With the win, not only did the Eagles beat their second Power 5 Conference member of the season, but they got their 10th win overall against a Power 5 Conference team.
"We talked about the opportunity this was for our team before the game," Jim Blankenship said. "Our kids worked their tails off this week and were rewarded for it. We hope as long as they continue to go out and put up results, we will get the respect that they deserve."
For the Eagles, Blakenship sent junior Melissa Weck as starting goalkeeper while Michigan first year head coach Jennifer Klein sent sophomore Izzy Nino to counter.
Beginning the first half, things were off to a shaky start for the Eagles. Eight minutes in, the Wolverines would score after an Eagles own goal off of junior Opal Curless.
Six minutes later, the Eagles would tie the score off the foot of senior Holly Fritz to make it 1-1 with an assist from junior Marjorie "Ma" Boilesen. This was Fritz's third goal of the season.
After unsuccessful shots from senior Shay Jackson and sophomore Zoey Spitzer, the Eagles would then added to the lead off the foot of junior Evdokia "Evi" Popadinova. This was Popadinova's fourth goal of the season.
The Blue and Maze would respond back and tie the game at 2-2 off the foot of sophomore Sarah Stratigakis with an assists from redshirt junior Katie Foug and freshman Releigh Loughman.
After junior Emile Olsen came in for Popadinova, she would be fouled by Nino, setting up a penalty shot for the Eagles. Fritz would be the one to take the shot in successful fashion for her fourth goal of the season and her second of the game to give the Eagles a 3-2 lead before the end of the first half.
Going into the second half, the Wolverines began to get a little too aggressive. 18 minutes into the second half, after a couple of common fouls, the Wolverines were issued their first yellow card from sophomore Hailey Neumann.
Seven minutes later, the Wolverines' too aggressive play would continue as they were issued a second yellow card compliments to freshman Janiece Joyner for targeting Popadinova.
Of course in the beginning of the game, Joyner was already showing too much aggression when she kept targeting Boilesen and Popadinova, which of course ticked me off profoundly.
I mean as if I've seen Boilesen targeted one too many times from last year, but when a big name school comes to a mid-major school and acts too aggressive because the mid-major school is showing more heart, its causes a lot of tension.
By the 66th minute, the Wolverines looked like they scored a goal off the foot of sophomore Nicki Hernandez, but in a miraculous moment for the Eagles, it was overturned by the officials as they called it offside on Hernandez, thus saving the Eagles lead.
With two minutes left, the Wolverines would add one more yellow card thanks to Hernandez, but it would make no difference as the Eagles would pull away with the win.
"I think we did great," said Fritz. "We had played two very tough teams in the past week and that's a lot on our legs, and to come and play out in the heat at 1 PM and run for 90 minutes against a very good Michigan team, I'm extremely proud of this group."
Weck (3-0) would get the win with six saves.
"It's our first Sunday game, and obviously in Southwest Florida it's hot, and so we knew that for us that would be a challenge," said Weck.
Nino (3-3) would have the loss after giving up all three goals with three saves.
Up Next:
The Eagles prepare for a five-game road trip as they play Ohio State, Dayton, FIU, and Loyola Chicago for non-conference before playing Jacksonville to start conference.
Below are some photos with me and the A-SUN Legion of Doom (Boilesen and Popadinova) and a poster I made special for them, and apparently I was featured in a sports article in a Bulgarian newspaper. I never thought I was a big international sensation lol:
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| The Bulgarian newspaper article |
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