All Blue Issue 6: Playing Catch-Up

I apologize for simply not getting a post out last week. As it turns out, the University of Michigan would prefer I do my actual job, and getting out an issue just wasn't in the cards. It's a little outdated now, but I was pretty pleased with the Bubble Watch post from last Monday, check it out. Let's talk sports.

BluTV

Day	Date	Time	Sport	Opponent	Location	TV/Stream
Thursday	10/12	7p	⚽️ Women's Soccer	Rutgers	Away
Friday	10/13	4p	🏑 #16 Field Hockey	#10 Maryland	Home
Saturday	10/14	10:30a	🏃‍♀️ Women's Cross Country	XC-23 Pre-Nationals, UVA	Home
Sunday	10/15	1p	🏑 #16 Field Hockey	#15 Penn State	Home
Wednesday	10/18	6p	🏐 Volleyball	Michigan State	Away

Hey would you look at that we have some pretty easy to watch XC this week, that never happens. Truth be told I will be somewhere near the Big House at 10:30am on Saturday but if you're watching from home, why not fire up the ESPN app and see if you get ACCNX. (If you get ACCN you do!) Elsewhere: Two massive, massive matches for Field Hockey end up on regular TV.

Three Previews

#16 Field Hockey v. #10 Maryland, Friday Oct. 13, 4p, BTN
#16 Field Hockey v. #15 Penn State, Sunday Oct. 15, 1p, BTN

All season in this space I have been preaching caution. Field Hockey wasn't quite getting the wins it needed but with the strength of schedule there was plenty of time to play themselves back into the tournament, no reason to panic.

Well, about that. Welcome to do-or-die time.

Michigan has two crucial clashes this weekend, both in Ann Arbor and both on Big Ten Network. Michigan sits at 1-4 in the conference, almost certainly safe from missing the Big Ten Tournament (at home) but with any further postseason play looking further and further out. Maryland and Penn State both have profiles similar to Michigan: objectively elite teams when examining things on a national basis but missing results against the class of the conference.

Michigan played the best two teams in the league last week and went 0-2. Now they play the two teams on the same tier as them within the conference. If there's any chance of going to the BTT with even the tiniest bit of breathing room, its 2-0 or bust.

Women's Soccer @ Rutgers, Thursday Oct. 12, 6p, BTN

Michigan women's soccer simply does not deserve to not have a number in front of their name. They were ranked 14th at this time last week, and one 3-2 loss to MSU left them unranked, but propelled Michigan State to #20. I personally believe that their body of work shows they are one of the 25 best teams, though I do see the record argument for leaving them unranked. Chip on our shoulder it is, I guess.

Rutgers is exactly what you think they probably are when you hear the phrase "Rutgers women's soccer". Middle-of-the-pack Big Ten team, no big wins to speak of but no big upset losses. They rank 11th in scoring and 7th in goals allowed. They have scored two goals twice this season, they have not scored more than that.

I think Michigan is going to be able to do the thing they've done all season, win a low-scoring match with Sparkowski going off and the offense doing just enough. Michigan, as far as I'm concerned, is in the tournament barring some massive fall-off. A win in this game keeps them on the right side of the first-round hosting bubble.

Women's Cross Country, XC-23 Pre-Nationals, Charlottesville, VA, Saturday Oct. 14, 10:30a, ACCNX

Hey it's on TV kind of so let's preview it. Virginia hosts the National Championships this year, and as is typically the case Michigan is getting a regular-season preview of the nationals course. Michigan sits just out of the top 30 (they do a top 30 in cross-country) in the "also receiving votes" zone. This is their last large meet before the Big Ten Championships, though they do have a home-ish tuneup first (EMU hosts at the same home course Michigan does). Five of the top 30 will be on hand in Charlottesville, led by #6 BYU and the hosts at #7.

This meet is a good opportunity for Michigan. While the field is strong, Michigan is in the top quarter. Michigan will have a chance to run itself back into the top 30 with a decent showing, and prepare for a return to Charlottesville to end the season.

Three Recaps

Women's Soccer

Michigan State, 3-2 L

A sold out crowd filed into Michigan Soccer Stadium, diligently skipping the Little Brown Jug game for a chance to see a good Wolverines team against their rival. The truth is, the match wasn't as close as the score, as Michigan's typical bend-don't-break defense did more breaking than Michigan's offense could make up for. Jordyn Wickes got the scoring started in the 26th minute, and ten minutes after halftime she scored again to make it 3-0 MSU. On a cold Ann Arbor night, it would be hard to blame any fans that left at 85' believing 3-0 would be the final score.

It wasn't.

At 87' Sammi Woods ran into the box and passed it to Kacey Lawrence. Lawrence waited a split-second for Woods to get into place, passed it back, and Woods sent it home. 3-1. Michigan State managed to kill off two minutes of clock before Gabrielle Prych controlled the ball on her side of the half-way line and threaded the needle to find Kali Burrell just outside the box. Burrell rocketed it into the top right corner of the net, 3-2, 47 seconds left. In those final 47 seconds, the Spartans mucked it up, kicked it out of bounds, did whatever they could to run clock. Michigan did not get a final chance.

This one's a bummer. Michigan has gotten better results than a win over MSU would have been, but you want to beat your rival at home. In a season where so much has gone right, it was an unideal night to have a shaky performance. Onward.

Men's Soccer

Michigan State, 0-0 T

Michigan has played six Big Ten matches. In those six, they have one win. Michigan remains undefeated in Big Ten play.

Weird, huh? Michigan notched its fourth straight draw, three of which have come with 0-0 final scores. Honestly, I don't know what to do with this team at this point. Michigan is third in the Big Ten. They could get a seed in the BTT that sets them up for at least one contest against a worse team. Despite that, Michigan is functionally out of the at-large NCAA Tourney picture (it's a tiny bit more complicated than that but not by much). How do you assess a team that hasn't lost in almost a month but also has been held scoreless three times since that loss?

Michigan State retained Big Bear with the draw, and like the women's game this one was sold out. I'll say this: it is extremely impressive to have a pre-match sellout at Michigan Soccer Stadium, and even more impressive for both sides to do it in under a week. As far as the soccer goes, the question for Michigan going into the Big Ten Tournament might just be: how are they at penalty kicks?

Volleyball

Northwestern, 3-1

Volleyball picked up an important milestone against Northwestern, earning their first Big Ten win in the Erin Virtue era. On a set-by-set basis, this was a close match, with the set loser hitting 23 points in all but the final set. Michigan was down as much as 20-15 in the first set before two aces from Valentina Vaulet cut the score to 20-18, and a four point run with Humphrey Brooke serving got Michigan the lead. They closed out the set when Northwestern sent the ball past the court, and won their first set in conference play.

Michigan won a back-and-forth third set on a service error, and after the fourth set started 11-11, Mira Chopra served a four-point run to give Michigan a 15-11 lead they would never relinquish. Northwestern worked it back to 22-19, but Michigan won three out of the final four points to take the match. It is too late for Michigan to turn around it's season, but all they need is some proof-of-concept going into Virtue's first off-season. Hopefully, they can peel off a couple more conference wins.