The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
Friday, November16, 2012 - 7
Grinwis,'M' ready to
dance in NCAA Tourney
Junior midfielder Fabio Pereira propelled the Michigan men's soccer team to the NCAA second round with three goals.
Pereira hat trick seals victory
By JEREMY SUMMITT
Daily Sports Writer
You can bet that anyone wear-
ing maize and blue at the first
round of the men's NCAA tour-
nament in Ann Arbor had to have
been biting their nails Thursday
night.
Michigan coach Chaka Daley
might have been one of them. "It
was a pervy game for us," Daley
said.
Niag- NIAGARA 1
ara (5-1-1 MICHIGAN 3
MAAC,
13-2-4 overall), a small school
in New York near the Canadian
border, netted the first goal of the
match on its first shot on goal of
in the 60th minute. To make mat-
ters worse for the Michigan men's
soccer team, it was outshooting
the Purple Eagles 8-0 at the time,
but the goals weren't going in.
But the Wolverines prevailed,
3-1, in a match that was a bit more
frustrating than nervy. A week
before Thanksgiving, Michigan
can be grateful for junior mid-
fielder Fabio Pereira's string of
three goals " in seven minutes
stemming a near disaster for the
Wolverines.
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e most important thing is from the first kickoff, both in
we're in the second round creating offensive pressure and
tournament," Pereira said. consistently stifling the opposing
is what we've been working attack. But the Wolverines need to
d all season." get better offensively by Sunday's
t to illustrate how uneven second round match against No.
latch was, Michigan (3-2-1 1 Akron if they hope to score an
in, 11-9-1) fired 16 shots in upset.
st half opposed to Niagara's "It's about being a little more
shot that soared well wide sharp in the final third and fin-
net. By the end ofthe match, ishing our chances," Pereira said.
lverines had tested Niagara "Having16 shots (in the first half)
and not scoring is pretty bad."
Daley and the team know what
to work on in practice leading up
This is what to Sunday, but there were sev-
eral positives to take away from
we've been Thursday's match.
"Earlier in the season, if we
rking toward." would have conceded that first.
goal, we would have folded,"
Daley said. "We're a different
team now. We showed a lot of
goalkeeper Brett Petricek character tonight and found away
1 shots on goal, while Michi- (to win)."
phomore goalkeeper Adam The resilience of this Michigan
is faced just two shots. squad has been evident through-
sed opportunities have out the last few weeks. Daley
he downfall for Michigan credits the 1-0 desperation victory
st of the season and tonight against Valparaiso on Oct. 27 as
different. But the Wolver- the turning point of the season,
ade up for it with more than and without that 87th-minute
h opportunities - 26 shots goal by Pereira that day, it is likely
t the Purple Eagles net. the Wolverines would not have
higan dominated Niagara been playingtonight.
By ALEJANDRO ZUNIGA
Daily Sports Writer
Sophomore goalkeeper Adam
Pfrinwis and junior midfielder
Fabio Pereira watched from the
sidelines when the Michigan
men's soccer team made the Col-
lege Cup in 2010. This season,
they're creating some magic of
their own.
Pereira scored all three Michi-
gan goals and Grinwis led a domi-
nant defensive effort on Thursday
night, propelling the Wolverines
to a 3-1 victory over Niagara in the
first round of the NCAA Tourna-
ment. Michigan (5-3-1 Big Ten,
11-9-1 overall) will next face fifth-
seeded Akron, a rematch of an
Oct. 18 match that the Zips won,
i-0.
But the Wolverine squad that
dominated the Purple Eagles is
far improved from the one that
struggled mightily in the begin-
ning of the season. Michigan
commanded every aspect of play
against Niagara (8-1-1 Metro
Atlantic Athletic Conference,
13-2-4), outshooting the Purple
Eagles 26-7 and controlling pos-
session for most of the match.
The Wolverines were so powerful
on offense that Pereira actually
found it harder to score goals.
"We had so much space in that
game," Pereira said. "I think we
were even shocked with how
much space we had. Having 16
shots (in the first half) and not
scoring a goal - I think that's
pretty bad."'
Just four days after dropping
the Big Ten Championship to
Michigan State, Michigan had
revenge on its mind against Niag-
ara and it showed. The Wolver-
ines opened the first half on atear,
creating a one-on-one opportu-
nity in the opening moments that
forced goalkeeper Brett Petricek
to make a key save. The senior was
busy for the entire half, recording
seven saves that kept the match
scoreless when the halftime whis-
tle blew.
"We're incredibly fortunate
to have Brett Petricek represent-
Redohirt sophomoregoalkeeperAdam Grinwis has backstopped the
Wolverines mell le an improhahle first season tsr Michigan coach Chaka Daley.
ing Niagara," said Niagara coach
Chase Brooks. "Brett's been abso-
lutely fantastic for us all season."
Michigan's torrid attack led
to the Purple Eagles' only goal of
the game. When the Wolverines
.pushed defensive players forward
to try to capitalize on a free kick,
Petricek smothered the set-piece
shot. He then started a quick
counterattack that ended with
Niagara's go-ahead tally.
But Michigan kept pressuring
and, eventually, the goals came.
"It was anervygame forushav-
ing as many chances as we did and
not converting them," Michigan
coach Chaka Daley said. "That's
football sometimes."
Pereira tallied a stunning three
goals - two on penalty kicks - in
seven minutes to put the game out
of reach midway through the sec-
ond half.
When Daley sent in his sub-
stitutes with under five minute
left in the match, the midfielder
received a standing ovation from
the crowd.
"It's fantastic to get a hat trick,"
Pereira said. "Now I just can't
wait (until) Sunday."
After Pereira's goals gave the
Wolverines a two-goal lead, Grin-
wis and the defense took over.
Though it allowed a goal on Niag-
ara's first shot on target, the unit
limited the Purple Eagles to just
two more attempts on net
But Grinwis still had plenty of
work to do. On each of Niagara's
five corner kicks, it placed 6-foot-
6 striker Callum Willmott in
front of Michigan's goalkeeper.
Grinwis - four inches shorter -
commanded his box well, punch-
ing away crosses and preventing
Willmott from redirecting a sin-
gle header on goal.
"The more games you play, the
more mature you get," Grinwis
said. "I'm just doing my best to
help my team win games. I think
we've been superb (defensively)."
Most of all, Grinwis and Pereira
are looking forward to leaving
their own legacies at Michigan.
After watching their former
teammates complete a string of
upsets in the NCAA Tournament
two years ago that ended with a
loss to Akron in the College Cup,
the young stars are ready to lead
their squad to similar glory.
"In college soccer you don't
get a better chance than ... going
at Akron to send a statement to
the whole country," Pereira said.
"We're really confident. We're a
totally different (than) when we
played them last time. We're all
hungry for thatgame."
LeVert, the last 2012 recruit, waits in the wings
By EVERETT COOK
Daily Sports Editor
Last March, the Michigan
basketball team was upset in
the second round of the NCAA
Tournament by Ohio, ending its
season disappointingly early and
killing some of the good vibes
that came from a season that gar-
nered the program's first Big Ten
title since 1986.
But that game immensely
boosted the stock of Ohio coach
John Groce in the eyes of schools
higher up in the college basket-
ball rungs.
Twelve days after ending the
Wolverines' season, Groce was
named head coach at Illinois.
This freed up the commitments
for all of his incoming recruits,
including a 6-foot-5 guard
named Caris LeVert who shot up
in recruiting rankings.
Shortly after, LeVert got a
recruiting redo and became the
last member of Michigan's 2012
recruiting class, joining highly
touted recruits Glenn Robinson
III and Mitch McGary.
It's hard to play the what-if
game, but if Michigan had beat-
en Ohio last March, LeVert prob-
ably wouldn't be in Ann Arbor
this fall.
And why should you care? This
was a 160-pound beanpole, a guy
Michigan coach John Beilein has
called a "bag of bones" and some-
one who is probably going to red-
shirt this season.
But this is also a guy that was
mentioned, without fail, by every
veteran Wolverine during pre-
season media days as someone
who had surprised them, even
blew them away in practice.
"Caris, man, he's a sleeper,"
sophomore guard Trey Burke
said with a smile during Big
Ten media day in October. "His
potential and his ceiling to grow
are unlimited because he already
has the skill set that a lot of play-
ers at this level don't have. He's
6-foot-5 but can handle the ball
eligibility until he absolutely had
to, meaning that even in a blow-
out, LeVert will remain comfort-
able on the end of the bench.
The coaching staff sees his
immediate potential, but they
also see his potential to grow.
"I want to make a really edu-
cated decision after some time
and get some quality time to
work with him," Beilein said.
"Most times you redshirt some-
one, it's because you think he
can be a special player withmore
time, more weight and all of
those things."
Maybe some of the veterans few years ago, LeVert would have
appreciate LeVert because they seen playing time as a freshman,
can relate to him. Burke, Hard- just like they did.
away and Morgan didn't get "That's how we started this
the high school accolades that team, was with a bunch of guys
McGary and Robinson did. They who were underestimated,"
were lightly recruited, just like Morgan said. "Those are always
LeVert. the guys who are willing to work.
Maybe when they see LeVert That's not a knock against high-
and all the work he has been ly-recruited players, because
putting in, they see themselves we have some highly-recruited
a couple of years ago, the under- players and they work hard too,
the-radar freshmen that ended so that's not at all the case. But
up becoming the backbone of there's just something about
this current Michigan squad. guys that are under the radar but
Or maybe they realize that a have that drive to be good."
ALDEN REISS/Daily
Freshman guard Caris LeVert is likely doe tsr a redshirt this season.
like a real point guard."
Beilein had scouted the fresh-
man from Pickerington, Ohio
and liked his versatility and
upside, but he was a bit of an
unknown to the rest of the Wol-
verines.
It took less than a full practice*
session to see that LeVert was
going to be more than just a late
addition to the recruiting class.
Players were amazed that some-
body that tall and skinny could
have such impressive body con-
trol and ball-handling skills.
They were also impressed by
his work ethic. LeVert arrived in
Ann Arbor weighing close to 160
pounds, but according to an esti-
mate by junior Tim Hardaway
Jr., has already added 20 pounds
of muscle after a couple months
at Michigan.
"He's in the gym more than
a lot of people," redshirt junior
forward Jordan Morgan said in
Chicago. "He just wants to get
better. His problem was his body,
and he's already put on a lot of
weight and is going to continue
to do that. He just has a lot of
game, and he's willing to take
what anyone has to tell him and
willing to just learn.
"Whether it be this year or in
the near future, he definitely can
be a really, really good player."
Still, this praise all came
before the exhibition games
started, where Levert looked
unspectacular. It was clear he
hadn't adjusted to the speed of
the college game yet, scoring just
three points on 1-of-6 shooting
in a combined 22 minutes of play
in. Michigan's two exhibition
games.
And part of the problem with
switching from a school like
Ohio to a school like Michigan
is the talent and depth of each
team, especially in a year when
Michigan is ranked No. 5 in the
country.
Beilein said before the first
regular-season game against
Slippery Rock that he didn't
want to use up LeVert's redshirt