4B - September 7, 2010

The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com

Missed chances hurt Blue

By CASANDRA PAGNI
Daily Sports Writer
In Michigan's Friday night match
against No. 14 Drake, the men's soc-
cer team took as many shots, shots
on goal and corner kicks as its oppo-
nent.
The Bulldogs even committed 15
fouls in the game, leavingthe potent
Wolverine offense plenty of chances
to s ink a shot in the back of the net
to reward their dominant, statisti-
cally-excellent performance.
But as the clock wound down,
Michigan looked up to the score-
board; Drake 1, Michigan 0.
"Overall it's tough to accept a
defeat when in every statistical cat-
egory you win and you dominate,"
Burns said after the game. "But yet
they win the one statistical category
that counts - scoring. I think it's the
experience of recognizing the game
is about scoring goals."
And goals have been difficult to
come by for Michigan, even though
the Wolverines (1-1) have kept
offensive pressure high in their two
games so far this season.
Michigan hasn't had trouble
finding scoring opportunities -
the team made nine shots on goal
against Drake as well as eight shots
on in Wednesday's overtime win
against the University of Detroit.
But even with veteran scoring
threats like senior forward Justin
Meram and sophomore midfielder
Hamoody Saad - two of Michi-
gan's top three scorers last season
- on the field at the same time, the
Wolverines have struggled to con-
vert the opportunities they create
into goals on the scoreboard.
"You've got to give everything
to score those goals," Burns said.
"We create enough chances, we
had enough chances (against
Drake). Wasn't like their keeper
played great. Unfortunately we
didn't score one."
Prior to the two home games
this past week, the Wolverines
took part in exhibition games in
which they experienced similar
futility, as Michigan tied West
Virginia, 0-0, and Evansville, 1-1,
in preseason action.
The Michigan offense has given
opponents' backfields fits in its
two regular season games, as it has
consistently kept the ball moving
on its opposition's side of the mid-

FILE PHOTO/Daily
Freshman Fabio Pereira Villas Boas is expected to contribute on offense this year.
Late offsides call ends*
Wolverines chance of
win over No.14 Drake
By LUKE PASCH box but missed wide right. Anoth-*
Daily Sports Writer er minute later, freshman forward
Soony Saad headed the ball up to
Just five minutes into the Mich- Meram, who broke free from two
igan's men's soccer match against defenders before missing wide
No. 14 Drake on Friday night, right again.
the Wol- By the end of the first half,
verines DRAKE 1 Michigan had six shots on goal,
looked to MICHIGAN 0 andDrakehadjusttwo.
be on their "We have to forget about this
way to an upset when senior for- game and move on," Boas said. "I
ward Justin Meram buried the ball think that we had a really good
in the lower-left corner of the net. match. We've played three match-
But the strike was overturned es so far, and this was probably
on a controversial offsides call. the best one. We just didn't score.
Meram had jumped too quickly We've just got to work on our fin-
on the through pass from Fabio ishes."
Pereira Villas Boas, officials Although Michigan continued
said. to outshoot Drake in the second
"Was that offsides?" Boas, a Sao half, the Bulldogs started to find
Paulo, Brazil native, said after the some seams in the Wolverine
game. "I don't know. I think that defense and were getting better
was a goal, but whatever." looks at the net.
Although the Wolverines were In the 65th minute, Drake final-
aggressive for the rest of the match ly pulled through when senior for-
- they outshot Drake 26-12 - they ward Kenan Malicevec controlled
failed to execute in the box, losing a rebound in the Michigan box
a nail-biter, 1-0. and sunk it in the top right corner
"(Drake) wins the one statistical of the net before goalkeeper Chris
category that counts - the scor- Blais could recover.
ing," Michigan coach Steve Burns It was a sour finish for aWolver-
said. "The game is about scoring ine defense that allowed just four
goals, and you've got to give every- shots on goal the whole game. And
thing to score those goals." by the end of the match, Michigan
For awhile, the Michigan attack had opportunities on 12 corner
continued to give all it had. kicks and nine shots on goal.
Just six minutes after the initial With a game chock full of
goal was called back, Boas drilled missed chances fresh in their
a good ball right off the top cross- minds, Burns and his crew will
bar before Drake could clear it. In look to reverse their fortunes at
the next minute, Meram got a good the Seattle University Toutna-
look at the net from the top of the ment next weekend.

Senior Justin Meram is one of the Wolverines' most dangerous scoring threats on offense.

OTO/Doaly

field. The Wolverines have set off
53 shots, but only two have found
their way past the opposing keeper.
"I think we had a really good
match (against Drake)," fresh-
man midfielder Fabio Pereria Vil-
las Boras said. "Of all the matches
we've played so far, this one was
probably the best one. We just
didn't score. We've just got to work
on finishing."
By not sinking any of its 26 shots
against Drake, Michigan gave
its junior keeper Chris Blais an
extremely small margin of error
to work with. When a deflection
led to a Bulldog goal in the 56th
minute on Friday, the Wolverines'
offensive efforts became irrel-
evant.

Michigan needs to capital-
ize on the set pieces it's given, as
numerous Drake fouls led to un-
successful Wolverine corner kicks
on Friday.
Meram explained how the Wol-
verines will need to capitalize on'
the opportunities they get to put
the ball in the back of the net. He
further explained how the team
is going to work on set pieces a lot
more before going into Seattle.
Michigan travels to the Seat-
tle University Tournament this
upcoming weekend, looking to
rebound from the frustrating
Drake loss. The team will play in
an unfamiliar environment, and
coach Burns warned that his team
needs to "pack more intelligence,

more defensive intensity and more
of a... sneer and an attitude.
"If you don't bring those things
on the road, the opponents can get
you," Burns said.
While the Wolverines con-
trolled the majority of the pace,
the intensity, and the opportuni-
ties in their loss to Drake, Michi-
gan needs to continue to press
opposing defenses to get on the
scoreboard early and often this
weekend.
The Drake loss may still sting
for some Wolverines, which might
be just the fire the team needs to
continue wearing their opponents'
defense down - and finally "give
everything" to convert opportuni-
ties of their own.

p U

Despite windy conditions, 'M'
uses defense to defeat Oakland

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Supporting students with
mental health disorders
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University of Michigan
Depression Center

By ZELL ZOERHOF
Daily Sports Writer
The Michigan women's soccer
team met a physically straining
challenge
last Fri- MICHIGAN 1
day at OAKLAND 0
Oakland,
whose coupled with early Novem-
ber gales, pushed Michigan's offen-
sive play to a new level. But the
Wolverines endured and defeated
the Golden Bears, 1-0.
The matchup was a clash of two
clearly different styles.
While Michigan coach Greg
Ryan urged his players with gusto
to push forward, Oakland (1-3-0)
was quite content with a defensive

strategy of dropping nine or some-
times ten players into its half. The
Golden Bear offense had to rely
on playing long balls up to a lone
forward, evident by the fact that
Michigan had nine shots while
Oakland only managed three and
did nothave a single corner.
"We did a good job of defending,
adopted a strategy and defensive
system, but it was Oakland's defen-
sive system that worked," Ryan
said after the game. "We were try-
ing to attack with as many players
as we could."
The Wolverines (3-3-1) faced
weather more common in Novem-
ber ratherthan September. Massive
gusts of wind were not conducive
to long aerial passes, forcing the


Wolverines to play the ball on the
ground for the entire match. Cou-
pled with lower temperatures than
the young Wolverines had seen up
to this point, Michigan had a diffi-
cult time executing its offense.
It took 73 minutes for Michi-
gan to slowly erode the Oakland
defense. Two super-subs - junior
Meghan Hennessy and freshman
Kayla Mannino - connected for
the game winner. They were told
by Ryan to catalyze the offense
while Hennessy came off the bench
with one thing in mind- to score a
goal. The clincher occurred when
Mannino crossed a pretty ball in
from the right to an approaching
Hennessy who, in the center of the
box, eloquently redirected it in the
net for the winner.
Redshirt sophomore keeper
Haley Kopmeyer completed her
second shutout in a row and her
eighth career shutout by saving
one shot. She moved up to fourth
on Michigan's all-time shutout
list.
"All our games have been
tight," Ryan said. "We have lots of
young players and learning how
to win tight games is important.
Once you get a lead, you have to
take care of it. It is critical that
we beat teams like oakland so we
have a shot to make the tourna-
ment."
For a rather young team, look-
ing into a nine-person defense
on a droll dark field can be very
daunting, but with this win the
season continues to look brighter.
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