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It’s a textbook play.
On a penalty corner, the inserter sends the ball into the center to the stick stopper, who tips it up for a center to take the shot on goal.
It’s so textbook that it shouldn’t be able to happen multiple times in the same game, with the same player shooting the ball.
Yet the No. 10 Michigan field hockey team repeatedly employed that exact play in Sunday’s matchup against Central Michigan. It didn’t matter who played at inserter, who played stick stopper and who took the eventual shot — the Wolverines converted on five of their nine opportunities.
And as long as graduate midfielder Erin Reilly was in the mix, there was a surefire chance Michigan would find the back of the goal.
“Good hard shots on goal and they went in,” Wolverines coach Marcia Pankratz said. “Erin is one of the best corners I’ve ever seen … I think we’re just executing the things we’ve been practicing, which is fun to see.”
The Wolverines’ offense was dominant throughout the entire matchup, tallying 27 shots compared to the Chippewas’ zero. Two minutes after graduate forward Kate McLaughlin scored its first goal, Michigan earned its first penalty corner of the game. McLaughlin sent a calculated pass straight to redshirt junior midfielder Claire Taylor, who stopped the ball for Reilly. Reilly then sent the ball to the back of the net from the top of the circle — just as it’s drawn up in the textbook.
That goal was just the first of many for Reilly, who secured her first hat trick in her collegiate career.
Seven minutes later, the Wolverines employed the exact same play with the exact same players. Although Reilly’s shot was deflected by a Central Michigan defender, it didn’t matter. The ball ricocheted into the back of the net, and Reilly made it 3-0.
“I practice a lot with Claire Taylor,” Reilly said. “She’s incredible, she pushes it to where I want every single time. And also the inserters, everything kind of needs to be perfect and it was today and that made it so easy for me to hit it.”
Within the first period, Michigan converted on all three of its penalty corners, grasping a dominant lead from the jump. As the Wolverines’ lead grew and new players were granted the opportunity to play in Reilly’s position, that penalty corner success continued. With McLaughlin as the inserter, three-of-four penalty corner opportunities became Michigan goals.
In the third and fourth periods, McLaughlin got a break from inserting on penalty corners, granting redshirt sophomore midfielder Zoë Bormet and sophomore forward Juliette Manzur field time. And while Bormet didn’t aid in a goal, the Wolverines converted two of Mazur’s penalty corners into goals.
The third period brought Reilly her third goal of the game. On another penalty corner — this time inserted by Manzur and stopped by senior forward Alana Richardson — Reilly did what she does best: She capitalized on a shot from the top of the circle.
“Our penalty corners were awesome,” redshirt junior forward Abby Tamer said. “I would credit that a lot to Erin Reilly and the work that she’s been putting in and her finishes have been awesome, today especially. She went three-for-three on her shots which is pretty unreal, especially for field hockey and the statistics that go along with that.”
Of the Wolverines’ nine penalty corners, five became goals, three of those from Reilly. Michigan’s sustained presence on offense, propelled by its dominant first half, stemmed from the accuracy of Reilly’s penalty corner shots.
With a standout game for Reilly came a standout game for the rest of the team. So while the play may have been textbook, the execution went above and beyond the curriculum.
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