Michigan Drops Big Ten Semifinal Match at Ohio State

Friday, November 3

Columbus, Ohio

7:30 PM

Michigan

7-10-4

Ohio State

11-6-3

Michigan

Ohio State

11/3/2006 12:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer

Box Score PDF Boxscore

By: Joseph Conrad

Site: Columbus, Ohio (Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium)
Event: Big Ten Championship (Semifinals)
Score: Ohio State 1, Michigan 0
Records: U-M (7-10-4), OSU (11-6-3)
Next U-M Event: Season Completed

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- The University of Michigan men's soccer team dropped a 1-0 decision to Ohio State in the semifinals of the Big Ten Championship on Friday (Nov. 3) in Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium.

The Michigan defense relinquished the lone goal of the game 39 seconds into the second stanza. Left unguarded inside the 18-yard box, Ohio State's Geoff Marsh netted the marker, beating sophomore/freshman goalkeeper Patrick Sperry (Hinsdale, Ill./Hinsdale Central HS) to his right. Sperry was left on a three-on-one and dove to make a play on the ball but was unable to make the save in the top left corner.

The Wolverines responded to the Buckeye goal with freshman Peri Marosevic (Rockford, Ill./Edison Academy) taking two shots on goal in the 53rd and 62nd minutes with Casey Latchem making both saves. Marosevic's first shot on goal in the second half was taken on the left side of the net after he received a long ball from the midfield.

The Michigan defense started the match off with strong aggressive play, earning four fouls in the opening six minutes. Sperry was tested early after a Michigan foul when an Ohio State attacker took a shot on goal off a free kick from 22 yards out. Sperry's second save came in the 17th minute with an OSU attacker taking a diving header after the ball was sent in the middle of the 18-yard box. Sperry, who finished the match with five saves, dove to his left and deflected the ball wide for a corner kick. The Wolverine defense prevented a goal on the corner opportunity by clearing the ball downfield.

The offensive attack began when sophomore Santos Perez (Troy, Mich./Athens HS) took three straight shots in the 26th minute, all of which were blocked. Perez's first shot looked to be a sure goal when the Ohio State goalkeeper came out, leaving the net empty. Perez pounded the shot from the left flank 17 yards out, but a Buckeye defender blocked the ball from the net. Santos then recovered the shot and took two more blocked shots before the OSU defense cleared the ball.

The best scoring opportunity of the half came in the 34th minute when Marosevic got open for a breakaway on the right flank and fired the ball from 12 yards out, but OSU's keeper Casey Latchem knocked the ball out of bounds for a corner kick. U-M took three straight corner kicks off Marosevic's scoring attempt after the OSU defense kicked the ball out of bounds each time. The final corner kick was cleared of danger.

The Wolverines entered halftime tied at zero with five corner kicks to the Buckeyes' one.

With 14 minutes left in the match, senior tri-captain Kevin Savitskie (Plymouth, Mich./Salem HS) searched for the equalizer, taking a wide shot from 25 yards out. The ball looked to be on target but bent to the right and went out of bounds.

Michigan closes the 2006 campaign with a 7-10-4 record, including a 1-2-3 mark and fifth-place tie in the Big Ten regular season.

GAME SUMMARY

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

Scoring, Time (Assist)
2nd -- OSU, Geoff Marsh, 45:39 (Xavier Balc, Ryan Kustos)

Shots: U-M 18, UW 15
Saves: U-M 5 (Patrick Sperry), OSU 4 (Casey Latchem)
Corner Kicks: U-M 8, OSU 3
Fouls: U-M 19, OSU 18
Cards: U-M, Mauro Fuzetti, 14:12 (yellow); OSU, Brent Rohrer, 44:35 (yellow); OSU, Danny Irizarry, 70:19 (yellow); U-M, Peri Marosevic, 70:38 (yellow); U-M Santos Perez, 89:46 (yellow)

NOTES

• Senior tri-captain Kevin Hall played in his 82nd career game, passing Ryan Sterba (2002-05) for second place on U-M's all-time career games played list.

• Senior tri-captain Kevin Savitskie appeared in his 75th career game passing Mike White (2000-03) for third on U-M's all-time career games played list.

• Sophomore/freshman Patrick Sperry grabbed five saves, boosting his season total to 77, placing him second on U-M's all-time single-season list, passing Peter Dzubay (2002-05).

• Freshman Peri Marosevic took four shots, all on goal, increasing his season total to 66. Marosevic's 66 shots are the most taken by any Wolverine in program-history, passing Knox Cameron's 2003 first-place total (63).

• Michigan outshot Ohio State 18-15, and boosted its single-season shots record total to 333.

• With today's 1-0 loss to Ohio State, Michigan is 4-4-1 in the all-time series. The Wolverines are now 1-1 against Ohio State in Big Ten Championship games. U-M earned a 1-0 overtime victory over the Buckeyes in the first round of the 2004 conference tournament.

• The Maize and Blue is 4-7 in Big Ten Championship contests after today's loss.

• Michigan concludes the 2006 season with the second lowest win total in program-history (7-10-4). However, the Wolverines' semifinal appearance at the Big Ten Championship is the best finish in program-history at the tournament.

QUOTES

Michigan Head Coach Steve Burns
On the game ... "We want to congratulate Ohio State and wish them luck in the championship. They caught us off guard a bit, coming out with a different shape than we anticipated. In the game of soccer everything gets complicated by the presence of the opponent, and it took a while for us to get into a rhythm. Once again, I think the game was fairly back and forth and entertaining."

On the season ... "It was a season where a lot of our players matured and came of age. We take this season and wish the graduating seniors the best of luck. Now we figure out how to go from being a good team to being a great team. There's no magic formula, it comes from focusing on a goal and hard work."

On the lesson the team learned from the Big Ten Championship ... "How important every play is. How important every chance is to create to convert. It isn't just every goal, it isn't just every win. It's a part of the cycle where the older guys understand how important everything is, and the younger guys get lessons served on them and they'll understand in time."