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For 60 minutes, the No. 12 Michigan field hockey team started each quarter the same way: gain possession as quickly as possible and tear through the opposition’s defense. The strategy paid dividends — within 30 seconds after the start of each quarter, the Wolverines added a tally to the scoreboard.
On Sunday, Michigan’s high-press game plan created a number of offensive opportunities and a pressure that Providence simply could not combat. In their game-long sustained attack on the Friars backline, the Wolverines (3-1) assaulted the goal and doubled Providnces (2-2) shots which led to a dominant 8-1 win.
“Postgame was really exciting,” senior forward Alana Richardson said. “We got a lot of goals on the board and a lot of people got to contribute so it was a really good moment for a lot of people on the team.”
Michigan established its presence from the first whistle. Starting with possession, Michigan moved the ball down the field quickly. Richardson took the ball the final 25 yards and weaved through the back line of the Friars effortlessly. But, perhaps it was the early-game jitters or overexcitement, Richardson hit the ball wide, just beyond the goal’s bounds. Regardless, in just 22 seconds the Wolverines were hinting at the pressure to come.
A mere three minutes later, Richardson was back in scoring position, ready to right her wrong. As the ball worked its way down the field, the Michigan front line pressed forward, keeping Providence on its toes. Richardson weaved through the Friars back line and set herself up for a game-changing moment. After another wide shot, this time from redshirt junior forward Abby Tamer, a scrum formed in Providence’s shooting circle.
Amid the chaos, Richardson got her stick under the ball off a Friar deflection and advanced the ball back to Tamer. This time, Tamer was right on target and got Michigan on the board, allowing the Wolverines to take the lead.
“Our bread and butter is our press,” Richardson said. “It’s always a big focus of our game no matter the team, it’s always a high press. … It was exciting and fun to be in that forward line, really stepping in those lines and putting (the Friars) under pressure, getting their heads down, and causing turnovers.”
This ever-important high press would not be possible without the formidable midfield that the Wolverines maintained. By continually staying on Providence’s side of the field and forcing the forward line to push further up, the midfielders made sure that Michigan stuck to its game plan. And no one was more integral to this than graduate midfielder Lora Clarke.
Clarke orchestrated the connections between the back line and the forwards and continually facilitated movement into Friars territory. While Clarke’s advance of the ball down the forward line was integral to the success of the high press, her ability to regain possession for the Wolverines was arguably more important.
The aggressive game plan that Michigan employed, while effective, was certainly not clean and often led to turnovers with Providence gaining possession. However, this problem proved to be a moot point thanks to the Wolverines midfield. By attacking the Friars offense head on and maintaining the high press, the midfield didn’t give Providence an inch of breathing room.
“A lot of what our team does is stepping up and getting in those interception lines,” Richardson said. “And it really allows for everybody on the team to win that ball and then immediately go and attack. It’s a really important part of our team, how we function, and our midfielders just do an awesome job with that.”
Such interceptions allowed the Wolverines to maintain possession and continue to play high press in Providence territory. Time and time again Michigan played aggressively and created a chaos that the Friars had no response for. And instead of just having random moments of success, the Wolverines maintained a sustained attack that tore through a defense that was simply no match for it.
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