Fuzetti Nets Equalizer in 1-1 Draw With Michigan State

Sunday, October 8

Ann Arbor, Mich.

2:00 PM

Michigan

5-6-3

Michigan State

6-4-2

OT 1

OT 2

Michigan State

Michigan

Fuzetti Nets Equalizer in 1-1 Draw With Michigan State

10/8/2006 12:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer

Box Score

By: Joseph Conrad

Site: Ann Arbor, Mich. (U-M Soccer Field)
Score: Michigan 1, Michigan State 1 (2OT)
Records: U-M (5-6-3, 0-1-2 Big Ten), MSU (6-4-2, 0-2-2 Big Ten)
Next U-M Event: Friday, Oct. 13 -- at Wisconsin-Milwaukee (Milwaukee, Wis.), 7 p.m. CDT

ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The University of Michigan men's soccer team played its fourth double-overtime match of the year and finished in a 1-1 deadlock with Michigan State on Sunday (Oct. 8) at the U-M Soccer Field. The Wolverines played in front of a record-breaking U-M Soccer Field crowd of 3,009 fans.

Down a man and trailing by a goal, the Wolverines entered the second half with more offensive and defensive intensity and took 12 shots and allowed only three shots in the entire period. One of Michigan's 12 shots proved to be the equalizer, as freshman Mauro Fuzetti (Houston, Texas/Stratford HS) netted the goal at the 74:55 mark off a Michigan restart. The Maize and Blue was awarded a restart after freshman Peri Marosevic (Rockford, Ill./Edison Academy) drew an MSU foul. Fuzetti took the restart from the top of the 18-yard box and bent the ball around the Spartans' defensive wall, beating goalkeeper Jason Tillman low and to the right.

The Spartans were able to get on the board early in the match, in the 16th minute, after sophomore defender Michael Holody (Clarkston, Mich./Clarkston HS) denied an obvious scoring opportunity with his hands, drawing a red card and giving MSU a penalty kick. The play began when sophomore/freshman Patrick Sperry (Hinsdale, Ill./Hinsdale Central HS) made a play on a 50/50 ball and collided with a Wolverine defender, forcing Holody to recover to block a MSU shot with his hands to keep the ball from the net. Michigan State's Matt Kreikemeier took the penalty kick and was successful, beating Sperry to his right.

Being down a man, Sperry and the Maize and Blue responded to the Spartans' goal by playing strong defensively. The next shot on goal for MSU came in the 22nd minute and forced Sperry to dive to his right to knock the ball wide of the net for one of his three saves. Sperry made all three of his saves in the first period, as the Wolverines did not allow a shot on goal in the final three periods of play.

Michigan's best scoring opportunity of the first half came in the 42nd minute, when sophomore Chase Tennant (Rochester Hills, Mich./Rochester HS) fired a laser from 22 yards out and hit the crossbar just inches from netting the equalizer. The play was set up after senior tri-captain Brian Popeney (Canton, Mich./Plymouth Salem HS) took a Michigan corner kick, passing the ball off to Tennant on the right flank.

At the 44:31 mark U-M continued to search for the game-tying goal as Fuzetti hit the crossbar with a shot inside the 18 yard box. Senior tri-captain Kevin Hall (Kalamazoo, Mich./Central HS) set the play up as he slipped the ball off to Fuzetti after making a run through the MSU defense. Fuzetti and Hall finished the game with two and three shots, respectively.

In the final overtime, Marosevic attempted to nail the game-winner for the Wolverines with just 1:17 left. Sophomore Jake Stacy (Grand Rapids, Mich./Forest Hills Central HS) passed the ball to Marosevic, giving the freshman forward the opportunity to fire the shot from 15 yards out, but it went wide. Marosevic finished the match with a team-high seven shots, with four Wolverines tying for second with three shots.

Michigan begins a stretch of three straight road games with a non-conference contest at Wisconsin-Milwaukee on Friday (Oct. 13, 7 p.m. CDT).

GAME SUMMARY

By Periods	1	2	OT	OT	F
Michigan State	1	0	0	0	1
Michigan	0	1	0	0	1

Scoring, Time (Assist)
1st -- MSU, Matt Kreikemeier, 15:47 (penalty kick)
2nd -- U-M, Mauro Fuzetti, 74:55 (unassisted)

Shots: U-M 27, MSU 13
Saves: U-M 4 (Patrick Sperry 3, Team 1), MSU 4 (Jason Tillman)
Corner Kicks: U-M 8, MSU 4
Fouls: U-M 18, MSU 12
Cards: U-M, Michael Holody, 15:47 (red); U-M, Santos Perez, 46:19 (yellow); U-M, Team, 96:20 (yellow)

NOTES

• Senior Bobby Trybula made his first start of the season and took three shots.

• Sophomore/freshman Patrick Sperry three saves today put him over 50 for the season.

• The Wolverines 3-3-2 on the U-M Soccer Field this season.

• The Wolverines and Spartans played to their first draw in the series. Michigan is 2-6-1 all-time against Michigan State.

• Today's attendance of 3,009 is a U-M Soccer Field record for both men's and women's games.

• Freshman Mauro Fuzetti netted his second goal of the year.

• Freshman Peri Marosevic's team-best seven shots are the most he has taken in one game and match the most by a Wolverine this season. Mauro Fuzetti had seven shots against Detroit (Sept. 27).

• With today's tie Michigan State retains the Big Bear Trophy, which is awarded to the intrastate rivalry's regular-season winner. Michigan is 1-5-1 against MSU since the Brown Bear Trophy was instituted in 2000, and the Spartans have had the trophy for five straight years.

QUOTES

Michigan Head Coach Steve Burns
On the game ... "The players played with the heart that we needed to finish the season with. They spilled their guts on the field; they did everything they could to try and win the game. Now it's time to get back to working on restarts, working on finding our finishing form to finish the season as strong as we're playing right now."

On Mauro Fuzetti's goal ... "We were playing for a win here. With a red card and being a man down we played a 3-4-2 and took chances in the second half, really pushing for the win. Obviously Mauro's goal couldn't have come at a better time. We were on them, the chances were there, it was just a matter of getting out of here with a big win."

On the defense playing with a man down ... "A young defense with Julian Robles, Chase Tennant, Mike O'Reilly and Kevin Savitskie came in and did a good job finishing the game off for us. We're getting everything out of our team that we need defensively. The game of soccer is about catching breaks where you need the breaks and finishing goals. We're close to getting both of those."

On what the team takes from this match as it hits the road ... "The heart and soul of our team is well intact. We take that out on a tough road trip where we'll play a very good Wisconsin-Milwaukee team in a hostile environment under the lights. Then we go against a very good Northwestern team, a strong attacking team, so we'll get tested this weekend."