usually the Wolverines' golden opportunity to put the ball on cage, but they often came up empty-handed because of the posts.

"When you hit three posts it can be frustrating," Michigan coach Marica Pankratz said.

"I really admire the team for being able to stay focussed on the task and the game plan on not to get impatient."

The Wolverines did remain patient and never toned down their pursuit - the relentlessness of the pillars was only matched by the Wolverines' offensive persistence.

"We were in the circle ups (before the penalty corners) and we were looking at each saying, 'Come on, let's get this one,' every time," Powers said.

"We knew we were on the verge and it was just a matter of time before we scored. That's where patience comes in on the attack - knowing that something's going to fall and just keep doing what you're doing."

What the Wolverines were doing was bombarding Ohio State goalkeeper Allison Blanton. Michigan blasted 20 shots with only a single goal to show before April Fronzoni's put the nail in the coffin with less than a minute left to score and give Michigan a 2-1 lead they would hold onto.

Michigan's strong offensive outing can be accredited to a defense that quickly forced the ball out of its team's zone.

In the second half, Michigan's offense recorded ten penalty corners while its defense held the Buckeyes to zero.

Though Michigan was down a goal with not much time left, the defense stayed composed and focussed on getting the ball to their forwards.

"We weren't freaking out," Michigan defender Jeanne Shin said. "We knew the goals would come eventually."

They did, as fellow defender Ashley Thomas took care of business on defense, stealing the ball away, and then took care of business on offense, sending the ball down to Fronzoni to assist her game-winning goal.