Marosevic Goal Lifts U-M Past Virginia Commonwealth

Sunday, September 10

Ann Arbor, Mich.

2:30 PM

Michigan

3-3-0

Virginia Commonwealth

2-3-0

Va. Commonwealth

Michigan

9/10/2006 12:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer

Box Score

By: Joseph Conrad

Site: Ann Arbor, Mich. (U-M Soccer Field)
Event: Michigan Invitational
Score: Michigan 1, Virginia Commonwealth 0
Records: U-M (3-3-0), VCU (2-3-0)
Next U-M Event: Wednesday, Sept. 13 -- at Kentucky (Lexington, Ky.), 7 p.m.

ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The University of Michigan men's soccer team concluded the Michigan Invitational with a 1-0 win over Virginia Commonwealth Sunday (Sept. 10) at the U-M Soccer Field. The Wolverines finished the weekend 2-0, taking first place in the Michigan Invitational after scoring one more goal than Michigan State, which also finished 2-0.

Freshman Peri Marosevic (Rockford, Ill./Edison Academy HS) netted the game-winner for the Maize and Blue with seven minutes left in the first half, giving sophomore Jake Stacy (Grand Rapids, Mich./Grand Rapids Central HS) his first assist of the season. Stacy slipped the ball to Marosevic from the middle of the goal area, and Marosevic dribbled from the left flank to the top of the 18-yard box, where he launched a shot to beat the keeper to the top right corner.

Michigan turned up the offensive intensity early in the match, with the first U-M goal attempt coming at the 3:14 mark. The second chance at a Wolverine goal was taken by freshman Mauro Fuzetti (Houston, Texas/Stratford HS) in the ninth minute. Fuzetti's shot was created after the freshman forward dribbled past the VCU defense to fire a shot from 22 yards out which grazed the top of the crossbar.

The Wolverines went into halftime with a 1-0 lead that they would never relinquish. For the second game in a row, U-M finished the first half without facing any shots on goal.

Entering the second frame, the Michigan defense remained stout, giving sophomore/freshman Patrick Sperry (Hinsdale, Ill./Hinsdale Central HS) his first collegiate shutout. Sperry finished the match with one save after facing one shot on goal.

With the defense controlling the back half of the field, the Wolverines continued to push toward the Rams' half to create scoring opportunities. Four minutes after the start of play in the second stanza, Stacy took his second shot of the match, forcing VCU keeper Andrew Dykstra to make one of his four saves.

In the 57th minute, Marosevic was set up by senior tri-captain Kevin Hall (Kalamazoo, Mich./Portage Central HS) to take a header that was saved by Dykstra. Hall sent Marosevic a through ball from the right flank, and Marosevic was waiting to generate a close scoring opportunity at the left post of the net. Minutes later, Hall forced a save after getting past the Rams defense and pounding a shot into the outstretched arms of Dykstra at the 63:24 mark.

The Wolverines travel to Lexington, Ky., to face the Kentucky Wildcats on Wednesday (Sept. 13) at 7:30 p.m. at the UK Soccer Complex.

GAME SUMMARY

By Periods	1	2	F
Virginia Commonwealth	0	0	0
Michigan	1	0	1

Scoring, Time (Assist)
1st -- U-M, Peri Marosevic, 37:55 (Jake Stacy)

Shots: U-M 6, VCU 13
Saves: U-M 1 (Patrick Sperry), VCU 4 (Andrew Dykstra)
Corner Kicks: U-M 6, VCU 2
Fouls: U-M 23, VCU 18
Cards: VCU, Thomas Weingartner, 36:36 (yellow); VCU, Fred Owusu Sekyere, 56:20 (yellow); U-M, Kevin Hall, 67:55 (yellow)

NOTES

• With U-M's two wins this weekend, the Wolverines are 4-0 all-time in the Michigan Invitiational, taking first place two years in a row.

• Michigan earned a 1-0 victory in its first meeting with Virginia Commonwealth.

• Sophomore/freshman Patrick Sperry earned his first collegiate shutout.

• Senior tri-captain Kevin Hall, sophomores Alex Morisset and Jake Stacy, and freshman Peri Marosevic all earned Michigan Invitational all-tournament honors for the first time.

• Marosevic scored his first collegiate game-winner (37:55), making him the team leader in goals (3).

• Marosevic is first U-M freshman to earn Michigan Invitational all-tournament honors. Long Island's Antti-Pekka Raitisto is the only other freshman to earn the accolade, doing so in the tournament inaugural year (2005).

QUOTES

Michigan Head Coach Steve Burns
On the weekend ... "It's great to be able to play good soccer and for the fans to be able to see good soccer. This tournament is an important step for us to have the crowd behind us, and it's always great to be able to sleep in your own bed. It was a strong weekend."

On how the tournament can help in the rest of the season ... "You always try to get that momentum built up in your season. When momentum is built up, you have to guard against turning soft because winning can turn you soft while losing certainly keeps you hungry. I don't see that as being a big challenge for this team because we have the short turnaround before we play a good team in Kentucky. We will continue to do the things we do well and try and get after it."

On Peri Marosevic ... "Special players make special plays. Peri played well all weekend long. He has fit in with our team, and at times that joining-up process with freshmen can be very difficult. Talented freshmen want to prove that they are good players. He is a humble kid and I think the team has really taken to him and vice versa."

On Patrick Sperry ... "Sperry is tuned into the game when he is communicating with his backs. He did a great job and you could hear him going for 90 minutes. Often times, the goalkeeper is going to be more mentally tired than physically tired. He should be really tired after this weekend because he did a great job staying clicked in and communicating and being in the right position all of the time."

On the team's leadership ... "Our leadership is one of the key ingredients to our team doing well. Kevin Hall, Brian Popeney and Kevin Savitskie -- the three captains. Then you have guys that don't get a lot of mention like Bobby Trybula, Michael O'Reilly and Ryan Bennett. They are really making sure that the team is looking after the details. You will lose more games because of small details than the bigger things."

U-M Freshman Peri Marosevic
On the weekend ... "It's a great weekend for us. We came into these two games with great confidence. We all believe that we can win. Coming in with that confidence that Coach (Steve Burns) was talking about in the locker room. We knew we could win. We were playing at our field, under the lights. We had all of the thoughts in our minds, not only to please the crowd but to please our team. Also, to make our team see that we can play beautiful soccer. It was a great weekend overall."

On the offensive production ... "We have a lot of freshmen that play up top like Mauro (Fuzetti) and me. It takes that time to learn with the seniors, how we play and work together. That just takes some time and we figured it out this weekend. We were able to put up points and score some beautiful goals. We were able to work and become in sync. It's amazing to be able to play with these guys and learn something new about them."