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After ending the first half up one goal, the Michigan women’s soccer team was poised to upset its rival, No. 11 Ohio State. But following an explosive second half, featuring 10 shots and two goals, the Buckeyes hammered their way to a win.
Coming off a loss to Rutgers, Michigan (2-9-1 overall, 1-4-0 Big Ten) was in search of its third win of the season — this time against Ohio State (8-1-3, 3-0-2). However, in a tight 2-1 game where the Wolverines commandeered the first half, Michigan failed to handle the Buckeyes’ relentless pressure in the second.
Utilizing sophomore defender Campbell Jewell in the back and junior striker Kali Burrell along the wing, the Wolverines were constantly pushed the ball up into the offensive zone. With quick passes in the attacking third, Michigan found the corner several times, raining crosses down into Ohio State’s box.
Eventually, Michigan converted one of those opportunities into a goal. Following a ball played overtop from Jewell, junior forward Taylor Brennan easily slotted in a goal from the top of the box, giving the Wolverines a one-goal lead.
In the defensive half, Michigan stood tall. The Wolverines played strong man-to-man defense, pressuring the Buckeyes into making mistakes on offense. In Ohio State‘s two opportunities, a badly placed pass and a strong tackle from Jewell, respectively, kept Ohio State scoreless.
“When you have slip ups like that, the worst thing to do is let it snowball,” graduate defender Erin Junkmann said of the mistake that led to Jewell‘s goal-saving tackle. “So we came together, and we were like, ‘Okay, take a breath. We can’t let that happen again.’ And I feel like we did a good job of staying in the moment, not letting past mistakes create future ones.”
As Ohio State and Michigan switched sides, they also seemed to switch roles. With Ohio State’s first shot coming five minutes into the half, the Wolverines quickly found themselves on their back foot.
“I thought the first half we played really, really well, and we moved the ball and forced them to adjust,” Michigan coach Jennifer Klein said. “And then in the second half, we just weren’t prepared, we just didn’t deal with their press as well as we should have.”
With an offense centered around launching the ball over top, the Buckeyes found success by overwhelming the Wolverines’ defense. Ohio State forwards Kailyn Dudukovich and Amanda Schlueter spearheaded this long-ball offense, receiving the ball at the top and then firing shots or crosses into Michigan’s box.
Against this frontal assault, the Wolverines’ defense quickly began to break down. After getting the ball to the top of the box yet again, Schlueter found some space on her right and placed the ball right past Michigan graduate goalkeeper Stephanie Sparkowski’s fingertips.
The Wolverines tried to retaliate with counterattacks, finding Brennan and junior striker Jenna Lang up top for some quality shots. However, the Buckeyes’ constant pressure on offense and lockdown defense limited these opportunities, holding Michigan to just four shots in the second half.
With five minutes remaining, Ohio State‘s relentless offense found Dudukovich at the top of the box who found the back of the net with her third shot of the half, dashing the Wolverines hope of victory.
Michigan started strong: strong defense, strong offense and strong coordination. But ultimately, Michigan could not hold on to their early lead in the face of the Buckeyes‘ unabated offensive pressure.
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