Marosevic Scores Pair as Michigan Dominates Oakland

Wednesday, September 20

Ann Arbor, Mich.

7:00 PM

Michigan

5-4

Oakland

2-6

Oakland

Michigan

9/20/2006 12:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer

Box Score

By: Joseph Conrad

Site: Ann Arbor, Mich. (U-M Soccer Field)
Score: Michigan 3, Oakland 0
Records: U-M (5-4-0), Oakland (2-6-0)
Next U-M Event: Sunday, Sept. 24 -- at Indiana (Bloomington, Ind.), 2:30 p.m.

ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The University of Michigan men's soccer team improved its record to 5-4 with a 3-0 victory over Oakland on Wednesday (Sept. 20) on the U-M Soccer Field. The Wolverines were led by freshman Peri Marosevic (Rockford, Ill./Edison Academy HS) and sophomore Michael Holody (Clarkston, Mich./Clarkston HS) with two and one goals, respectively.

The Wolverines offensive attack got off to an early start, as the first scoring opportunity for the Maize and Blue came in the second minute of action. Marosevic crossed the ball from the right flank to senior tri-captain Kevin Hall (Kalamazoo, Mich./Portage Central HS), who flicked a header wide of the net.

Michigan continued to harass Oakland's defense as Marosevic netted the first marker at the 17:06 mark. Sophomore Santos Perez (Troy, Mich./Athens HS) earned the assist on the goal, slipping the ball to Marosevic to give the freshman Wolverine the scoring opportunity. The play was set up after Perez shredded the Grizzlies defense with his dribbling, splitting three defenders to get to the top of the goal box. Perez then slid the ball to Marosevic, who held off an OU defender, turned to his right, and blasted a shot that deflected off the keeper's hand and into the net.

With 14 minutes until halftime, Marosevic earned his fifth goal of the season while giving Holody his first career assist. Marosevic's second marker was scored in similar fashion to his first, as he took the shot with an Oakland defender on his back. Holody found Marosevic waiting in the middle of the goal box 15 yards from the net, and with one touch of the ball Marosevic spun to the left and fired the shot across his body, beating OU's Steve Clark low and to the right.

Heading into halftime, Michigan maintained the lead by playing stout team defense with sophomore/freshman Patrick Sperry (Hinsdale, Ill./Hinsdale Central HS) snagging three of his five saves.

In the 14th minute, the Wolverine's team defense made one of the biggest plays of the night. With the game still scoreless, the Grizzlies were putting pressure on Michigan's half of the field, giving OU's Ian Daniel a scoring opportunity that was denied by Holody. With both teams scrambling in front of the net, Daniel found the ball and took a shot from the left post with Sperry out of position; Holody knocked the ball away to give Michigan its first team save of the season.

Holody sealed the victory for the Wolverines in the 51st minute after senior tri-captain Brian Popeney (Canton, Mich./Plymouth Salem HS) earned a free kick off an OU foul. Popeney took the free kick from 30 yards out, setting up Holody for the goal. With the ball in the air, Holody volleyed the ball from the middle of the goal box, 12 yards out, beating the keeper to his right.

Senior Ryan Bennett (Ann Arbor, Mich./Pioneer HS) made his season debut as he relieved Sperry at the 73:23 mark, and Bennett preserved Michigan's second shutout of the season.

The Wolverines hit the road to face Indiana in Bloomington, Ind., on Sunday (Sept. 24) at 2:30 p.m. at Bill Armstrong Stadium.

GAME SUMMARY

By Periods	1	2	F
Oakland	0	0	0
Michigan	2	1	3

Scoring, Time (Assist)
1st -- U-M, Peri Marosevic, 17:06 (Santos Perez)
1st -- U-M, Marosevic, 30:12 (Michael Holody)
2nd -- U-M, Holody, 50:44 (Brian Popeney)

Shots: U-M 20, OU 19
Saves: U-M (Patrick Sperry 5, Ryan Bennett 0), OU (Steve Clark 3, Andy Kroll 1)
Corner Kicks: U-M 4, OU 7
Fouls: U-M 17, OU 16
Cards: OU, Stefan St. Louis, 50:37 (yellow); OU, Wade Allan, 71:22 (yellow); U-M, Santos Perez, 77:40 (yellow); OU, Michael Reyes, 77:40 (yellow)

NOTES

• With a win over Oakland, Michigan boosts its all-time record vs. OU to 3-1-2.

• Head coach Steve Burns earns his 65th career win with today's 3-0 victory.

• U-M's record in games played following back-to-back overtimes increases to 2-3-1 with tonight's win.

• Senior tri-captain Kevin Hall played in his 70th career game. Hall is currently tied with Kevin Taylor (200-03) for fourth on Michigan's all-time games played list.

• Sophomore Santos Perez and senior tri-captain Brian Popeny each earned his first assist of the season.

• Freshman Peri Marosevic had his first career two-goal game (17:06 and 30:12), increasing his team-leading goal total to five.

• Sophomore Michael Holody had his first multiple-point game, earning his first career assist and netting his second career goal (50:44).

• Sophomore/freshman Patrick Sperry made five saves as he led Michigan to its second shutout of the season.

• Senior Ryan Bennett made his season debut, playing in 16:37 and facing no shots on goal.

QUOTES

Michigan Head Coach Steve Burns
On the importance of the win ... "I think there was a real big challenge there sitting up 2-0 at halftime. The challenge being we wanted to make a statement on how the second half of our season was going to unfold now that we're approaching the halfway point. I think you saw a team come out inspired, looking to finish a game and to play a complete game. So, I like where we are right now."

On goalkeeper Patrick Sperry ... "Sperry is one of those guys that when he's real motivated, as we saw today, you just know he's going to play a good game. Sometimes you look at players and you can't quite get a good read on how they're going to perform. Sperry's really transparent and we just know he was going to have a good game."

On the team's performance ... "The motivation for this game was about winning for Michigan. Being a university that has such a great tradition around the entire world, I reminded the boys they were playing for the name on the front of their jersey, not the name on the back of their jerseys."

U-M Sophomore/Freshman Goalkeeper Patrick Sperry
On the second shutout of the season ... "I have to hand it to my team. The defenders were doing great in the air and they kept it fairly basic for me to make the plays I had to make."

On the team defense ... "I think the team's looking great. We're really starting to come together in the back, we're learning how to come together and stay compacted and move as a unit. One player does a good job of stepping in to take make a play on the ball, and we've got coverage all over and we're playing close and it's hard to find a seam for a shot."

On the team's offense ... "First I have to give so much credit to Peri (Marosevic). He's really good at holding those defenders off; I give him applause. (Michael) Holody made a great one-time strike. That's the difference tonight, we had our chances and we put them in. We didn't have many shots on goal, but the ones we took really counted."

U-M Freshman Forward Peri Marosevic
On his first career two-goal game ... "It's exciting. I was always hoping for a two-goal game or maybe a hat trick. It's a good feeling to be able to put your team up, not scoring one for the team but two for the team. I think it takes a lot of the pressure off everybody's shoulders; now we can play our game."

On earning a win after a tough loss ... "The loss to Wisconsin was a tough break, unlucky for us. But we knew we had to come back and get this win. Our coach (Steve Burns) always told us to work for Michigan, play for Michigan. He told us to represent the school before the game and we took it to heart, and we came out and showed it."

On the importance of this win ... "It helps us out a lot. It gives us our confidence after a tough loss to Wisconsin. Now we have our confidence back again, we're back on track. We were able to play well together; obviously our confidence will rise after this shutout. Both of our keepers, (Patrick) Sperry and (Ryan) Bennett, did an incredible job back there, not letting anything go in. So it's good for them, it builds their confidence. Especially as we travel to face a tough opponent in Indiana, we need that brotherhood that we're building in every game."