6A - Thursday, October 2, 2014

The Michigan Daily -- michigandallycom

6A - Thursday, October 2,2014 The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom I

MEN'S SOCCER
Possession tactics
failtohelp results
By TED JANES (Wysong) would have less to
For the Daily do," said Michigan coach Chaka
Daley. "From that standpoint,
Despite holding the lion's I think we did that. I think we
share of the ball against Western were very successful in that."
Michigan, the Michigan men's Wysonghad little effect in the
soccer team failed, yet again, to first half, as Michigan pressed
have any sort of offensive impact. high and managed to keep the
The Broncos stole the game in ball in the middle and attacking
overtime when defender Connor thirds of the field, out of
Furgason's low shot from just Wysong's reach. Playing with all
beyond the 18-yard box found its 10 field players in the opposing
way to the back of the net in a 1-0 half, the Wolverines attempted
victory. While Western Michigan to break through the Broncos'
capitalized on its chance on goal, back line but failed to connect
the Wolverines struggled to find with any forwards in the box.
thenet,aproblemthathasplagued "We had a lot of the ball in
them continuously this year. this (attacking) half," Daley said.
Early on, the Wolverines "If you look at the percentage
moved the ball fluently through it might have been 80-20. The
Western Michigan's - half, biggest stat is getting the result
swinging the ball across the at the end of it. We didn't put the
pitch under little pressure from performance with the result."
the Broncos. Two freshmen, Converting chances to goals
defender Billy Stevens and has proven difficult for the team.
goalkeeper Evan Louro, provided After a 1-0 loss to No. 15 Penn
the means for Michigan to switch State this weekend, Michigan
the point of attack, as the outside has fallen into a 313-minute
midfielders consistently had to goalless drought. Michigan
release back to the defense before commanded that game in
movingthe ball forward. the second half, but just like
The Wolverines faced a heavy Wednesday night, nothing found
threat from Western Michigan the back of the opposing net.
midfielder Nick Wysong, one But Daleyremained optimistic
of the fastest players on the that the results will come with
field Wednesday night. But the significant possession the
his effectiveness was largely Wolverines have found. The
nullified by Michigan's time of results will need to come soon,
possession. though, as Michigan has passed
Wysong, the Broncos' leading the halfway point in the season
scorer, made his presence and is entering perhaps its most
known, accelerating down the difficult stretch.
flanks multiple times toward the "We're having good
Wolverines' 18-yard box, only to performances with no results,"
come away with nothing. Daley said. "We need to stop
"Certainly if we had the ball, that from being contagious."
FOLLOW US: @THEBLOCKM

Lack of offense dooms 'M'

ByMITCH BECKMAN
Daily Sports Writer
Every time the Michigan
men's soccer team has gone to
overtime this season, they've
emerged
with a WM U 1
tie. So MICHIGAN 0
when the
Wolverines trotted onto the field
to begin the extra period against
Western Michigan after heavily
controlling the play for much of
the game, there was a feeling of
collective optimism.
Six minutes into overtime,
though, that feeling was replaced
by anguish.
Bronco defender Connor
Furgason found space across
the top of the box and fired a
shot into the low left corner,
sending the Western Michigan
(6-3-1) bench into a frenzy with
a 1-0 win.
The defeat follows a rough
September in which Michigan
(1-5-2) went winless. The team

4

4

Fifth-year senior midfielder Tyler Arnone and the Michigan offense have gone 313 minutes without scoring a goal.

had hoped a week
against a MAC o
yield a reversa
before facing a Bii
in Wisconsin on
No. 1 Notre
Dame next
Tuesday.
"When it is
overtime, it's
a coin toss,"
said Michigan
coach Chaka
Daley. "We
should've
taken care
of business
during regular
time, but unfortu
back to bite us."
The offensive
becoming a hal
season for the
which has now
in its past four ga

night matchup goal came Sept. 12th against
pponent would Maryland.
I of fortunes The result feels more
g Ten opponent disheartening as Michigan
Saturday and outplayed the Broncos . for
much of the
game. The
Wolverines
"W e're not controlled
possession,
getting any kind but had ahard
time finding
of fortunate chances
against a
bOUnCeS." conservative
defense that
made no
glaring errors
nately it came with the ball. Whenever the ball
was in the Western Michigan
struggles are box, a Bronco defender was there
lmark for the to clear the line.
young group, "We were very successful
failed to score (in possession)," Daley said.
mes. Their last "We had a lot of the ball in the

the second half. But possession
doesn't win games."
In the defensive half,
Michigan contained and'
controlled the Broncos for most
of the match. With the exception
of two instances, where
freshman goaltender Evan
Louro had to punch out a cross
and a sprawl to stave off a free
kick, there was little action in
front of the Wolverine net until
the overtime goal.
Michigan's best chance to
grab the lead came early in the
second half on what seemed like
a relatively innocuous free kick
from 40 yards out. Sophomore
defender Rylee Woods launched
a high, looping ball that evaded
the Bronco goalkeeper but rang
off the crossbar.
The shot became just another
tally on a long list of missed
opportunities.

"We're having good
performances," Daley said. "But
we're not getting any kind of
fortunate bounces. We hit the
crossbar, had a half volley go
right to the goalie - it's not luck
sometimes, but maybe we're just 4
unlucky at this point."
Michigan will certainly need
some bounces in the coming
weeks. The non-conference
loss is a setback that hurts
the team's already deflated
confidence. As they enter the
paramount portion of their
schedule - playing four more
games in the next two weeks -
the Wolverines are focused on
using the Big Ten to salvage their
postseason hopes.
"We have 10 games to go,"
Daley said. "Not all is lost. We're
disappointed, yes, but we'll live
to fight another day. Now the Big
Ten becomes our primary focus."

.1


THE
I iCTOR S
COLLECTION
6yTHE DEN
Where Michigan meets Fashion

4

4

RUBY WALLAU/Daily
er will start Saturday at Rutgers after he was relegated to backup last week.

Fifth-year senior quarterback Devin

Hoke pushes for normalcy

By MAX COHEN sprain and repeatedly deferred
Daily Sports Editor questions about the head injury
to a medical statement that was
Given the events swirling supposed to arrive soon after
around the Michigan football from medical professionals. .
team this week, it wasn't a normal Instead, Athletic Director Dave
Wednesday. Brandon sent a statement at 12:52
About eight minutes before a.m., which directly contradicted
Michigan coach Brady Hoke's - what Hoke taol, reporters earlier
weekly Wednesday press in the day. Brandon stated that
conference, a Michigan football Morris had been diagnosed with
public relations representative a concussion Sunday even though
stood in front of a larger-than- Hoke said Monday that, to his
normal crowd and reminded the knowledge, Morris didn't have a
reporters onhand thatavailability concussion.
would function as normal and last While Hoke has fielded
the typical eight to 10 minutes. questions from the media on
During Hoke's opening four occasions since Morris
statement, he tried to maintain suffered the concussion, Brandon
the fagade of a normal week by hasn't, addressing the media
talking about the competitive only through Tuesday morning's
spirit of his team in practice statement. This has led some to
and praising this weekend's believe that Hoke has been hung
opponent, Rutgers. out to dry by his boss this week.
Once the questions began, The coach addressed
though, there was little talk that perception Wednesday,
of football. In the wake of suggesting Brandon's statement
the controversy involving addresses everything the duo has
the concussion sustained by done to respond to the ongoing
sophomore quarterback Shane situation.
Morris in Saturday's game, the "Dave Brandon and I have a
majority of the questioning great relationship," Hoke said. "A
Wednesday revolved around the relationship that's built on trust,
Athletic Department's handling that's been built on integrity,
of the incident. that's been built on character. We
The events that transpired also understand the leadership
following Morris' concussion roles that we both have."
have become a national headline. While he asserted that he
Hoke spoke to the media at 12:30 hadn't been left out to dry, Hoke
p.m. Monday and maintained also refused to discuss what he
that Morris would've practiced actually knew at the time of his
Sunday if not for a high ankle press conference Monday. He

referred to Brandon's statement
throughout Wednesday's
availability, maintaining that it
contained all of the information
reporters needed.
Another point of contention
this week has been Hoke's refusal
to wear a headset on the sideline.
Monday, he unequivocally said
that wouldn't change because
of the Morris situation. But in
Tuesday's statement, Brandon
said there would be changes
in communication processes,
leading many to infer that Hoke
would begin wearing a headset.
That too was nullified, as Hoke
maintained the stance he took
Monday and has throughout
his Michigan coaching career,
explaining that he doesn't plan on
wearing a headset during games.
"It allows me to coach guys
on the sideline," Hoke said. "I've
got a guy right behind me who is
telling me everything that I need
to know as far as that's concerned
but I think it helps when you want
to be hands-on."
After more than 12 minutes
of speaking with the assembled
reporters, Hoke ended by turning
the attention back to football.
"I like where our football
mindset is," Hoke said, "And
where our team's at."
The message he delivered
Wednesday was clear. Though 4
the world is focused on the events
off the field, his primary focus, at
least in public, is to focus on the
game he must coach Saturday.

I