8A - Wednesday, October 22, 2014
The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom ,,
SAM MOUSIGIAN/Daily
Junior forward James Murphy and the offense, despite numerous chances, couldn't capitalize in Tuesday's draw.
'M' can't capitalize in tie
Michigan coach Chaka Daley gave sophomore forward Yamaan Sahlool a chance to start on Tuesday, and he rewarded
him with perhaps his best performance, coming close with Michigan's two best chances, despite the scoreless tie.
rare chance to start,
Sahlool stands out i*n tie
By MARK LAWSON
For the Daily
In many games, the difference
between celebrating a victory or
mourning a defeat often comes
down to the one play where the
ball happens to take a favorable
bounce.
On Tuesday night at U-M
Soccer Stadium, the Wolverines
never got their much-needed
bounce.
Michigan entered Tuesday
night's contest against Detroit-
Mercy looking find a rhythm on
offense after having an entire
week since its last game. The
extra time off didn't ignite the
dormant offense, though, as
the Wolverines couldn't find
the back of the net, leaving
them with a 0-0 tie after two
overtimes.
"I think it was a tale of
the same kind of story," said
Michigan coach Chaka Daley.
"We carried the game and
had all of the ball. In fairness
to them, they had some good
chances, but we carried the
game and just couldn't put the
ball in the net."
Though few in number,
there were still opportunities
for Michigan to get on the
scoreboard.In the 102nd minute,
redshirt junior midfielder Colin
McAtee, the team's top scorer,
had a solid angle on a shot until
a late deflection by Detroit sent
his shot just off the crossbar.
This, like other plays, was
another chance where Daley's
crew needed the bounce to go
its way.
"It was all right there for us,"
Daley said. "Off the hip, off the
knee, you need a lucky knee,
lucky toe, something like that to
change the game a little."
With offensive production
lacking, defense kept the
Wolverinies in the game the
entire time.
With 16 shots for the night,
Detroit's offense struggled
against Michigan defensemen,
allowing freshman goalie Evan
Louro to stop just four shots en
route to a shutout.
After 90 minutes of a
pure defensive struggle, the
Wolverines still were left with
two more overtime periods to
pull away with a win for the
night. Detroit was ready and
decided to pull back and play
for the tie rather the win, a
tactic Michigan has faced in the
past.
"They didn't look to play at
all," Daley said of the Titans'
overtime performance. "They
sat 11 guys behind the ball,
which is an awful way to play.
We have had three or four teams
have that exact same tactic."
Detroit's preventive
defense eventually led to an
anticlimactic ending, as the
Wolverines walked away with a
disappointingtie.
Still, Michigan will look to
finish the season strong as it
wraps up its last three Big Ten
games, starting with Indiana on
Sunday.
"We have to fight for our lives
to stay in the Big Ten race,"
Daley said. "We need to get our
mentality right. The Big Ten
seems to be everything now."
By WES ROMAN Daley. "He has done everything
For the Daily except maybe get a goal or two,
which he deserves."
Given a rare opportunity In a game of few chances,
to start, sophomore forward Sahlool was involved in the two
Yamaann Sahlool was one of best.
the few bright spots for the The first came just 16
Michigan men's soccer team minutes into the match, when
in a dull 0-0 draw with Detroit he received the ball around
-Mercy at U-M Soccer Stadium midfield, turned and slid a
on Tuesday night. through ball to redshirt junior
Sahlool, who has appeared midfielder Colin McAtee, who
in all but one game, earned his - despite his red-hot form -
first start since the Wolverines' was unable to finish his one-on-
scoreless draw against one with Titans keeper Nathan
Northwestern on Sept. 21. And Steinwascher.
he didn't disappoint. The second chance, which
Despite came in
not scoring - the first
usuallythe main overtime
component of "He has done period,
a striker's job seemed
description everything certain to
- Sahlool's give the
inventive and except get a goal Wolverines
efficient play r'g t(2-1-2 Big
made his case or two." Ten, 4-6-3
for more playing overall) a
time in the dramatic
remainderofthe victory.
season. He did well in holdup In the 94th minute, McAtee
play and provided a creative returned the favor, sending an
component to Michigan's attack, enticing ball to Sahlool. His
something the Wolverines have header from six yards out beat
been missing for much of the the keeper and seemed destined
year. for the back of the net, but
"Every time we've used it instead hit the woodwork
Yamaann this year, he's been and bounced harmlessly into
extremely positive in his play," Steinwascher's arms.
said Michigan coach Chaka "Obviously I'm disappointed
not to have either assisted on a
goal or scored a goal," Sahlool
said. "But it's definitely a step
in the right direction, because
we are a team that needs to
start being more dangerous
around goal and creating more
chances."
With a massive fixture
against No. 5 Indiana looming
Sunday afternoon, Daley saw
an opportunity to rotate the
squad and give some players an
impromptu audition.
"At our current state, nothing
is guaranteed to anybody,"
Daley said. "We wanted to
give some guys some more
time, because they've earned
it, and to see if they could offer
something to the team."
Sahlool hopes that his
performance Tuesday was
enough to convince his coach,
but he maintained that he could
still influence proceedings even
with a return to his substitute
role.
"I'm really happy, and I hope
I continue to start," Sahlool
said. "But if not, I'll always be
available off the bench."
With four games remaining
in the regular season, three of
which are Big Ten matchups,
Sahlool will surely need to start
converting chances into goals if
he hopes to earn Daley's trust -
and more frequent appearances
in the starting 11.
IMCREDIT
UNION.
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