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Michigan women's soccer wins Big Ten tournament for first time since 1999

ryan ford, detroit free press
·2 min read

Sunday shaped up as a big day for Michigan women taking on Rutgers teams in Piscataway, New Jersey: The field hockey team faced the Scarlet Knights for the Big Ten tournament title at noon, followed by the soccer team playing Rutgers (the outright regular-season champ) for its tournament title at 2 p.m.

When the dust cleared, though, only one of them had locked up a berth in their respective NCAA tournaments: Michigan women’s soccer knocked off top-seeded Rutgers, 1-0, to win its first Big Ten tournament title since 1999.

Raleigh Loughman scored in the 27th minute on an assist from Sammi Woods, and goalie Hillary Beall stopped all three shots on net she faced to send the No. 3-seeded Wolverines to their first NCAA tournament since 2019.

Michigan goalie Hillary Beall (1) makes a save during the first half of an NCAA women's soccer game, Thursday, Sept. 30, 2021 at Folk Field in West Lafayette.
Michigan goalie Hillary Beall (1) makes a save during the first half of an NCAA women's soccer game, Thursday, Sept. 30, 2021 at Folk Field in West Lafayette.

In 2019, the Wolverines defeated Bowling Green and Texas Tech before falling to North Carolina in the Round of 16. Michigan will learn its 2021 NCAA tournament path on Monday at 4:30 p.m. when the 64-team field is announced. The College Cup, featuring the final four teams, is scheduled for Dec. 3-5 Santa Clara, California.

2020-21'S RUN: Michigan field hockey loses national title game in OT, 4-3, to North Carolina

Michigan’s field hockey team failed to lock up its NCAA berth early, however, falling 1-0 on a goal by Rutgers’ Tayla Parkes in the second quarter, 24:03 into the game.

Those Wolverines, who finished last season as national runners-up earlier this year in a COVID-delayed season, won’t have to wait as long to learn their NCAA tournament path. Ranked No. 2, U-M is a lock for an at-large berth, with the field’s announcement coming Sunday night at 10 p.m. Their ultimate goal? To play at home in two weeks; the 18-team tournament begins at campus sites this week and wraps up on Nov. 19-21 with the semifinals and finals at Phyllis Ocker Field on Michigan’s campus in Ann Arbor.

Contact Ryan Ford at rford@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @theford.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan women's soccer wins Big Ten tournament for first time since 1999