8A - Thursday, September 5, 2013
The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
Soccer Preview: New year, new legacy
By SHANNON LYNCH
Daily Sports Writer
The 2012 season will be
remembered as one of develop- 79
ment for the Michigan men's
soccer team for both its young
players and head coach, Chaka
Daley.
The season was by no means
a disappointment - the Wol-
verines advanced to the second
round of the NCAA Tournament
before fallingto Akron, 2-1.
But the expectations for this
season are much higher.
Now back for his second year,
Daley is gearing his young team
up for a season meant to instill a
sense of pride in soccer at Michi-
gan similar to that of hockey,
football and men's basketball.
"There's Michigan athletic 7
culture, which is one of the best
athletic cultures in the country
bar none, but there's really not
a big Michigan soccer culture,"
Daley said. "We want to continue
to impress upon them that that's
the legacy they leave."
Daley is tasked once again
with one of the toughest sched-
ules in the country, including?
three games against ranked top-
10 teams outside of the strong Big
Ten.
Two weeks ago, the Wolver- Junior midfielder Tyler Arnone was na
ines were picked to finish fourth said. "How they complement the
in the Big Ten preseason coach- returning guys is going to be the
es' poll, behind first hurdle we
Indiana, Mich- face as a group
igan State and and as a staff."
Northwestern. "...There's With that,
With 10 the Daily
freshmen on really not a big breaks down
the roster, the e. this season.
team will need Michigan soccer
to adapt quick- CAPTAINS
ly and find the culture."
on-field chem- Senior
istry it needs to goalkeeper
earn victories. Adam Grinwis
"Having a turnover of players returns for his third year as the
always makes it a challenge, and Wolverines' starter and his first
having 11 new faces on the roster year as a co-captain. The Ada,
increases that challenge," Daley Mich., native led the Big Ten and
one-assist performance ina two-
game stretch against Loyola-
Chicago and Bowling Green.
Murphy, a second-year starter
for the Wolverines, developed
quite a resume last season, play-
ing 21 of 22 games and finishing
with four goals and two assists.
Another player to keep an eye
out for is transfer midfielder
Marcos Ugarte. In his first sea-
son at Michigan following two
years at Providence, Ugarte will
be paired with Arnone.
"I'm fairly versatile, so I can
definitely play other spots,"
Ugarte said. "I'm looking to
establish myself as a starter and
contributor to score goals and
add assists, and above all, help us
win games."
ROOKIES
The freshman class is diverse
and promising, featuring four
midfielders, three defensemen,
two forwards and a goalkeeper.
The class boasts four players
who ranked in the 2013 IMG
Academy 150 - the most in the
Big Ten - while Top Drawer Soc-
cer ranked it the No. 6 recruiting
class in the nation.
Six of the signees are ranked
amongthe top 150 players in Col-
lege Soccer News' Class of 2013,
led by midfielder Matt Miazga,
who comes in at No. 17. Defender
Rylee Woods, who earned his
first start in the home opener4
last week, holds down the No.
26 spot, while midfielder Brett
Nason is ranked at No. 47 to
round out the top 50.
START OF THE SEASON
After week one, Michigan is
1-0-1 and leads all Big Ten teams
with six goals and 19 points, a
major improvement from an
inauspicious 2012 start. The next
home game is scheduled for Fri-
day, Sept. 4, at the U-M Soccer
Stadium against South Florida.
med first team All-Big Ten last season after a stellar 2012 campaign. This summer, he was named a co-captain.
ranked eighth nationally with 92
saves last year and was placed
on the 2013 Big Ten Preseason
Watch List. Grinwis has a new
pair of players to get used to on
defense followingthe graduation
of defenseman Brian Klemczak
and the selection of Kofi Opare
by Major League Soccer's Los
Angeles Galaxy, but he seems
confident in the young talent.
"Lucky for me, these guys
aren't too hard-headed," Grin-
wis said. "As a defensive unit, we
can coach and mentor these new
faces as we complete our transi-
tion into a new era of Michigan
soccer."
The other co-captain, redshirt
junior midfielder Tyler Arnone,
will also take on an important
leadership role as he works to
outdo his stellar 2012 season. He
ranked second on the team in
2012 with 16 points - five goals
and six assists - and tied for
the team lead in shots with 46.
He has racked up a number of
awards in his time at Michigan,
including being named to the
first team All-Big Ten last sea-
son.
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Arnone and Grinwis aren't
the only players who made the
Big Ten Preseason Watch List.
Senior midfielder Fabio Pereira
was also recognized, and right-
ly so. Pereira led Michigan in
scoring in its last two seasons
and begins this season with 18
career assists, just 10 behind the
program record of 28. A year
ago, he ranked second in the Big
Ten with eight assists, fourth in
points with 20 and fifth in goals
with six. And in his season debut
Monday, he gave the Wolverines
their only goal in a 1-1 tie with
Bowling Green.
Sophomore forward James
Murphy proved himself in the
first week of regulation games,
earning Big Ten Offensive Play-
er of the Week for his two-goal,
Howard scheduled
ph so Calculated net
for autograpsesson present values.
Then netted
By EVERETT COOK
Daily Sports Editor
Michigan football fans were
expecting to see Heisman Tro-
phy winner Desmond Howard
on ESPN's College GameDay in
Ann Arbor on Saturday before
the Notre Dame game, but fans
might not have anticipated being
able to meet the legend. Thanks
to a new ad campaign, they will.
Teamed up with Nissan, How-
ard will appear at a variety of
events for the company's "Heis-
man House" campaign, which
creates ad spots centered around
the idea of every Heisman win-
ner living in the same house.
Because of his national TV pres-
ence, Howard is prominently
featured in many of the commer-
cials.
On Saturday, the Wolverine
legend will be at Michigan's Fan-
Fest on the southwest corner of
Main Street and Stadium Boule-
vard across from the Big House
participating in a "Chalk Talk"
session with ESPN anchor Neil
Everett from 5-5:15 p.m., fol-
lowed by an autograph session
with fans from 5:15-6:15.
Former Michigan and NFL
player Dhani Jones will also be
in attendance, doing a Chalk
Talk from 3:00-3:30 followed by
a 3:30-4:30 autograph session.
"When we go to these tour
stops, the lines are always out
the door to get autographs," said
Josh Clifton, the public rela-
tions manager for Nissan, in a
phone interview with the Daily.
"Usually there's a great response
and the home team gets fired up
during the Chalk Talk session.
Desmond is more of a prominent
player in the public eye because
of GameDay and his on-air stuff,
but as these other schools bring
some of these players back, it
might be one of the first times
they are back in the public eye in
a long time."
This is the third year of the
advertising campaign, but the
first time that Nissan is rolling
out a physical "house" for fans to
FILE PHOTO/Daily
Former Heisman Trophy winner Desmond Howard will be signing autographs
for fans before Saturday's game as part ofan ad campaign from Nissan.
interact in. The structure is built
to resemble the house that the
commercials were shot in, and
the interior is filled with pictures
of former Heisman winners, as
well as the actual Heisman tro-
phy.
There will be challenges, priz-
es and giveaways in the house,
but the main draw will be How-
ard, one of the program's most
famous alumni. The GameDay
schedule fluctuates week to
week, so it wasn't certain that
Howard would participate in
the Heisman House activities
until the GameDay stop was
announced last weekend.
But with a bit of foresight and
planning from Nissan and its
partner, ESPN, it worked out for
Michigan fans who want to get
an autograph and meet Howard.
"GameDay changes on the fly,
so we try to align ourselves with
what we think are going to be big
stops and where College Game-
Day will be," Clifton said. "We
knew this would be a big one."
Nissan will be bringing the
house to 10 stops this year,
including the Rose Bowl and
National Championship both in
Pasadena, Calif.
The campaign spots mock the
idea of all the Heisman legends
living together, but ended up
being a good way to get the play-
ers to actually spend time togeth-
er. They had seen each other at
Heisman ceremonies every year,
but in a club that's adding new
players every year, many of the
younger players hadn't ever met
the older players in the group.
"This Heisman House has
brought an elite fraternity of
players together," Clifton said.
"They had never really met and
didn't really have a gateway to
interact and share stories. That's
been kind of cool to see - Nissan
facilitate bringing together some
of these elite football players."