Record Crowd Sees U-M Slip Past Texas in Night Game

Friday, September 2

Ann Arbor, Mich.

7:00 PM

Michigan

1-0-1

Texas

2-1-0

Texas

Michigan

9/2/2005 12:00:00 AM | Women's Soccer

Box Score PDF Boxscore

By: Matt Baumer

Site: Ann Arbor, Mich. (U-M Soccer Field)
Score: Michigan 3, Texas 2
Records: U-M (1-0-1), Texas (2-1)
Next U-M Event: Sunday, Sept. 4 -- vs. Texas A&M (U-M Soccer Field), noon

ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The University of Michigan women's soccer team defeated Texas 3-2 in front of 1,817 boisterous fans in attendance Friday (Sept. 2) for the program's first night game ever played at U-M Soccer Field. Michigan took advantage of freshman Danelle Underwood's (Grand Rapids, Mich./Forest Hills Northern HS) first career goal at 77:39 and sophomore Melissa Dobbyn's (Livonia, Mich./Stevenson HS) three-point effort on its way to the win.

The Wolverines struck first with an early goal just 1:13 into the game. Sophomore Judy Coffman (San Jose, Calif./Santa Theresa HS) received a cross from junior Katelin Spencer (Brighton, Mich./Brighton HS) and flicked the ball to Dobbyn, who fired a ball past Texas goalkeeper Dana Hall just inside the right post to put Michigan up 1-0.

The Longhorns answered just over 11 minutes later at 12:39. Kelsey Carpenter received the ball through a maze of players and tipped it into the left side of the net past Wolverine goalkeeper Megan Tuura (Tucker, Ga./St. Pius X Catholic HS). Michigan nearly untied the game at 25.22 as Coffman tackled a Longhorn defender and sent senior Therese Heaton (Wheaton, Ill./Warrenville South HS) in on a breakaway. Heaton, however, chipped the ball just wide of the goal.

The Wolverines added another early goal just 2:15 into the second half at 47:15. Heaton redirected a pass from Dobbyn just outside the six-yard box and snuck it past the Longhorn goalkeeper Dianna Pfenninger into the left side of the net. Dobbyn created another chance at 60:40 with a nifty deke but put the ball just over the crossbar.

The Wolverine defense came up huge at 65:10. Longhorn midfielder Jill Gilbeau snuck past Tuura at the top of the goal box, but freshman Skylar Andrews (Dallas, Texas/Plano West Senior HS) denied the Longhorn's shot attempt at the vacated net. Texas had yet another try at the gaping net just seconds later but junior Brenna Mulholland (Ann Arbor, Mich./Pioneer HS) once again denied a Longhorn attempt at the wide open net.

The Longhorns tied the game at 70:05 as midfielder Priscilla Fite collected a cross and volleyed a shot just inside the right post past Tuura to move the score to 2-2. The Wolverines did not disappoint the energetic Michigan crowd, however. Jamie Artsis (Chatsworth, Calif./Harvard Westlake School) scooted a pass across the center of the field to Underwood at the top of the goal box and Underwood ripped a shot into the right side of the net to put Michigan up 3-2 at 77:39. Michigan stifled any chance of another Longhorn goal with strong defense yet again on a corner kick chance with less than a minute to play.

The Wolverines stay at home to face sixth-ranked Texas A&M this Sunday (Sept. 4) at U-M Soccer Field at noon.

GAME SUMMARY

Team	1	2	F
Texas	1	1	2
Michigan	1	2	3

Scoring, Time (Assist)
1st -- U-M, Melissa Dobbyn, 1:13 (Katelin Spencer, Judy Coffman)
1st -- UT, Kelsey Carpenter, 12:39 (unassisted)
2nd -- U-M, Therese Heaton, 47:15 (Dobbyn)
2nd -- UT, Priscilla Fite, 70:05 (Stephanie Logterman, Julie Gailey)
2nd -- U-M, Danelle Underwood, 77:39 (Jamie Artsis)

Shots: U-M 19, UT 15
Saves: U-M 7 (Megan Tuura), UT 6 (Dana Hall 4, Diana Pfenninger 2)
Corner Kicks: U-M 2, UT 5
Fouls: U-M 9, UT 9
Cards: U-M, Judy Coffman, 60:34 (yellow)

NOTES

• Melissa Dobbyn recorded her second goal of the season and the 11th of her young career. She also tallied her fourth career assist on Therese Heaton's second-half goal. In 24 career games, Dobbyn has totaled 26 points.

• Melissa Dobbyn finished the game with a team-high nine shots, including three on goal. She has now surpassed 100 shots for her career (101).

• Therese Heaton scored her first goal of the season and the 21st of her career. In 73 career games, Heaton has tallied 54 points on 21 goals and 12 assists. She moves into sole possession of 10th place on Michigan's all-time scoring chart. This also marks the second straight season Heaton has recorded her first goal of the season against the Longhorns.

• Danelle Underwood collected her first career goal with her game-winner against Texas. Underwood has notched three points in her first two games at Michigan.

• Katelin Spencer notched her sixth career assist on Melissa Dobbyn's first-half goal.

• Judy Coffman tallied her fourth career assist with her helper on Melissa Dobbyn's score in the first half.

• Jamie Artsis recorded her second career assist on Danelle Underwood's game-winning goal in the second half.

• Megan Tuura won her 20th career decision with the victory against the Longhorns.

• Megan Tuura surpassed Jori Welchans (1994-96) for fourth-place in all-time saves with 178. Tuura's five saves in the game give her 17 in the first two games of the season.

• Michigan improves to 2-1-0 all-time against Texas.

• Tonight's attendance of 1,817 is a U-M Soccer Field record for a women's game.

• Tonight marked the first home night game in the 12-year history of the U-M women's soccer program. Melissa Dobbyn recorded the program's first-ever goal in a home night game just 1:13 into the contest.

QUOTES

Michigan Head Coach Debbie Rademacher
On earning the victory under the lights ... "The girls played really hard and with a lot of energy. The crowd was awesome. It was a great game, a great environment. The night atmosphere allows for more people to come because they're out of work. The night and the lights invite people to come out and we had a loud group and it just got contagious. You could hear them and it was great."

On scoring three goals all in the middle of the box ... "That's something you hope for when you train. That1s something we always practice -- trying to get balls down the wing, in the box and to the right people at the right time. That's just good anticipation. They were three really nice goals. They weren't cheap goals. The buildup and precision was nice. "

On the defense holding on ... "Against a good team, it's down to the whistle. There is always a chance the opponent gets a goal. And this young defense, which is still getting used to each other, did a good job."

U-M Junior Defender Brenna Mulholland
On playing under the lights ... "I think it brought more adrenaline and excitement to our team. Everybody was really pumped up. We've wanted lights for a very long time and now we finally have them. We practiced on Thursday night to get used to the lights. It was just a great atmosphere and environment tonight."

On the level of noise in the crowd ... "I couldn't even hear Megan (Tuura) talking to me in the first half, it was that loud. Our crowd was amazing tonight."

On Michigan's preparation for this game ... "Before we went into the game, our captains spoke to us about having to know your responsibilities to have the kind of success you are striving for. You have to know what you're supposed to do on the field and take care of business. Tonight there were things that our defense knew we had to do. Texas has some fast forwards that we knew we needed to shut down."