University of Michigan - Michiganensian Yearbook (Ann Arbor, MI)

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A triumphant field hockey team jogs to shake hands with their fans after dramatically defeat- ing Michigan State 2-1 in the National Quarter Finals. The overtime win advanced the team to the NCAA Final Four, and was the closest game during the Wolverine ' s championship run. photo by Jon Hommer During the Quarter Finals of the NCAA tournament, senior Ali Balmer prepares to send the ball back into play. Balmer estab- lished a career high for assists and points in a season with 10 and 14, respectively, photo by Jon keepingSCOre tf As tin do what Wotoii game.Ei After gamesfc Into tedbyx Wife 5 Wake Forest 3 ||| 1 Old Dominion O ||| a Virginia ||| 1 Louisville ||| 1 North Carolina 2 ||| 1 Maine ||| 6 Massachusetts ||| 10 Indiana 1 ||| 4 Iowa 1 ||| 5 Ball State 1 ||| 2 Michigan State 1 ||| 2 Harvard 1 ||| 160 | Field Hockey

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During a game against Bowling Green, senior tri-captain Scott Tousa steps up to the plate with confidence. Tousa consistantly provided leadership on both offense and defense for the Wol- verines and ended the season with a .325 batting average as well as a .987 fielding percentage. photo courtesy of Ath- letic Media Relations On the mound, junior left-handed pitcher Jeff Trzos stares do wn a Bowl- ing Green batter. At 6 ' 6 , Trzos used his large frame to intimidate the oppo- sition and averaged .82 strikeouts per inning, photo courtesy of Athletic Media Rela- tions keepingSCOre baseball homingin on a WUl The Wolverine baseball team entered the 2001 season with a significant amount of pitching experience, but an everyday lineup that featured only five players with 30 or more career starts. The limited experience of the everyday players led to a lack of offensive production over the first half of the season. After 22 games, the Wolverines were hitting a meager .261 as a team. This dearth of offensive production caused the Maize and Blue to rely more heavily on a pitching staff that had experience, but only three seniors. While the Wolverine pitchers maintained a team ERA of under 4.25 over the first half of the season, the team still dropped 12 of its first 22 games, due in large part to the Wolverine ' s quiet bats. After a disappointing first half, the Maize and Blue rebounded to finish the season in sixth place in the Big Ten. While the offense was stagnant for much of the first half of the season, eventually the Wolverine bats caught fire, and the Maize and Blue ended up hitting just under .300 collectively. Just as the Wolverine ' s hitting was improving, the pitching began to deteriorate. The team ' s ERA rose from 4.22 after 22 games to 4.88 by the end of the season. Despite a 1 0-1 4 Big Ten Conference record, the Wolver- ines managed to sneak into the six-team double elimination Big Ten tournament as the sixth seed. While the program had won the conference tournament six times since its inception in 1 981 , this was the program ' sfirst appearance in a six- team league championship tournament. After a mediocre regular season, the Wolverines played their best baseball during the conference tourna- ment. After dropping thefirst game to top-seeded Ohio State, the Wolver- ines fended off elimination by dominating Purdue and Penn State in consecutive games. While the Wolverines made it to the championship game, the tournament had taken its toll on the pitching staff. In the championship game against third-seeded Minnesota, the Wolverines were forced to start true freshman Jim Bauer. Despite his lack of experi- ence, Bauer pitched admirably; allowing just one earned run in six and two-thirds innings of work. Minnesota scored two runs on a throwing error, the Wolverines 1 05th of the season, and won the game by a score of 3-2. Three Wolverines were named to the all-tournament team, includ- ing senior Scott Tousa, freshman Jake Fox and junior Bobby Wood. by Jon Hommer 4WestemMichigan1 1|| 9 Western Michigan6||| 2 Western Michigan4 1|| 1 Stetson 4 1|| 10SouthFlonda4|||8Scuth Florida 13 |||2Stetson 9 1|| 2 Boston Colleges ||| 1 McNeeseState7|||3McNeeseState1 1||6 McNeese4 1|| 2 IllinoisChicago 8 1|| 8 KansasS ||| BKansasB ||| 11 Saint Joseph ' s 1 1|| 4 Iowa3 1|| 7 Bowling Green4 1|| 2 Oakland 3 1|| 30aklandO|||1 Penn State 2 1|| 1 Penn State4 |||3PennState9|||16BowlingGreen4|||4 Eastern MichiganO||| 6 Indiana 2 1| 11 Indiana 7 || Blndiana3 1|| 3 Indiana2 1|| 5 Eastern Michigan 3 1|| 9 Western Michigan 12 1|| 5 Minnesota 3 || BMinnesota 7 1|| 3 Minnesota4||| 8 Minnesota 26 |||12SienaHeights2||| 13 Siena Heights 1 1|| 1 1 1llinois 1 1|| 7 Illinois 5 1|| 2 Illinois 3 1|| 1 1llinois 5 1|| 1 Notre Dame 9 1|| 1 0Detroit 7 1|| 7 Michigan State9|||2Michigan State 10|||21 Michigan State2|||5MichiganState8|||3Central Michigan 15||| 10 Central Michigan 7 ]| 7 Ohio State 5 |||00hio State 2 1|| 7 Ohio State 10||| 2 Ohio State 9 |||40hio StateS ||| 10Purdue2 1|| 10Penn State 2 1|| 2 MinnesotaS Sports | 159

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Eyes on the ball, two team mem- bers wait anxiously as junior forward Molly Powers sends a penalty corner towards the cen- ter of the box. Powers recorded her first assist of the season dur- ing the Wolverine ' s upset vic- tory over North Carolina in the third round of the NCAA tour- nament, photo by Jon Hammer field hackev theleaders, andthe DCSt As time slowly ticked away on the Scoreboard of the Dix Stadium field in Kent, OH, the women ' s field hockey team prepared to do what no other women ' s team had done in the history of the University - bring a national championship back to Ann Arbor. The Wolverines capped an improbable title run by triumphing over the top-ranked University of Maryland Terrapins 2-0 in the title game. Each victory in the NCAA tournament came against a team ranked at least as high as the Maize and Blue; and the Wolverines defeated North Carolina, Princeton, and Maryland, all for the first time ever during its championship run. After a disappointing 3-0 loss to Ohio State in the semifinals of the Big Ten Championship, the Wolverines entered the NCAA tournament without momentum, and with the daunting task effacing the fourth-ranked North Carolina Tar Heels. However, the Wolverines torched the Tar Heels for five second half goals en route to a 5-2 victory. After the victory, sophomore forward April Fronzoni spoke confidently, We all just came out in the second half and were on fire. We had a lot of fun and we want to carry it through until the end of the season. Fronzoni ' s words proved prophetic, as the Wolverines tore through their next two tournament games before meeting Maryland in a rematch of the 1999 championship game. In the two previous meetings with the Terrapins, the Wolverines had lost in close, hard-fought games. However, the Wolverines, led by senior goalkeeper Maureen Tasch, would not be denied this time. The Terrapins unloaded twenty shots on Tasch, none of which found the back of the net. The shutout was Tasch, ' s school record, eighth of the season. Tasch commented on her shutout, At his level, so late in the season, I thought it wasn ' t going to happen anymore and I was done with those. They put an awful lot of pressure on and were very skilled. With Tasch ' s stellar goaltending, and goals by freshman Adrienne Hortillosa and sophomore Kristi Gannon, the Wolverines held on for a 2-0 victory. Four Wolverines were named to the NCAA All-Tournament team, and seven earned recognition on either the All-Big Ten Conference first or second teams. Story by Jon Hommer 1 Ohio State 2 || 2 Ohio 1 ||| 1 Penn State 2 ||| 4 Central Michigan ||| 2 Northwestern ||| 6 Northwest- ern 1 ||| Ohio State 3 || 5 North Carolina 2 ||| 2 Michigan State 1 ||| 4 Princeton 2 |]| 2 Maryland Sports | 161