The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
SportsTuesday
September 8, 2015 — 7B

‘M’ sweeps with double-OT victory

By TYLER SCOTT

Daily Sports Writer

Throughout his tenure as a 

Wolverine, 
senior 
midfielder 

James Murphy has made scoring 
crucial goals for his team some-
thing of a habit. Sunday was no 
exception.

Two minutes into double over-

time, Murphy watched junior 
defender Rylee Woods launch a 
free kick into the penalty box.

“I just sort of ended up in the 

(18-yard) box, and luckily, no one 
seemed to be marking me,” Mur-
phy said. “It was a good ball, and 
I just thought to myself, ‘Attack it, 
go get whatever you can on it.’ ”

Woods had seen that Murphy 

was unguarded on the backside 
and launched a perfectly weight-
ed ball into the box. Murphy leapt 
to meet the ball, heading it past 
the goalkeeper and into the right 
side of the net.

With the goal, the Michigan 

men’s soccer team (2-1) defeated 
Niagara, 2-1, Sunday at U-M Soc-
cer Stadium.

“Luckily, I got pretty good con-

tact on it, and it went in,” Murphy 
said. “It was a bit of a relief, to be 
honest.”

The Wolverines established a 

threatening attack early on, tak-
ing eight shots and nine corner 
kicks in the first half alone. Yet 
despite the relentless attack, find-
ing the back of the net proved to 
be a challenge.

“We created a lot of chances, 

which is always a positive thing 
from an attacking point of view,” 
Murphy said. “Some of those 
didn’t go in, but we had good 
efforts, to be fair. … We kept fight-
ing and kept working hard, and 
we found a way out of it in the 
end, which is pleasing.”

The Purple Eagles (0-4) had 

only scored one goal in three 
games entering Sunday’s match. 
But in the 23rd minute, Niagara 
caught the Wolverines off guard 
on a dangerous counterattack. 
Forward Alex Dimitriu capital-

ized on the opportunity, lobbing a 
shot from 25 yards out that float-
ed over the outstretched arms 
of sophomore goalkeeper Evan 
Louro to give the Purple Eagles 
a 1-0 lead.

“We could have easily been 

(up) 2-0 in the first 10 minutes,” 
Murphy said. “Their score was 
a good goal, to be fair to him. ... 
They obviously got confidence 
off that, sat in and made it really 
difficult for (us), and it is frustrat-
ing.”

In the second half, Michigan 

was more aggressive with its 
attack, tallying nine shots. Fresh-
man defender Marcello Borges 
rattled a free kick off the crossbar 
in the 47th minute, while fresh-
man midfielder Francis Atua-
hene threatened the opposition 
with runs into the 18-yard box.

Daley’s plan of attack paid off 

when freshman midfielder Ivo 
Cerda scored the equalizing goal 

in the 71st minute off a Borges 
assist. Cerda fired a shot at the 
goal line that was originally 
blocked, but he managed to find 
and bury the rebound to tie the 
game.

Late in the match, the Wol-

verines attempted to utilize the 
speed of senior forward Wil-
liam Mellors-Blair by playing 
long balls and letting him outrun 
the defense. Through the end of 
regulation and the first sudden-
death period, Michigan con-
tinued to generate chances, but 
couldn’t find the finishing touch.

It wasn’t until Murphy’s first 

goal of the season that the Wol-
verines sealed the victory.

“It was certainly a hard-

fought, grind-out game which 
I think last year or the last two 
years, we may have given away,” 
Daley said. “Our guys stood up 
and did what they were supposed 
to do.”

RITA MORRIS/Daily

Senior midfielder James Murphy celebrates his game-winning, double-overtime goal that led Michigan to victory this weekend against Niagara.

By BRANDON CARNEY

Daily Sports Writer

Francis Atuahene set the 

bar high for all forwards on the 
Michigan men’s soccer team 
after scoring a hat trick against 
West Virginia on Friday, putting 
pressure on his teammates to 
match his performance when 
the Wolverines took on Niagara 
on Sunday.

While the freshman forward 

continued to impress, it was 
his fellow wide attackers who 
followed his lead, as Michigan 
(2-1) was able to take down the 
Purple Eagles (0-4) in extra 
time, 2-1.

The Wolverines found success 

on the wings as Niagara failed 
to stop Michigan from moving 
the ball down the flanks the 
entire match. Of the 20 shots the 
Wolverines attempted against 
the Purple Eagles, a majority 

were created thanks to the 
runs and crosses made by wide 
attackers and fullbacks.

Michigan 
coach 
Chaka 

Daley started an experienced 
trio of forwards with redshirt 
senior Colin McAtee and senior 
William Mellors-Blair on the 
wing and redshirt senior TJ 
VanSlooten up top. The front 
line controlled possession and 
pushed Niagara back into the 
final third early on, but failed to 
find a finishing touch in front of 
 

the goal.

With the team playing on 

short rest, Daley was forced 
to 
experiment 
with 
his 

wide 
personnel 
and 
turned 

to 
Atuahene 
and 
freshman 

defender Marcello Borges.

“We have some good, dynamic 

players who we can interchange 
in those areas,” Daley said. 
“(Playing one-on-one against 
Atuahene and Borges) can wear 

you down, so I think we have 
good depth in those spots to 
keep the pressure on the other 
team.”

Borges, 
who 
originally 

subbed on as a right back, 
proved impactful early on as he 
made aggressive runs at Purple 
Eagle defenders from his deep 
role. In the second half, he 
was moved forward and was 
successfully getting crosses into 
the box from his more advanced 
position.

“(Borges) is good enough to 

start on the team, easily,” Daley 
said. “We have two fullbacks 
who are physically imposing, 
but Borges is certainly good 
enough to start and will play a 
ton of minutes all season in wide 
areas.”

In the 71st minute, Borges’ 

hard work in the final third paid 
off when he connected with 
fellow freshman forward Ivo 
Cerda for the equalizing goal.

The two fullbacks currently 

starting in front of Borges 
were also key in Michigan’s 
dominance up and down the 
flanks. 
Sophomore 
defender 

Billy Stevens and junior defender 
Rylee Woods gave the forwards 
in front of them several quality 
chances while providing stout 
defense in front of the Wolverine 
net.

Woods 
frequently 
found 

himself making plays further 
up the field in his role as the 
attacking fullback. He was able 
to draw fouls and corners to give 
Michigan chances on set pieces 
that Woods took.

The dead-ball specialist ended 

the prolonged match when he 
found senior midfielder James 
Murphy’s head off a free kick for 
the sudden-death winner.

“It’s great for people like 

me and the other central guys 
because we have so many good 
attacking wide players,” Murphy 
said. “The way they all stepped 
in today when they were asked 
to was real pleasing.”

Pasternak, Wolverines 
start season off strong

Twelve Michigan 
athletes finish in 
top 25 in opener at 
Eastern Michigan

By CHRIS CROWDER

Daily Sports Writer

It’s not often that starting 

a season ranked No. 12 is seen 
as a disappointment. But for 
the Michigan women’s cross 
country team, which started 
last season as the No. 1 team in 
the nation, it constitutes a dip. 
After an 18th-place finish in 
the NCAA Championships last 
season, the Wolverines enter 
this year with less hype than 
they had last season.

Instead of competing at the 

Michigan Open, the annual 
opening race Michigan has 
hosted for years, the Wolverines 
changed 
up 
their 
schedule 

to 
compete 
at 
the 
EMU 

Celebration. And it has already 
paid off.

“We were all pretty calm 

going into it,” said senior Anna 
Pasternak. “For the most part, 
people were pretty happy with 
how their day went. It was 
definitely the fastest race we’ve 
had as an opener.”

Twelve Michigan athletes 

finished in the top 25, not 
including five others from the 
team who competed unattached. 
One hundred sixteen athletes 
from 
15 
schools 
competed, 

but most of the runners were 
unattached, not representing 
their school.

Michigan junior Erin Finn, 

who ran unattached, finished 
first with a time of 16:54 — a 
course record and the only 
time under 17 minutes in the 
field. Pasternak, the top runner 

among the Wolverines, finished 
fourth overall with a 17:24 clip.

Rounding 
out 
Michigan 

runners in the top 10 were senior 
Shannon Osika, who finished 
sixth with a time of 17:30; senior 
Erika Fluehr, who finished 
seventh with a time of 17:38; 
and redshirt freshman Claire 
Borchers, who finished 10th 
with a time of 17:50. Borchers 
competed just twice last season, 
finishing 13th and 25th at the 
EMU Classic and the Michigan 
Open, respectively. Fluehr is a 
fifth-year senior and graduate 
transfer from Princeton, and 
Saturday was her first time 
competing as a Wolverine.

Each 

Michigan 
athlete’s 
performance 
represented 
improvement, 
as 
all 
seven 

runners 
in 

the Michigan 
Open last year 
ran 
faster 

times in this 
season’s 
opening race. Even with classes 
about to start and the thick 
of the season yet to begin, the 
Wolverines were proud of their 
performances.

“It is definitely a more hectic 

time of the year,” Pasternak 
said. “We just finished our 
preseason camp and people are 
moving into their dorms and 
houses and stuff, and getting 
ready for school. It was nice that 
it was a nearby venue, but we 
were looking forward to seeing 
how our work at camp came 
together at this race.”

At camp, the team split up 

into subgroups and aimed to 
stay in those groups during the 
race. The strategy paid off, as 
some racers ran their fastest 

5Ks 
ever. 
The 
Wolverines 

enjoyed the success that came 
with the plan and hope it will 
continue to improve their times 
as the season progresses.

“(Saturday’s 
race) 
was 
a 

confidence booster,” Pasternak 
said. “Knowing that we can run 
this fast coming off a hard week 
this early, it makes us excited 
for what we can do.”

Pasternak and her teammates 

know that they have a long 
season ahead of them with more 
struggles, because as Michigan 
learned last year, success the 
first week doesn’t mean that 
the outcome in upcoming weeks 
will be certain.

The 

Wolverines 
are especially 
trying to take 
care of their 
bodies 
to 

avoid 
injury. 

Last 
season, 

Finn 
and 

Osika 
were 

injured 
at 

the 
end 
of 

the 
season, 

dashing Michigan’s hopes of a 
national championship.

“We’re really emphasizing 

proper recovery and refueling,” 
Pasternak said. “If we can keep 
that as a priority, that will 
really help us throughout the 
season. We’re going to try to 
use each other as resources for 
knowledge and strength during 
workouts. Each one of us is 
smarter this season compared 
to last year. ”

If the Wolverines stay healthy 

and race as well as they did 
Saturday, the end of the season 
could bode well for Michigan. 
While the EMU Celebration is 
only the first race of the season, 
it’s also the first step toward 
success.

WOMEN’S CROSS COUNTRY

“It was definitely 
the fastest race 
we’ve had as an 

opener.”

JAMES COLLER/Daily

Freshman forward Reilly Martin scored her second goal of the season in Friday’s 5-0 win at Portland.
‘M’ splits weekend

By KATIE CONKLIN

Daily Sports Writer

Though 
the 
Michigan 

women’s 
soccer 
team 
went 

1-1 this weekend at the Husky 
Nike Invitational in Seattle, the 
Wolverines’ continued quality 
of play gives them no reason to 
worry early in the season.

Michigan dropped the second 

game of its doubleheader on 
Sunday 
to 
Washington, 
but 

trumping Portland 5-0 earlier 
gave the Wolverines a split.

In its latter match, Michigan’s 

three-game 
winning 
streak 

ended in dramatic fashion when 
Washington scored the winning 
goal in the 89th minute.

“(Sunday’s) game was just what 

we expected,” said Michigan 
coach Greg Ryan. “It was two 
really good teams playing great 
soccer early in the season. It 
just came down to Washington 
scoring a great goal late.”

Entering the contest with a 

4-1 record, the Wolverines had 
outshot their opponents, 112-
27. And against Washington, 
Michigan 
didn’t 
cease 
to 

create opportunities or scoring 
chances. However, outshooting 
Washington 18-12 did not earn 
the Wolverines a win.

“We had plenty of chances 

throughout the match,” Ryan 

said. 
“Perhaps 
the 
better 

chances.”

The 
Wolverines’ 
scoring 

opportunities came from all over 
the roster rather than certain key 
goal scorers. Compared to some 
of Michigan’s opponents, this 
depth is an advantage and could 
be one of the reasons the team is 
seeing such early success.

“We’ve just got a lot of talented 

players 
through 
all 
of 
the 

classes,” Ryan said. “Everybody’s 
contributing. The kids coming off 
the bench are 
contributing, 
and at the end 
of the day, it’s 
early 
in 
the 

season, 
but 

this 
team 
is 

in 
midseason 

form.”

With Michigan’s depth and 

plethora of scoring opportunities, 
all the Wolverines need to do is 
get their shots to land in the back 
of the net, an ability they showed 
against Portland but not against 
Washington.

“We 
scored 
five 
against 

Portland,” Ryan said. “On that 
day we took our chances well, 
but against Washington, we had 
some great chances and we just 
didn’t take them well enough.” 

Against Portland, in their 

first away game of the season, 

the 
Wolverines 
entered 
the 

pitch energized, but with a 
better end result. Sparked by the 
substitution of senior forward 
Lulu Haidar, Michigan began to 
pull away when Haidar bent the 
ball into the upper-right corner 
to make it a 1-0 game in the 26th 
minute.

Michigan’s 
pressure 
up 

top didn’t end there, as the 
Wolverines buried two more 
shots to enter halftime with a 3-0 
lead.

The 

Wolverines 
poured it on 
in the second 
half. Freshman 
forward Reilly 
Martin 
and 

freshman 

midfielder Abby Kastroll notched 
the final two tallies for Michigan, 
resulting in a 5-0 victory.

Michigan plans on putting 

an emphasis on finishing in its 
future matches.

And 
with 
plenty 
scoring 

opportunities created so far this 
season, the Wolverines don’t 
seem worried.

“We have to start hitting the 

net more often — that’s going to 
be our main focus,” Ryan said. 
“Everything else is looking really 
good. We’ve just got to hit the 
net.”

“This team is in 
midseason form.”

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