Momentum can be like a fire. One minute it’s blazing hot, but the next, it’s extinguished. And on Thursday for the Michigan women’s soccer team, that’s exactly what happened. The Wolverines looked solid in the early portion of the first half, but Northwestern’s spark quickly ignited as it outburned Michigan in a 3-0 victory.
Starting in the early minutes of the first half, the momentum was on the Wolverines’ side as their defense exploited the Wildcats’ offense by intercepting passes and pressuring it to clear the ball out of bounds.
“We scout and try to get all the little details of the other team,” junior defender Aniyah League said. “With our back line, it’s all about being disciplined.”
That discipline created more momentum for Michigan, as its offense flickered with an on-target shot in the sixth minute by junior midfielder Jenna Lang. While it didn’t convert into a goal, the Wolverines’ early energy continued to glow as their defense doused any offensive opportunity from Northwestern.
But the Wildcats were about to steal the momentum from Michigan.
“If we want to be a possession based team, we just have to value and take care of the ball a bit better and limit our unforced turnovers” Michigan coach Jennifer Klein said. “When we don’t have that composure, it then gives the ball back to the opponent, and now they’re able to kind of just turn the momentum into their favor.”
In the 20th minute Northwestern scored the game’s first goal as defender Emma Phillips fired the ball into the net, propelling the momentum squarely in its favor.
“That’s the game of soccer, it’s like everything’s unpredictable,” League said. “And there are moments where the other team does something either different or finds our slight flaw.”
For the Wolverines, the momentum shifted not just because of the early deficit, but also because of a lack of ball control which allowed the Wildcats to take command. Michigan tried to get back on track, but while the Wolverines still took on-target shots, they were sparse and not converted as Northwestern’s goalkeeper stopped the ball from finding the back of the net.
“In the first half, when, especially at the start of the game, we had really good momentum,” Klein said. “We’ve got to find a way to convert those when the momentum is in our favor, because then they gain a little bit of momentum, and we give up a goal, and now we are chasing the game.”
And the Wolverines’ chase for their lost energy was a dying ember as the Wildcats’ momentum spread like wildfire in the early portion of the second half. Just six minutes in, Northwestern scored another goal. Then in the 65th minute, the Wildcats tallied their final goal, displaying their stronghold on the game.
Michigan tried to reignite its momentum, but its attempts flamed out quickly. For the Wolverines, the ball wasn’t in their possession for very long and when it was, they couldn’t find the net. Michigan, desperately attempting to spark its momentum once again from the first half, pushed forward in the last 10 minutes with two shots on target.
However, just like in the first half, Northwestern’s goalkeeper blocked the ball, denying the Wolverines’ chances for a goal. This time, though, Michigan felt the full weight of its extinguished momentum as the final whistle blew.
Sometimes a flicker can be enough to start a massive fire, but other times that flicker gets quenched. And on Thursday, the Wolverines witnessed their early momentum smothered by the Wildcats.
The post Michigan’s early momentum fades quickly in defeat to Northwestern appeared first on The Michigan Daily.