Michigan Suffers Shutout Loss to 11th-Ranked Hoosiers

Sunday, October 9

Ann Arbor, Mich.

2:30 PM

Michigan

6-4-1

Indiana

7-1-3

Indiana

Michigan

Michigan Suffers Shutout Loss to 11th-Ranked Hoosiers

10/9/2005 12:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer

Box Score

ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The University of Michigan men's soccer endured a 2-0 loss to the 11th-ranked Indiana Hoosiers on Sunday (Oct. 9) on the U-M Soccer Field. This is the ninth straight loss that Michigan has suffered to Indiana, and the first conference loss of the year for the Wolverines (6-4-1, 1-1-0 Big Ten).

The first half of the game was one of defense and big saves. The Michigan fans witnessed the biggest save of the half at the 23:01 mark when senior Peter Dzubay (Sylvania, Ohio/Northview) was forced to make a diving outstretched save after IU's Lee Nguyen came just inches from beating him to his right with a 18-yard shot from the left side of the net. The most important save that Dzubay made in the game was 7:22 into the second half, to stop a one-on-one breakaway. Dzubay made a great decision on cutting off Mike Ambersley's angle on the left side of the net, forcing him to take a point-blank shot right into Dzubay's chest.

Going into intermission knotted at 0-0, the Wolverines were just one scoring opportunity from taking the lead. Entering the second half, the intensity from U-M was amplified, which created very valuable chances. One of the biggest scoring chances that U-M missed out on came 41 seconds into the second half, when freshman Santos Perez (Troy, Mich./Athens) dribbled around an IU defenseman and blasted a shot from the left wing, going wide right, past the goalie and just barely grazing the post. Perez got another good look at the net 3:39 later as he once again got through the Indiana defense and took a hard shot at the net only to be blocked by an IU defender.

The first goal of the afternoon was spun by a foul call against the Michigan defense, giving IU's Nguyen the opportunity to take a penalty kick against Dzubay. The penalty kick was the first of the season against the Wolverines. Nguyen started out by faking to his right, forcing Dzubay to dive to the left, leaving the net wide-open, and Nguyen gave IU a 1-0 lead 7:43 into the second half. Four minutes and 11 seconds later, the Wolverines nearly responded when senior Trai Blanks (Ann Arbor, Mich./Pioneer) beat two IU defenders on the left wing and rifled a shot from 25 yards out, forcing Indiana goalkeeper Chris Munroe to make a lunging save as he parried the ball wide.

Josh Tudela sealed the game for the Hoosiers with 11:04 left in the game, when Jordan Chirico passed him the ball, opening the opportunity for Tudela to beat Dzubay to his left 18 yards out from the left wing.

The Wolverines will travel to Kalamazoo, Mich., to take on the Western Michigan Broncos on Wednesday (Oct. 12) at 4 p.m.

GAME SUMMARY

Team	1	2	F
Indiana	0	2	2
Michigan	0	0	0

Scoring, Time (Assist)
2nd -- IU, Lee Nguyen, 52:43 (penalty kick)
2nd -- IU, Josh Tudela, 79:56 (Jordan Chirico)

Shots: U-M 6, IU 17
Saves: U-M 6, IU 2
Corner Kicks: U-M 4, IU 9
Fouls: U-M 19, IU 18
Cards: U-M, Ryan Sterba, 18:26 (yellow); U-M, Bobby Trybula, 25:14 (yellow); IU, Brian Plotkin, 27:29 (yellow)

Q U O T E S

Michigan Head Coach Steve Burns
On the importance of playing freshmen in a big game ... "When I finally looked at our starting lineup and looked at the ages of our players and saw we were starting six freshmen, and all of them are worthy. We're going to put the best team on the field to help us win the game, and that was a secondary thought, in terms of 'this is great experience for them,' to ultimately help get past this team (Indiana)."

On what should be learned from this game ... "At this point, it's all about converting chances. We got great goalkeeping, I think our defending is doing everything that we're asking from them, and our midfield play has been very solid. Now it's about, can our guys that see a lot of the goal-scoring chances put the ball in the back of the net."

U-M Freshman Santos Perez
On the emotions after playing in such a big game as a freshman ... "It's overwhelming, it's amazing, I've always dreamed of this. My brother came here and played for this school (Michigan) and he always talked about playing against Indiana, and we never beat them so far, and it's kind of a chip on our shoulder. I thought we were going to get it this time, but we'll get them next time."

On what he would like to take from this game and carry into the rest of the season ... "Persistence. We have trouble scoring, but we have to be persistent, and if we do that we're going to get there."

Contact: Joseph Conrad (734) 763-4423