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Defeating a knight takes bravery. It requires the confidence to counter every strike.
However, the Michigan women’s soccer team was unable to counter the Scarlet Knights’ strikes on Thursday, and as a result, got slayed.
The Wolverines demonstrated significant improvement to their overall control of the field and ability to create scoring opportunities against Rutgers. However, Michigan’s newfound collaboration under the 4-4-2 configuration cracked at the first sign of pressure, and was ultimately not enough to defeat the valiant Scarlet Knights.
The Wolverines came out Thursday night with high energy and a strong offensive push, keeping the ball moving with five shots in the first half. The key to this newfound offensive strategy was the coordination between defensive backline and strong midfield players.
“Overall, our communication to the midfields, and then the midfield communication to the forwards is how we were able to keep shifting the ball and keep shifting the defense,” senior defender Avery Kalitta said.
Michigan played a fairly consistent double pivot with junior defender back Aniyah League and Kalitta as standout 90-minute players in this configuration. They continuously moved the ball down the field in conjunction with their supporting midfield players — juniors Abby Zugay and Jenna Lang. Simple push passes between Kalitta and League allowed for the execution of assertive through balls for Zugay and Lang.
“I think tonight, you saw what a collective performance can be when everybody’s working together and starring in their role,” Michigan coach Jennifer Klein said. “That’s something that we have to keep moving forward, when we do it together there’s so much power in our team.”
However, a clean back-of-the-net goal from Rutgers a mere 18 seconds into the second half was enough to shake up this seemingly well-oiled configuration. Although the Wolverines were effective at keeping the Scarlet Knights at bay, Rutgers found a crack in their defense — fracturing Michigan’s confidence.
“For the back line, when the ball gets played through, the only thing that you’re looking for is just to get the ball out,” Kalitta said. “When the ball got played behind us, or in the air, or on the ground, we were just sprinting back, making sure that they didn’t score.”
With the Wolverines’ confidence rattled, they were unable to follow through on offensive opportunities. Compared to the five shots in the first half, Michigan tallied just two in the second. While the defensive back line regained their composure and prevented Rutgers from scoring on an additional five attempted shots, the strong offensive press that was evident in the first half of the game fell apart after the change in momentum. The forwards were unable to connect with midfield and defensive players to follow through on scoring opportunities.
“Anytime that you play a very good team like Rutgers, there’s going to be a change in momentum,” Klein said. “It’s just now we have to find a way to capitalize when we have momentum, for as much as we created in the first half, we’ve got to find a way to get a goal. … We fought until the very end, but I think it’s now finding that bit of bravery to finish it out.”
The Wolverines demonstrated that if they keep their cool under pressure, they can maintain a coordinated shape that allows them to create offensive pressure of their own. However, the real test was maintaining shape against adversity and finding the bravery to make offensive pressure count, and instead, they cracked.
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