The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com Thursday, September 16, 2010 - 7A The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom Thursday, September 16, 2010 - 7A Blue continues late-game heroics in close victory over Oakland 'M' finds groove at home Freshman Saad keeps up hot streak on offense with goal By STEPHEN NESBITT Daily Sports Writer In the closing minutes of a con- test against Oakland on Wednes- day night, in a game OAKLAND 1 domi- MICHIGAN 2 nated by lackluster offense and sloppy play, the offense of the Michigan men's soccer team finally found its legs. Senior forward Justin Meram ended the evening in dramatic fashion, burying a shot past a sprawling goalkeeper with only a minute remaining on the clock, giving the Wolverines a 2-1 vic- tory. Deadlocked at zero after 70 minutes, Michigan (3-1-1) looked to its main weapons on the attack - Meram and freshman forward Soony Saad. Saad continued his hot streak on offense by netting a header at 74:35 to grab a 1-0 lead, giving the fresh- man his team-high fourth goal of the season. The first-year phenom was quick to credit teamwork on the play, as well as the assist from senior midfielder Alex Wood. "No one (on defense) knew where I was," Saad said. "I was kind of trying to hide behind the last defender. Woody played a driven ball back and I wanted to head it down. We did a lot of drills in practice about heading it down, and when I headed it down it kind of kept the keeper surprised and went over the keeper." But the Golden Grizzlies booted the equalizer just four minutes later, as a defensive breakdown left Jeff Timm open in front of the net to meet a crossing pass - and he. didn't miss his opportunity. Thirsty for his elusive first goal of the season, Meram turned his By STEVEN KELLNER For the Daily Following a daunting road trip that saw the Michigan field hockey team post only two goals in four games, the excitement as the Wol- verines stepped onto Ocker Field for the first time this season to take on the James Madison Dukes was tangible. It had been a rough start to the season for the Wolverines, playing three of the top six ranked teams in a span of nine days, all on the road. With high expectations and senior leadership, Michigan hoped to compete for a Big Ten Champi- onship this season, but the team encountered an obstacle when it lost to North Carolina, the nations No. 1 team and defending National Champion, 3-0. The trip did not get much better. A 5-1 loss to No. 6 Wake Forest, followed by a 2-1 loss to Maine and then a 2-0 defeat by No. 5 Connecticut left the Wolver- ines searching for answers. Michigan returned home to face a pair of non-conference foes, start- ing with No.14 James Madison. As soon as the game started, it seemed like it couldn't end quickly enough. The Dukes climbed to a 3-0 lead going into the half. But it was a different Wolverine squad coming out in the second half. Freshman Rachel Mack had a potentially season-changing sec- ond-half performance that turned the tide for Michigan. Three min- utes and seven seconds into the second half, Mack seemed to don the red cape with a large'"S" on it, scoring on two penalty corners, the first two goals of her career. Senior captain Zara Saydjari evened it up at 3-3 with 22:32 left to play. "In the first four games, I hit the post five times, which was very frustrating ... It just felt really good to get it in such a tight game as well," Mack said. As the game went into overtime, it was just a matter of momentum for the Wolverines to take over the game. A brilliantly designed corner by Michigan coach Marcia Pankratz led to an extra pass and a wide open shot for senior captain Meredith Way. With that thud in the back of the net a pile of Michi- gan players jumped on Way in cel- ebration. "They are a strong, strong team from a strong region ... we did not want to shy away from a challenge," Pankratz said after the JMU game. On Sunday, Central Michigan came to Ann Arbor. The Wolverines wouldn't overlook their opponent after a 1-0 loss to the Chippewas last season. This game ended quite differently though. With two goals from Vanessa Sekhon the Wolver- ines captured a 4-0 shutout. Though the season may have started a little slow for Michigan, the team has tallied eight goals in their last three halves, compared to just two in the previous nine. Up next is Albany, a team that just slipped into the top 20. Pan- kratz is already looking ahead to next weekend's battle. "They are going to be polished and quick, we will have our hands full for sure," Pankratz said. It's all about building experience for Pankratz and her staff. "Its good to get the younger players in the match today, we have some players that aren't feeling well right now...a little under the weather, hopefully we can get our lineup solid and ready to roll forBig Tens." Encouraging signs from the young Wolverines helped Michi- gan get through the weekend. The bright stars of the future includ- ed freshman Rachel Mack, who scored three goals, and goalkeeper Haley Jones, who posted her first career shutout in her first start as a freshman. The seniors have also produced, with captains Zara Sayd- jari and Meredith Way scoring two goals over the weekend. The Wolverines ride a two-game winning streak into a two-game home stretch next weekend against Albany and Quinnipiac. They hope this can keep the momentum going as they approach the heart of their schedule in the next few weeks. "More goals are just going to keep coming," said Mack after Sun- day's victory. Freshman Soony Saad knocked in a header to give the Wolverines a1-0 lead in their 2-1 win over Oakland on Wednesday. performance up a notch as the time wound down to the last few minutes. With just 60 ticks left, Meram received a cross from senior mid- fielder and team captain Alex Wood, and he put a bullet through for the game-winner. The Wolverines have come to expect these second-half hero- ics from their leaders, with six of seven goals this season coming in the final 45 minutes, but they cer- tainly aren't taking that offensive boost for granted. For a defense that fended off attackers all evening long, having scorers like Meram and Saad take the ball late in a match prompted a giant sigh of relief. "Every time the ball touches their feet, I just have this instinct, this sense they're going to score," sophomore defender Kofi Opare said. "Soony is a clinical goal scor- er, that's why he's here - to score us goals. Look at his record, its not going to lie. It says something about his character and his abili- ties. "For Justin ... (it's) his ability, his skill, his vision to spot team- mates in tight situations (that) makes him a great player." Michigan appeared noticeably fatigued after recently returning from a weekend trip to Seattle, but still found the energy to score twice in the final 20 minutes. Despite several carelesspasses and missed opportunities on offense earlier in the game, the Wolverines outshot Oakland 24-7. Michigan coach Steve Burns said it's the team's perseverance that will be vital as the season pro- gresses. "The college soccer season is like the college football season," Burns said. "It's a season of momentum. Anytime you get a win, regardless of how you win, everyone feeds off that and looks forward to the next game even more so."