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Wednesday, September 25, 2013 - 7A
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Lewan: 'I'm not going to apologize for being 4-0'
By LIZ VUKELICH
Daily Sports Editor
When fans watched the Mich-
igan football team scrape by
Connecticut on Saturday, it was
almost like a horrible sense of
deji vu. The Wolverines didn't
see it that way, though.
After beating the Huskies,
Michigan sauntered off the
field, patting each other on the
back and smiling. The mood
was jovial. You wouldn't have
been able to tell the Wolverines
just survived another close call,
another narrow win against a
team they were supposed to have
run circles around.
It was a far cry from the Akron
game a week prior. After that
disappointment, Michigan didn't
celebrate its win. It walked off
the field in silence. Fifth-year
senior left tackle Taylor Lewan
cursed during his postgame
interview, while redshirt junior
quarterback Devin Gardner sat
by his side in silence.
Fans may not have been able
to tell the difference between the
team that played the Zips and
the one that faced the Huskies,
but Michigan coach Brady Hoke
certainly could.
"It was a much different
team," he said when asked if he
saw an improvement in the Wol-
verines from Akron to UConn.
Lewan agrees. The captain
used the word embarrassing five
times to describe Michigan's
performance against Akron.
Tuesday, though, he was more
optimistic about the Wolverines'
future as they head into their
first bye week on the eve of Big
Ten play.
"I'm not going to apologize for
being 4-0," Lewan said. "I saw a
huge sense of urgency in those
young guys. They understand we
want to be successful every sin-
gle week. I think it really clicked
for them in the second half of the
game."
But for as much as the pro-
gram says it's improved over the
last week, there's one main area
of concern - the coaching staff
is still looking for a way to reign
in Gardner's unpredictable play
that manifested Saturday with
his eighth interception of the
season.
Last week, offensive coordina-
tor AlBorges said Gardner wasn't
generally the type of player to
make the same mistake twice.
Hoke contradicted that state-
ment on Tuesday, though, saying
that Gardner now has to be "re-
coached," since he's become such
a wild card on the field.
The issue of Gardner as a
Superman figure has also been
addressed this season - does
Gardner try and do everything
himself because he simply
doesn't have enough trust in the
rest of his teammates? Hoke says
no.
"I think he's been a Superman
a long time," Hoke said. "I think
when you grow up being Super-
man, you have that in your mind,
and he's competitive. It's in his
DNA."
Lewan has been Gardner's
staunchest supporter, putting
much of the quarterback's woes
on his shoulders after the Akron
game.
As he reminded Gardner's
critics, there are still 10 other
players on the field, and a missed
assignment from any one of them
can be responsible for Gardner's
unpredictability.
"We haven't played a perfect
game yet," Lewan said. "Our
job is to perform like a Michi-
gan team every year. You look
around, there are banners every-
where of successful Michigan
teams. That's what we need to
live up to."
TERRA MOLENGRAFF/
Redshirt junior quarterback Devin Gardner has struggled to balance making plays and trying to be "Superman."
NOTABLE QUOTABLE
I think the media takes opponents and
downplays them. You know, I feel they did
that with UConn and did that with Akron.
Those are two great football teams and two
great programs.
-Senior defensive end Jibreel Black
620
Opponenstetal yardage
Despite a barrage of
shots, still no goals
TRACY KO/DaiT
Redshirt junior goalkeeper Adam Grinwis finished with a season-high 10 saves against the Grizzlies, the second-highest total in Michigan program history.
'M' can't break tie at Oakland
By JESSE KLEIN increase in speed of play and pas-
For TheDaily sion from the Michigan side.
"I thought the passion was
OAKLAND, Mich. - The win greater in the second half," said
against West Virginia last week- Michigan coach Chaka Daley said.
end was a brief hiatus from the "We moved it and we connected
frustration it. I thought we dug ourselves out
that has MICHIGAN 0 of the hole we created in the first
become the OAKLAND 0 half and essentially kept the ball in
Michigan their half."
men's soccer season. The team's Michigan threatened in the half
second overtime game in a row when Fabio Pereira fired a swift
didn't end with the heroics of the shot to the left, but Oakland's goal-
past weekend. This time the team keeper came up with a diving save,
tied Oakland with goose eggs on one of two on the night.
either side of the scoreboard Tues- Junior midfielder Marcos
day night. Ugarte, who had been providing
Oakland slightly controlled much needed speed down the left
the first half because of Michigan side of the field for Michigan, was
hand balls and fouls that forced injured halfway through the sec-
the ball back into Michigan's half. ond half on a blocked cross and
Oakland forward Shawn Claud had to leave for the remainder of
Lawson got the first shot off in the the game.
10th minute, managing to pull an Michigan tried to capitalize on
ultimately unsuccessful corner. its corner kicks as regulation drew
Overall Michigan had trouble to a close. Freshman midfielder
maintaining possession in Oak- Brett Nason fired a cross to sopho-
land's half, losing many headers more midfielder Colin McAtee,
to the Grizzlies. At the half, Oak- the hero of last game, for a shot
land led the game with eight shots. that went wide of Oakland's goal.
Michigan had just five. Again Michigan missed a
The second half saw a dramatic chance to end the game with 1:30
remaining with a header from
sophomore forward James Mur-
phy that dinged off the crossbar.
In overtime, Michigan kept its
momentum, getting a shot on goal
in the first minute.
Oakland responded with two
quick shots and redshirt junior
goalkeeper Adam Grinwis saved
both in extraordinary fashion.
This was Grinwis's first shutout of
the season, and he finished with 10
saves, his season high.
Passions and tempers started to
run high as the referees continued
to make few calls that Michigan
agreed with. Daley was almost
ejected and two separate fore-
heads-pressed-together moments
between players occurred in the
first half of overtime.
"We are disappointed that we
weren't protected enough by the
referee but those things happen
and we dealt with it and moved
on," Daley said.
In the last 10 seconds of the first
overtime session, senior forward
Malcolm Miller broke away, pull-
ing the Oakland keeper to the top
of the 18-yard box, resulting in a
collision that gave Miller a con-
troversial yellow card. It was the
third of four for the night, two to
the Grizzlies and the fourth to
freshman defenseman Lars Eck-
enrode.
In the second overtime, Oak-
land outshot Michigan 5-4, but
Grinwis kept the shutout intact by
forcing a bouncing ball wide of the
goal post.
The frustrations and stressors
continued for Michigan up until
the final seconds, as the game
clock was stopped for an Oakland
corner with 14 seconds remaining
in overtime.
The game remained tied,
though, leaving Michigan to con-
tinue its struggles on the road. The
Wolverines lost six road games
last season, and won just two. In
2013, they are now 1-1-2 on the
road. But according to Daley, their
biggest improvements could still
come in the offensive half where
he said they need to score goals.
"There were five or six really
quality chances, but we need to
connect them on target," Daley
said. "We got to make the keeper
make a save or put in the back of
the net and we didn't do either."
Michigan fired 17
shots, but offensive
crisis builds
By JEREMY SUMMITT
Daily Sports Editor
OAKLAND, Mich. - In a 0-0
overtime draw against Oakland
on Tuesday, the Michigan men's
soccer team struggled to garner
many quality chances, despite
firing 17 shots. Quality over
quantity is what Michigan coach
Chaka Daley urged his squad to
focus on offensively, but Michi-
gan could muster just six strikes
on goal.
Nothing epitomized the Wol-
verines' struggles more than
when the Grizzlies' goalkeeper,
Sean Lewis, made his first save
in the 59th minute of the match.
After that, he coasted to a relax-
ing evening.
"There's only one save I think
I remember him making that
I think he had to make," Daley
said.
There aren't issues with the
attacking build-up or the posses-
sion battle, though. Both of those
went according to plan for the
majority of the match.
Specifically in the overtime
sessions, Michigan controlled
the ball in the final third as it
toyed with Oakland's back line.
The Wolverines continued to
string creative passes together
but could never break through.
Shots from sophomore mid-
fielder Colin McAtee and senior
forward Tyler Arnone barely
crept wide, while others sailed
over the crossbar at crucial
moments. In the final 90 sec-
onds, sophomore forward James
Murphy's header bounced off the
crossbar before it was cleared
to ensure extra time. The list of
missed opportunities goes on
and on. The Wolverines were
close, but putting 31 percent of
their shots on goal is far from
desirable.
"I know them all," Daley said.
"I remember every single one of
the missed chances in the 18, in
and around the box, that were
better than what you'd call half
chances, and we didn't take
them."
Michigan was often passive
while peppering the Grizzlies'
defense, which hindered the
chance for quality opportuni-
ties that Daley was looking for.
Rightly so, frustration began
setting in after regulation, as yel-
low cards were shown to Mur-
phy and freshman defender Lars
Eckenrode for retaliations in the
offensive third.
"I thought we tried to be a lit-
tle bit too precise at times in the
final third, as opposed to kind of
being a little more aggressive and
assertive," Daley said.
Similar offensive setbacks
have plagued the Wolverines all
season. Michigan has been shut
out three times already this sea-
son with four goals in the past
six games. A 5-2 thrashing of
Loyola-Chicago in the season
opener fooled everybody.
A 228-minute scoring drought
before netting two goals at West
Virginia this past weekend was
the most recent episode of the
Wolverines' offensive shortcom-
ings.
The woes are slowly turn-
ing into something resembling
a crisis for Michigan. With Big
Ten season looming this week-
end, the Wolverines are urgently
searching for answers.
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