The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
T h i g aWednesday, October 31, 2012 - 7A
M' tops Titans, 2-1
Despite missed opportunities,
Wolverines dominate Detroit
By SHANNON LYNCH
FortheDaily
In one of its last home show-
ings and with the goal of gaining
a spot in the NCAA Tournament
in mind, the Michigan men's soc-
cer team braved the wind and
rain to battle the University of
Detroit Mercy. The game was
by no means an easy one and
nerves were high at the end, but
the Wolver- ,
ine offense DETROIT 1
dominated MICHIGAN 2'
from the
moment it first stepped on the
field, winning by a final score of
2,1.
Coming off a victory over Val-
paraiso on Saturday, the Wolver-
ines (2-2-1 Big Ten, 7-8-1 overall)
wanted to keep the tempo op at
home. Earning another win was
important not only to secure a
better standing, but also in prep-
aration for next Saturday's game
against Michigan State.
"I think any local game is a
big sense of pride," said Michi-
gan coach Chaka Daley. "I think
for us, we beat Oakland, we beat
Detroit, the last hurdle is Michi-
gan State."
The competitive tone had a
definite impact on gameplay for
both teams, and from the start
the atmosphere at the U-M Soc-
cer Complex was tense.
The Wolverines maintained
possession for the majority of
the first half and it was clear the
Titans were frustrated. After
Michigan's first three shots on
goal, Titan midfielder Adam
Bedell was issued a yellow card
for diving.
Michigan earned 10 fouls and
a yellow card during the game
but Detroit lead the game in
penalties - it finished with nine
fouls, a yellow card, and three
red cards, issued to defender Pat-
rick Soltys and two of Detroit's
coaches.
Redshirt sophomore midfield-
er Tyler Arnone said he thought
that Michigan responded well
under the pressure of such a
hectic and emotionally charged
game.
"I think the game got out of
hand today, but that's something
to expect," Arnone said. "Both
teams wanted to win, and our
season was kind of on the line, but
as long as we're mature and keep
our cool, that's really it."
They did keep cool. Though
By RYAN KRASNOO
For the Daily
Domination, at times, can be
frustrating..
Just ask the Michigan men's
soccer. team, which managed
just a 2-1 win over the Univer-
sity of Detroit Mercy on Tuesday.
night despite firing a season-
high 28 shots.
The Wolverines displayed
a sense of urgency that was
in stark contrast to their last
two games - a 2-0 home loss
to Bowling Green last Tuesday
and a 1-0 win over Valparaiso on
Saturday, which needed junior
Fabio Perreira to find the game-
winner with just 90 seconds left
in regulation.
Michigan who seemed poised
to get on the scoresheet first and
unloaded an offensive barrage in
the first 15 minutes, outshooting
Detroit 6-0. But, the Wolverines
were forced to play from behind
after Jason Leslie's goal in the
41st minute gave the Titans at
the U-M Soccer Complex.
"The coaches really got after
the guys to make sure that
we didn't have a repeat per-
formance of what we had last
week," said Michigan coach
Chaka Daley. "But we gave up a
soft goal against the run of play.
We always learn from our mis-
takes. Sometimes we need to
take a little bit of ownership of
what's going on, and sometimes
they get it wrong. It's important
for us to make sure that we steer
them back on track."
It didn't take along for the
wheel
intenti
line as
Titan
redshi
Tyler
ing pe
Wolve
halfti
Arn
goals:
four g
tear r
integr
hopes
son ru
"I
r
W
"Th
opport
an attc
makin
said. "
the lin
NCAA
to win
Des
ties an
seconc
remain
that km
"We
more
were) i
s to realign. After' an and had poor finishingin others.
onal handball on the goal We're creating great chances,we
nd subsequent red card to just have to tuck some away."
defender Patrick Soltys, Freshman forward James
rt sophomore midfielder Murphy was able to do just that.
Arnone buried the ensu- The Irishman found the break-
nalty kick and drew the through in the 66th minute to
rines level on the brink of end the Wolverines' frustrations
me. and, in part, his own. After tak-
one - who now has two ing 12 games to tally his first col-
and two assists in his last legiate goal - the game-winner
ames - is on an offensive vs. Indiana on October 19 -
ecently and will be an Murphy is finally getting tan-
al part of what Michigan gible results.
will be a deep postsea- "I feel like I've been playing
in. well in general play,but the goals
haven't come my way," Murphy
said. "I think I need to get in
the box more, get on the end of
thought for things like I did tonight more,
and I think in the long run it will
) (of the 90) come."
Michigan can only hope as
ninutes we much.
With rival Michigan State
ere superb." coming to town this Satur-
day and the Big Ten Tourna-
ment looming, the Wolverines
will need to capitalize on their
e coaches gave me an opportunities, put their oppo-
tunity to play in more of nents away early and have their
acking role, and I was just chances translate intogoals. But,
g the most of it," Arnone as Daley noted, as long as they
We know our season's on continue to put themselves in
e and we want to make the good situations offensively and
tournament -we needed play quality soccer, the rest will
this game." take care of itself.
pite numerous opportuni- "I thought that for 80 (of the
d a man advantage in the 90) minutes we were superb,"
d half, the go-ahead tally Daley said. "When you're play-
ned elusive despite shots ing with confidence and you're
ept on coming. aggressive and you're playing
e should have scored some with some urgency, especially
(goals)," Daley said. "(We this group, we're confident we
unfortunate in some ways can... beat anyone."
PAULSHERMAN/Daily
Redshirt sophomore forward Tyler Arnone had one of Michigan's two goals in a
2-1 victory over Detroit at the U-M Soccer Complex on Tuesday,
Michigan outshot Detroit in the
first half (10-2); the Titans were
able to capitalize initially with a
goal by Jason Leslie in 'the 41st
minute of play. The Wolverines
coame back and settled the ball
quickly, keeping the pressure on
the Titans defense and forcing a
corner in the 45th minute.
Arnone lofted a long ball over
to the far side -of the goal, set-
ting tsp a shot by midfielder Latif
Alashe, which was stopped by
an intentional hand ball on the
Titans defense. This prompted a
red card for Soltys and a penalty
kick for Arnone with 13 seconds
left to play in the first half. He
buried the ball in the back of the
net to tie the game at one before
the half.
"We practice those type of
situations all the time, so when
that situation comes I am well
prepared for it," Arnone said. "It's
just routine for me, so I keep my
nerves cool and just do what I
know."
Michigan knew the benefit of
being tp a player when it stepped
back on the field for the last 45
minutes of play, but the teams
strategy hadn't changed.
"We wanted to continue to put
our foot on the pedal, we thought
we did that the first half," Daley
said. "All we did was impress
upon our guys not to relax, keep
the tempo high (and) stick at it.
We did, created a ton of chances,
if we stuck some of those away we
would have been a lot more com-
fortable at the end, we didn't."
The Wolverines had opportu-
nity after opportunity and finally
seized one in the 65th minute of
play when freshman midfielder
James Murphy pounded the ball
into the net off a rebound from
Arnone, giving Michigan the
lead.
Though Detroit was able to
put the pressure on in the last
minute of play with five shots on
goal, the Wolverines held on and
came out on top, adding another
victory to their four-match home
stand and going into the upcom-
ing Michigan State game on an
emotional high.
FOLLOW US ON TWITTER
@T HEBLOCKM
Our Military's Children:
Insights from over a decade of war
Brief performance of the University of Michigan ROTC Air Force Choir
)p