With a Big Ten Tournament appearance on the line, all the Michigan men’s soccer team needed was a win or a tie to secure its ticket. But for 66 minutes of the game until the final one, all it could manage was dismal midfield play and a seemingly insurmountable one-goal deficit.
Their objective clear, the Wolverines began the matchup with a fairly conservative game plan. The midfield sat back in its territory and allowed Wisconsin to keep majority of the possession. Michigan opted to babysit the goal instead of creating opportunities of its own. This resulted in extended Badgers offensive attacks and infrequent breakaways for the Wolverines.
Michigan wasn’t playing to win — it was playing not to lose.
But in the 33rd minute, it was unable to do even that when Wisconsin forward Dean Boltz tore through the Wolverines midfield. Against a full box, he skirted the ball on the ground into the back of the net.
The Badgers defense had slowly progressed into Michigan territory and off a short clearance from the Wolverines, Wisconsin’s backline quickly took over the midfield. After taking time to reset, the defense propelled the ball into the final third where Boltz found sophomore goalkeeper Isaiah Goldson off balance and snuck the ball in for the first goal of the matchup. The Badgers had found Michigan’s soft spot and for the rest of the matchup they were primed to exploit it.
“One of the important things you need to have is a good resting shape,” Wolverines coach Chaka Daley said. “That means that those who are not in possession (of the ball) are in solid positions that if the ball turns over we can eliminate or stop the counterattacks. Today in the first half we didn’t really have that.”
The middle 20 meters of the field determine a team’s security. A solid midfield is the difference between controlling the pace of the game and simply reacting to it. The Wolverines were in the latter scenario for most of the matchup as they attempted to respond to Wisconsin’s attackers. Instead of taking time to slow the game down and reset in the midfield, Michigan frantically turned over the ball trying to force connections.
When the ball found its way into the middle part of the field, 50-50 balls turned into a one-sided competition. The Badgers found success utilizing control over the Wolverines attempts at brute force. Without securing these opportunities, Michigan was forced to rely on Wisconsin mistakes, which came few and far between. More often than not it was the Badgers who were charging down the field, and instead of the Wolverines’ midfield providing the first line of defense, they were nothing more than a speed bump on Wisconsin’s way to Michigan territory.
To add insult to injury, the Wolverines were further hampered by a multitude of fouls in the midfield. With postseason play on the line, both teams were playing with everything to lose, which coupled with tensions flaring and difficult weather conditions resulted in many match-stopping penalties.
“Chippiness always comes with the game,” junior defender Nolan Miller said. “… But you have to play that line between doing too much and getting yourself booked and being a detriment to your team, but still imposing your will on the game.”
The main perpetrator of this issue was freshman midfielder Kamau Brame. Brame ended the game with five fouls, the most of any Michigan player. Continually attacking Badger forwards head on, Brame decidedly took on athletes themselves over the ball, which usually resulted in a foul for Brame and free kick for Wisconsin. This often ended any momentum the Wolverines had begun to build up with the midfield serving as the endpoint for any Michigan transition plays.
This lack of consistency in the midfield slowly spread to the rest of the pitch as the Wolverines continued to unravel in the second half. Plays around the field became frantic and forced as the offense continually took shots from outside the 18-yard box, hoping that something would break through. In a last-ditch effort, Daley shifted Miller to striker who pushed himself to just the right position and drove the ball in the back of the net to tie up the game and send Michigan to the Big Ten Tournament in the final minute.
“We didn’t do the job in the first half,” Daley said. “The main way to control the midfield is to have someone who is just physically dominant and wins every first and second ball. We don’t necessarily have that character in our group.”
To round out its regular season, the Wolverines played from behind for the majority of the matchup. Without stability in the middle 20 meters of the field Michigan floundered, and without a last minute miracle, this instability would have ended the Wolverines’ season.
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