Season in Review: 2016 Men's Soccer

• Team Captains: Lars Eckenrode, Brett Nason
• Record: 4-11-4 overall, 1-6-1 Big Ten Conference (8th place)
• Big Ten Championship: Quarterfinals

The University of Michigan men's soccer team ended its 2016 campaign with a 4-11-4 overall record, as well as a 1-6-1 Big Ten mark while earning the No. 8 seed in the Big Ten Tournament. Following a win over Rutgers in the No. 8/9 match by a 2-1 count, U-M's season wrapped up with a 3-2 overtime loss to No. 1 Maryland in the Big Ten quarterfinals.

Michigan Men's Soccer

Team Highlights

• The season began with promise, as the Wolverines trekked to Florida and played No. 19 USF to a 0-0 draw, and followed three days later with a tie against Florida Gulf Coast (0-0). U-M's conference win came via a 2-0 clean sheet against Penn State on Oct. 2 in Ann Arbor.

• Francis Atuahene led the team in goals with eight, assists with four, and points with 20. He collected his second career first team All-Big Ten honor, becoming only the fifth player in U-M history to earn a pair of first team honors in their careers. Lars Eckenrode, a 2016 team captain, earned his second Big Ten honor after being named to the all-freshman team (2013). In his senior season, he has started all 17 matches for the Maize and Blue in central defense, playing a team-high 1,630 minutes. Jack Hallahan, a freshman from Redditch, England, leads all Big Ten freshmen in goals with four in his initial campaign in Ann Arbor, highlighted by a match-winner against Penn State (Oct. 2). The four markers are the second-most goals for a U-M freshman in the last five years.

• The Wolverines ranked No. 2 in the Big Ten and No. 27 in the NCAA with 14.37 shots per contest. Sophomore Francis Atuahene led the conference in shots per game and ranked No. 10 nationally (4.18/match).

• U-M played the No. 1 Maryland Terrapins twice on the season, falling to the top-ranked Terps on each occasion in overtime by identical score lines of 3-2. The first setback came in the regular season finale in Ann Arbor, while the latter ended the Wolverines season in the quarterfinals of the Big Ten Tournament on Nov. 6.

• Michigan played nine overtime matches during the 2016 season (0-5-4) and were 3-6-1 at home. Additionally, the Wolverines were 1-8-5 in one-goal matches. In the all-time record books, the squad ranks No. 5 in shots per game with 14.36, and No. 9 in total shots in a season with 273. The four ties equal the most in school history.

• U-M's top offensive output of the season came against Oakland in a 5-1 win on Oct. 25. Francis Atuahene and Yamann Sahlool both netted a brace, while sophomore Robbie Mertz had a goal and an assist. It was the first time since Aug. 30, 2013, vs. Loyola-Chicago that U-M scored five goals in a match and had two players score a pair in a match (James Murphy, TJ VanSlooten). U-M also had a season-high 17 points on the match, the fourth most in school history, and achieved the five-goal mark on only 11 shots (six on goal).

• Following the season, sophomore defender Marcello Borges was named to the United States U-20 Training Camp in preparation for the 2017 U-20 World Cup May 20-June 11 in Korea. During the 2016 campaign, Borges missed the Rutgers match as he was on national team duty as well.

Michigan Ultras

Honors and Awards

Francis
Atuahene

Jack
Hallahan

Lars
Eckenrode

Evan
Louro

Brett
Morris

Erin
Nason

Big Ten Conference
All-Conference (First Team): Francis Atuahene
All-Conference (Second Team): Lars Eckenrode
All-Freshman Team: Jack Hallahan
Sportsmanship Honoree: Andre Morris
All-Tournament Team: Francis Atuahene

CoSIDA Academic All-Region
Ivo Cerda

Academic All-Big Ten
Tyler Anderson, Sr., business administration
Johann Bittner, So., school of literature, science & the arts
Marcello Borges, So., school of literature, science & the arts
Ivo Cerda, So., engineering
Ali Jawad, Sr., biopsychology, cognitive & neuroscience
Robbie Mertz, So., business administration
Andre Morris, Sr., sports management
Brett Nason, Sr., sport management
Yamann Sahlool, Sr., biopsychology, cognitive & neuroscience