Michigan
5-9-4
Ohio State
7-6-3
U-M Earns Point in Scoreless Draw Against Ohio State
10/22/2006 12:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer
Site: Ann Arbor, Mich. (U-M Soccer Field)
Score: Michigan 0, Ohio State 0 (2OT)
Records: U-M (5-9-4, 0-2-3 Big Ten), OSU (8-6-3, 2-2-1 Big Ten)
Next U-M Event: Saturday, Oct. 28 -- vs. Penn State (U-M Soccer Field), 7 p.m.
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The University of Michigan men's soccer team played to a 0-0 tie with Ohio State on Sunday (Oct. 22) on the U-M Soccer Field.
Michigan faced adversity 29 minutes into the match, when freshman Julian Robles (Hacienda Heights, Calif./Damien HS) was given a red card, causing the Maize and Blue to play a man short. Robles was ejected from the match after tackling an OSU attacker 30 yards away from the net to prevent a one-on-one breakaway opportunity. The head official explained he gave the red card because the OSU player was in an obvious goal-scoring situation. With just 10 players on the field for the second straight home game, the Wolverines' defense responded by blocking the Buckeyes' restart kick, keeping the game tied at 0-0.
Senior tri-captain Kevin Hall (Kalamazoo, Mich./Central HS) took Michigan's first dangerous scoring opportunity in the 10th minute. Junior Tolu Olowolafe (Bear, Del./Glasglow HS) slipped the ball to Hall, who missed the net by inches after taking a wide shot from 19 yards out off the right flank.
The Wolverines continued to attack when senior Bobby Trybula (Loveland, Ohio/Bishop Mueller HS) had a goal waved off after being called for offside. The play began when a long ball was played to Trybula, who was making a run in the middle of the field. He then beat the keeper high and to the left only to be left scoreless after the offside call.
Michigan took three more first-half shots than Ohio State (6-3).
In the second half, the Maize and Blue was forced to play more defense, being outshot 11-3, and Patrick Sperry (Hinsdale, Ill./Hinsdale Central HS) made two of his five saves in the half. Sperry's biggest save of the match came in the 74th minute, stopping a one-on-one breakaway scoring chance. The sophomore goalkeeper was one on one with an OSU attacker and made the save by coming out of the net and knocking the shot down. Sperry finished the match with five saves, earning his third shutout of the season and Michigan's fourth.
In the 72nd minute, freshman Peri Marosevic (Rockford, Ill./Edison Academy) tried to net the game-winning goal with a shot from 20 yards out, but Ohio State keeper Casey Latchem made the save. Sophomore Steve Bonnell (St. Clair Shores, Mich./Detroit Country Day School) got the play started as he made a run past three OSU defenders before playing the ball to Marosevic.
In the first overtime, sophomore Michael Holody (Clarkston, Mich./Clarkston HS) took a header off a Michigan corner kick, but Latchem made his first of two saves in the extra period. Holody's header was taken from the right flank, just a few feet away from the right post, with Latchem jumping up to make the save.
The Wolverines close out the regular season with a Big Ten matchup against Penn State on Saturday (Oct. 28) at 7 p.m. on the U-M Soccer Field.
GAME SUMMARY
| By Periods | 1 | 2 | OT | OT | F |
| Ohio State | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Michigan | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Shots: U-M 12, OSU 19
Saves: U-M 5 (Patrick Sperry), OSU 7 (Casey Latchem)
Corner Kicks: U-M 7, OSU 3
Fouls: U-M 17, OSU 19
Cards: U-M, Julian Robles, 28:25 (red); U-M, Alex Morisset, 39:58 (yellow); OSU, Jim Fisher, 40:48 (yellow); U-M, Daniel Gray, 89:50 (yellow); U-M, Kevin Hall, 89:50 (yellow); OSU, Taylor Korpieski, 108:14 (yellow)
NOTES
• Michigan and Ohio State played to the first tie in series history, giving U-M an all-time record of 4-3-1 against OSU.
• Sophomore/freshman Patrick Sperry's five saves against Ohio State gave him sole possession of the U-M single-season record for saves (64) made by a first-year goalkeeper. Sperry's 64 saves also move him into third place on the U-M single-season saves list as he passed Joe Zawacki's (2000-04) total of 59 saves and Peter Dzubay's (2001-05) 62 saves from 2004. Sperry is just eight saves from tying Dzubay's 2005 second-place total (72).
• Junior Tolu Olowolafe made his first start of the season, playing in his 11th game of the year.
• With today's 0-0 tie, the Wolverines are 0-2-3 in the Big Ten.
• U-M was shut out for the ninth time this season, which is the most shutouts against a Michigan team in program history. The Wolverines are 0-7-2 in those contests.
• The Wolverines played in their fifth double-overtime match of the season and moved to 0-1-4 in double-overtime games.
QUOTES
Michigan Head Coach Steve Burns
On the team's response to being down a man ... "They responded incredibly well. This is a team that has seen a lot of challenges in front of them all season long. They played against a good attacking team in Ohio State. Our guys were motivated, played with emotion, and they had the attitude and tried to overcome those challenges. We just couldn't find the one goal that was going to sink the game."
On the team's defense ... "We've got some good strong players that form our back line. We've got a lot of experience in our two outside players in (Michael) O'Reilly and (Kevin) Savitskie. Today (Michael) Holody and Chase (Tennant) played well and covered each other's backs, in addition to (Patrick) Sperry in net. You have to look at him being connected to it all. Sperry made some good decisions on exits. Overall it was a solid defensive performance, not only in our back third, but in the middle third of the field. I thought our forwards -- or forward when we're in a 4-4-1 -- worked very hard defensively as well."
On the importance of being able to earn at least one point from today's game ... "It's about momentum at this point in the season. One point gives you a little bit of momentum; certainly a win gives you more. Going in against Penn State, they just had a win against Indiana, they're a good team. We got them at home. Hopefully it's a challenge that we respond to."
On the importance of closing out the regular season at home ... "It's the closure to our regular season, it's great we can do it in front of our home fans. It's going to be Senior Day for our guys, and it's going to be very emotional for them. More than anything we'll look at the day as a the last time the seniors will play on our field. The team will respond; I know the seniors will respond and put forth a total effort."
U-M Sophomore/Freshman Goalkeeper Patrick Sperry
On earning his third shutout and team's fourth shutout of the season ... "The team looked good. It's a really tough situation to get down a man that early in the game, especially in these conditions. It took a lot of guts, and we showed that we have the guts. We proved that we can play with any team in the Big Ten."
On the team's morale going into halftime ... "We were not down, we weren't nervous. We've been here before (down a man) with Michigan State and we just knew we had a challenge ahead of in the second half. We had to weather the storm because we were playing to win. We went out there with the mentality to put it all on the line to get the job done."
