R
38
ose Lavelle wasn't sure what to make of
the heads-up information that she got from Wisconsin women's soccer coach Paula Wilkins before the Michigan game.
"Paula told me that she would bet that I was going
to get man-marked," said Lavelle, a freshman from Cincinnati, Ohio. "I was a little shocked by that. I was like,
'Why?"'
It's more old school than new to be man-marked;
a defensive strategy whereby a player is assigned to
mark or shadow an opponent. It's truly the most sincere form of flattery.
"It's annoying," Lavelle said. "But I could take it as a
compliment."
Truth is, she's familiar with the tactic.
"I usually got man-marked every game in high
school," said Lavelle, the all-time leading goal scorer
(57) at Mt. Notre Dame High School in Reading, Ohio.
"I got man-marked a ton."
It didn't seem to slow her down since Lavelle was
the recipient of the 2013 Greater Cincinnati/Northern
Kentucky Sports Women of the Year award. She scored
15 goals as a senior.
Michigan coach Greg Ryan obviously felt that Lavelle
posed enough of a threat that it justified man-marking
her with Meghan Toohey, a senior captain and secondteam All-Big Ten selection last year.
"It's flattering," Lavelle allowed. "But it's still annoying."
To earn an opposing coach's respect as a first-year
player is still noteworthy. Ryan is not only a former
UW coach (1986-1993) but he spent three seasons
coaching the U.S. Women's National Team.
"I think it would be frustrating for Rose, especially
as a freshman, to think, 'This is my second Big Ten
game and I'm being man-marked?"' said Wilkins, who
has employed the strategy herself at times.
"We've also taken the approach that it's going to be
a team effort with the person. I think it's really hard
to take one player and man-mark because it opens up
other areas of the field."
The Badgers and the No. 13-ranked Wolverines
fought to a scoreless draw in double overtime Sept.
27 in Ann Arbor. In the 88th minute, Lavelle got off a
"rocket of a shot" but it was wide of the net.
On the special attention that Lavelle drew, Wilkins
said, "It can be a challenge for Rose, but she's special
on the ball and she can create things with her movement and technical ability.
//
VARSITY October 3, 2013
Lavelle is the all-time leading
goal scorer (57) at Mt. Notre Dame
High School in Reading, Ohio.
