This past Saturday, October 18th, the Michigan Wolverines made the long drive out to Bloomington, Indiana to face the Indiana Hoosiers in a game that would determine who would sit atop the Big 10. With both teams coming in with undefeated records, each side knew it would be a well fought, tough game that would come down to the final minutes. Unfortunately, that battle ended up tipping in the Hoosier’s favor as they took the match 19-17.
It was a cold, wet day so it wasn’t all too surprising that the game started off with a few mistakes on each side. Each team traded a couple of scrums back and forth, quickly tearing up the already wet ground even further. However the first score would come fairly quickly into the game when Michigan was awarded a penalty within kicking distance of Wisconsin’s posts. Joel Conzelmann continued his recent kicking excellence by putting the ball through the uprights and giving Michigan the lead at 3-0 at the 8 minute mark. Michigan kept up the pressure however and after some back and forth play, the Wolverines were able to get a continued possession going, slowly driving down the field with hard runs. The disciplined drive would eventually pay off as Jared Bosma received an offload at pace, zipping through the Hoosier defensive line from about 10 meters out and centering the ball near the posts. Conzelmann was able to convert the try to give Michigan a solid lead of 10-0, 18 minutes into the game. Indiana is a team full of competitors however and they were in no way discouraged. After a series of Michigan penalties, Indiana was able to put the Wolverine defense on their backfoot which culminated in a try of their own near the posts with a successful conversion, bringing the score to 10-7. The try was followed up by some back and forth play, but Michigan eventually got a solid possession going and started to drive down the field. Several phases later saw Conzelmann slip through the Indiana defense with a slick dummy to score up the center. He converted his own try to give Michigan a solid lead of 17-7 at the 32 minute mark. This was followed up by a quick score by Indiana however, recovering the ball off the kickoff and keeping Michigan on the backfoot until they took the ball over the try line with a punishing run by the Hoosier pack. The try was converted to make the score 17-14 at 35 minutes. The score would remain unchanged for the remainder of the half.
The second half was a highlight of defensive plays and offensive mistakes. Each side had scoring opportunities through-out the half, but due to either great defensive play or mishandling of the ball, both teams struggled to put the ball over the try line. After about 15 minutes of play, it appeared that Michigan’s mentality had shifted from attacking and wanting to score to more of a defensive mentality, just trying to make sure Indiana didn’t score. Michigan’s defensive play would keep the lead for another 20 minutes, but in the 75th minute, during a drive by Indiana, they managed to swing the ball out to the wing and run around the edge of the Michigan defense to make their way into the try zone. The score was unconverted, but it was still enough to give Indiana the lead at 19-17. Michigan tried valiantly to get themselves down the field, but they only managed to get just within the 22 of Indiana before they lost the ball shortly after time ran out. Indiana kicked the ball out of play to end the game and take the victory. It was a tough loss for the Wolverines, and one that many of the players feel they let slip through their fingers. However, losses like these are the fuel great teams use to propel themselves to greater heights. UMRFC is eager to prove that this loss doesn’t define them and that they will continue to improve with each game to be that much better as they chase a Big 10 championship.
- Nick Fehrman (Azzopardi 55’)
- Jackson Wagner (Sawyer 40’)
- Jordan Ulmer
- Zach Burns (So.)
- Drew Vecchio
- Jesse Fenno (Reid 67’)
- Chening Duker
- Cole Van Harn
- John Palladino
- Joel Conzelmann
- Cooper Smart (Kasten 53’)
- Jared Bosma
- Zack Burns (Jr.)
- Tohy Rakotovololona (Caputo 60’)
- Andre Cargill
- Nick Azzopardi
- Travis Sawyer
- Jeremy Reid
- Jason Anthony
- Cody Griffin
- Albert Foo
- Matt Kasten
- David Caputo
The Academy match unfortunately wasn’t as close as the first match, but it saw continued improvement in the young players who make up the future of our program. Indiana dominated the first half, scoring 5 tries over the course of the half while shutting out the Wolverines. Only one of the tries was converted however, making the score 27-0 going into the half. With such a bleak scenario, most teams would just turn off mentality, but the young Academy side showed a great deal of tenacity as they visibly improved with each passing minute in the second half. Indiana would score 3 more tries within the first 20 minutes of the half, but each was hard fought by the Michigan defense. Only one was converted, putting Indiana up 44-0. Michigan would finally get on the board however with a try by Justin Malin, sprinting through the Hoosier defense. The long conversion to follow was made by Meng Shi. Michigan continued to show improved and spirited play as they held firm on defense and made more and more ground on offense. Their efforts paid off at the 75th minute mark when Kyle Gruebnau bowled his way through the Indiana defense to rumble over the try line for the Academy side’s second score. Meng could not convert this time however and the game clock would run down with a final score of 44-12 in Indiana’s favor. While the score was lopsided, it was great to see young Michigan players get valuable experience and learn what it truly means to be out on the pitch and stay in the game, no matter what happens. Overall, while it wasn’t the most glorious day for UMRFC, the results certainly will be fuel for the Wolverines as they look to take on the Purdue Boilermakers in Ann Arbor this upcoming Saturday, October 25 as they look to re-assert their dominance over the Big 10. Come out and watch at Mitchell Field if you’re near Ann Arbor at 3:00 P.M.
- Sam Cipriani
- Kyle Gruebnau
- Alex Carson
- Ian Charpie
- Mike Shay
- Jason Anthony
- Cody Griffin
- Brian Chu
- Guy Burke
- Kevin Linder
- Justin Malin
- Ron Marine
- David Caputo
- Juan Aguirre
- Vinodhan Ravichandran
- Nick Azzopardi
- Nate Fisher
- Jeremy Reid
- Jeremy Parks
- Andrew Nelson
- Austin Girelli
- Alex Hummel
- Tomer Chen
