The Michigan women’s field hockey team took the field on Wednesday for the first time in the 2024-25 season with an exhibition game versus Kent State. The Wolverines shut down the Golden Flashes’ offensive efforts, flaunting their bench depth with frequent substitutions en route to five different players netting goals.
Michigan dominated across the stat sheet, not only outscoring but also outshooting Kent State, 26-3. This production kicked off the Wolverines’ preseason with a decisive 7-0 win over the Golden Flashes.
“Our team has been training super hard all summer and through preseason,” Michigan coach Marcia Pankratz said. “They were anxious to get out and play against an opponent … and (we’re) really pleased with the day.”
The Golden Flashes won the opening faceoff and recorded the first shot of the game, their only shot in the entire first half. Michigan senior forward Alana Richardson capitalized on a sneaky takeaway in Kent State’s striking circle to bury the first goal of the game. It only took another minute for Richardson to score her second goal. Another Wolverine goal brought them up 3-0 to end the first quarter.
The Wolverines opened the second frame with similar offensive pressure, but they failed to net a goal on either of their back-to-back penalty corner opportunities. That short-lived dry streak came to an end as Richardson buried her third goal to complete a first-half hat trick. The Golden Flashes’ failed to record a single shot on goal, even on the man advantage, as Michigan’s defense still held them to only one after 30 minutes. The Wolverines headed into halftime with a comfortable 4-0 lead.
“It’s definitely fun to see where we all are and come on the field and put it together and work as a unit more cohesively, it’s definitely a deep bench,” Richardson said. “It’s exciting to have been a big team and have so many people be able to come in the field and make an impact.”
Michigan kicked off the second half with consecutive penalty corners but failed to score. Nearly 40 minutes after recording its lone shot, Kent State finally challenged redshirt freshman goalkeeper Hala Silverstein, who redirected to protect the shutout. The Wolverines continued their offensive pressure, racking up shots, but they couldn’t find the back of the net in the third quarter.
The final fifteen minutes of the match solidified Michigan’s story of dominance as it added a pair of goals to extend its lead. Sophomore forward Juliette Manzur cemented the blowout victory by delivering the seventh goal.
“It’s setting the tone, that’s what we talked about for this game, was setting the tone and really coming out strong,” Richardson said. “And setting ourselves up for what we’re going to look like this season, I think we did a really good job with that, putting seven on the board and having a shutout game was really good for us.”
The Wolverines’ depth handled the Golden Flashes for the full game with ease to set the tone for the upcoming season. No matter who the Wolverines subbed in at any position, there was chemistry on all parts of the field.
The post Five Wolverines score in 7-0 exhibition victory over Kent State appeared first on The Michigan Daily.
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