University of Michigan women’s soccer head coach Jennifer Klein leads into 2022 a program coming off one of the best seasons in its history. Last season, she guided the Wolverines to one of their best seasons in program history, highlighted by a Big Ten Tournament championship, an NCAA Elite Eight appearance and an 18-4-3 record.
Wolverine Bites
• The Wolverines enter the 2022 campaign ranked No. 9 in the United Soccer Coaches Poll. This follows the Wolverines finishing a historic 2021 season ranked No. 7.
• Klein enters her fifth season a the helm of the Wolverines with an impressive 49-22-8 mark, winning 65 percent of her matches.
• Michigan returns six starters and 14 letterwinners and welcomes nine newcomers to the fold.
• The Wolverines return 26 of the 46 goals scored a year ago and five players who scored at least three goals. In addition, graduate student Meredith Haakenson (five goals), senior Dani Wolfe (five), junior Sami Woods (five), senior Hannah Blake (four), junior Kacey Lawrence (three), and senior Lily Farkas (one) all marked tallies a year ago and figure to feature in the Starting XI. Overall, 70 of 143 points return.
• Ten players with at least 20 matches played from last season return. Farkas and Blake will be counted on to step up to support the offensive attack. Blake started 19 matches as a sophomore in 2019 and has played in 42 matches with 23 starts in her U-M career with six goals and nine assists (18 points).
Farkas has played in 50 matches in her career with nine starting nods. She has contributed three goals and four assists as well as 67 shots.
• Haakenson returns to anchor the offense as the unit’s most senior member with 59 career starts and 79 matches played. She boasts 16 goals and 11 assists (43 points) and six match-winning goals.
• With Hilary Beall, incumbent starter for the last four seasons, graduated and now crafting her trade professionally in the NWSL for Racing Lousiville, sixth-year graduate student Izzy Nino figures to take over in goal. Nino saw 143 minutes in goal a year ago, playing the full 90 and earning a clean sheet against Central Michigan (Aug. 29). Overall, she saw time in three matches as the backup goalkeeper. She served as the team’s backup goalkeeper in the spring of 2021 and her sophomore season (2018), when she started the first nine matches.
• In addition to an old but new face in goal, the Wolverines’ back line will undergo a few changes, with a pair of…
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