The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Sports
Wednesday, September 12, 2018 — 7A

‘M’ shuts out Marquette for fourth straight win

On 
Monday 
night, 
the 
scoreboard read 3-0 at the half. 
For the coaches and players, 
though, the game was still 
scoreless. The Michigan men’s 
soccer team (4-1) did not want to 
not fall victim to the same fate as 
the previous game.
The 
Wolverines 
found 
themselves in a familiar situation: 
a multi-goal lead going into the 
half. Last Friday, Michigan was 
up 2-0 against Western Michigan. 
In the second half of that game, 
the Broncos stormed back to 
force overtime in a game that the 
Wolverines eventually won.
But in the second half on 
Monday night, Michigan played 
like a team determined to win 
in regulation. Led by a stingy 
backline, the Wolverines earned 
a shutout over Marquette (2-3) — 
the first victory over the Golden 
Eagles 
in 
five 
head-to-head 
matches all-time — and their 
fourth consecutive win of the 
season.
The first 10 minutes of the 
match featured back-and-forth 
play with neither team having a 
clear advantage in possession. 
Any control Michigan had on the 
attack throughout the opening 
minutes of the game was featured 
almost exclusively on the left side 
of the pitch. Sophomore forward 
Umar Farouk Osman created a 
few early scoring opportunities, 
using his pace to create space in 
the attacking third but couldn’t 
capitalize on the chances.
Sophomore defender Austin 
Swiech opened up scoring in the 
12th minute. As the ball trickled 
out of the 18-yard box in what 
became a broken play off of a 
corner kick, Swiech fired in a low 
shot that found the right corner 
of the net past outstretched 
goalkeeper Cedrik Stern for his 
first career goal.
“It was rolling out to me, how 
we do it in training,” Swiech said. 
“I just saw it and struck it low and 
into traffic and I hoped it went in 
or for a deflection to go in.”

After 
Swiech’s 
goal, 
the 
Wolverines not only took the lead 
but also control of the game.
Just over a minute later, 
good ball movement in the 
attacking third found open senior 
midfielder and captain Robbie 
Mertz inside the 18-yard box, 
who slotted the ball past the right 
side of Stern, to give his team a 
2-0 advantage.
Michigan kept the pressure 
on the Golden Eagles’ defense, 
squandering 
Marquette’s 
offensive 
momentum 
and 
dominating play particularly on 
the right side of the field through 
junior forward Jack Hallahan.
The 
Wolverines 
earned 
a 
pair of corner kicks in the 27th 
minute. After a weak clearance 
on the second corner, the ball 
found Hallahan on the right side 
of the pitch outside the 18-yard 
box. Hallahan then curled in a 
left-footed shot towards the far 
post, just under the crossbar 

and over a leaping Stern, giving 
Michigan a commanding 3-0 lead 
going into the half.
“(Hallahan’s) 
scored 
some 
fabulous goals here at Michigan,” 
said 
Michigan 
coach 
Chaka 
Daley. “So, it didn’t surprise me 
when he put it in. I was like, ‘Man, 
he meant to do that.’ Because at 
the end of the day, he’s scored 
some really nice goals for us and 
that was one of them.”
Despite having a halftime 
lead, the Wolverines were weary 
of the complacency that led to 
their defensive collapse in their 
previous game.
“(Coach Daley) just said, ‘Don’t 
let go. Keep going out there and 
pretend like it’s nil-nil. Keep 
going at them, you never know 
what can happen,’ ” Hallahan 
said.
As expected, Marquette came 
into the second half aggressive 
on offense, desperate to push the 
pace and create scoring chances. 

Michigan’s defense weathered 
the storm, however, halting any 
opportunities the Golden Eagles 
had.
The 
Wolverines 
regained 
control 
of 
possession 
after 
the early offensive blitz from 
Marquette who, by the 80th 
minute, appeared demoralized by 
the 3-0 deficit.
“I think it was a point of riding 
the storm at first,” Hallahan said. 
“Making sure we didn’t concede, 
keep a clean sheet and then 
eventually get control of the ball 
again. The more possession we 
had, the less they could do with 
the ball and the less fret against 
us.”
At the final whistle, Michigan 
reconciled 
the 
second-half 
struggles that plagued the team 
in its previous match by playing 
dominant on defense for a full 
90 minutes to extend their win 
streak to four games heading into 
Big Ten play.

Balance propels ‘M’

Individual talent alone cannot 
win team sports — just ask 
LeBron James. It takes teamwork, 
dedication and balance. Monday 
night, the Michigan men’s soccer 
team (4-1) demonstrated it has all 
three in spades with a 3-0 shutout of 
Marquette (2-3).
On 
attack, 
the 
Wolverines 
showed just how balanced their 
squad is as three different players 
found the back of the net. The 
offense employed early aggression 
and worked diligently to create 
opportunities for all its players.
Kicking things off for Michigan 
was sophomore defenseman Austin 
Swiech.
In just the thirteenth minute of 
the game, the Wolverines’ offensive 
pressure paid off. After a cross from 
sophomore forward Umar Farouk 
Osman was headed outside of the 
box, Swiech picked up the rebound 
in stride and sent a rocket screaming 
towards the net. The ball tipped off 
a Golden Eagle defender and snuck 
inside the left post, and just like that, 
Swiech had his first career goal.
On the other side of the field, 
Swiech consistently made key 
defensive stops, serving as the 
anchor of the defensive line.
Swiech’s quality of play speaks 
volumes to the depth and team 
chemistry of this Michigan squad. 
Swiech wasn’t originally intended 
to start for the Wolverines this 
year, but instead was thrust into a 
starting role in light of an injury to 
senior defenseman Peter Brown. 
Since assuming the position, Swiech 
has exceeded expectations, much to 
the delight of his teammates and 
coaches.
“Swiech’s been brilliant,” said 
junior forward Jack Hallahan. “I 
think he didn’t get many minutes 
last year. I think he made a few 
appearances, but it’s brilliant to see 
him step up. He got his first goal, 
really happy for him tonight, and I 
think he deserves it. About time he 
got one.”
Added Michigan coach Chaka 
Daley: “Austin’s played himself 

into a position where he’s been 
consistent, passes the ball well, 
scored a goal tonight, which helps. 
He’s got good service, has defended 
well one v. one and he’s learning on 
the job. He’s being deputized as the 
games go on, but it’s a tough one as 
he replaces someone who is injured, 
but he’s given himself a fair shot to 
be included.”
Beyond the efforts of Swiech, the 
Wolverines have found meaningful 
contributions up and down their 
roster against nearly all competition 
so far this season. With his team 
scoring multiple goals in all of its 
wins, Daley finds unselfish play and 
offensive prowess coming easily to 
his players. But more importantly, 
his players have bought into the 
idea.
“Unselfish, unselfish, unselfish, 
and our guys have bought into it,” 
Daley said. “They don’t have to be. 
You gotta remember that. They 
can be a different way, but they’ve 
been very unselfish, and I think the 
proof’s in the pudding. They’ve all 
created chances for themselves and 
for others, and the goals have flowed 
because of that.”
That kind of altruism and group 
cohesion does not come easily or 
quickly. It takes time and effort as 
teams build a rapport and fall into 
a rhythm. By playing together last 
year and finding early success this 
season, Michigan is right where it 
wants to be.
To gauge this cohesion, Daley 
checks the tape. But not the footage 
of seamless passing or highlight reel 
assists — Daley watches his players’ 
celebrations.
“I go back, it’s kinda a weird 
thing, I go back and I look at the 
celebrations a little bit to see who’s 
with who and how we’re acting and 
reacting,” Daley said. “Very team-
centric, making sure we’re about 
the team, the team, the team. And 
I’m looking at all the celebrations 
online or on video where I watch 
it and making sure guys are very 
intermingled.”
Nothing brings people together 
like winning, and right now, due 
to their cohesion and balance, the 
Wolverines are doing a lot of it.

Notebook: Bushell-Beatty fights against criticisms, Thomas on offense

Fifth-year 
senior 
tackle 
Juwann Bushell-Beatty doesn’t 
seek it out, but it’s impossible 
to ignore. He scrolls through 
social media and sees and 
hears the harsh criticism his 
unit faces. It reached a fever 
pitch after the 24-17 loss to 
Notre Dame on 
Sep. 1, and has 
since 
quieted 
a tad, after the 
Wolverines 
rushed 
for 
over 300 yards 
against Western 
Michigan 
this 
past weekend.
Bushell-
Beatty 
says 
that’s 
how 
it 
goes — lose one 
week and fans want your head, 
win the next and the uproar 
fades. He thinks it stems 
from the public’s inability to 
understand the fundamentals 
of offensive line play. He, 
like 
Michigan 
coach 
Jim 
Harbaugh, thinks the criticism 
of the offensive line has been 
misguided.
“The public doesn’t really 
understand the inner-workings 
of how things go on in here,” 
Bushell-Beatty said Tuesday 
afternoon. “I think there were 
mistakes, and when there’s 
mistakes — and there’s always, 
everyone 
wants 
to 
point 
fingers and there are things 
that happened. It’s football. I 
understand, regardless of what 
happens, O-Line is going to 
take blame for whatever. I’ve 
accepted that. Whether it’s 
true or not, is not up to me.
“Some of it is (unwarranted), 
but that’s life. People are going 
to criticize you for everything 
you do. The sooner you learn to 
accept that the better.”
He 
added 
that 
it’s 
a 
galvanizing force for a group 
that isn’t willing to apologize 
for weaknesses it feels doesn’t 
exist. 
Redshirt 
sophomore 
center 
Stephen 
Spinellis 
affirmed 
this 
sentiment 
Monday afternoon.
When Bushell-Beatty talks, 

he sounds like a calloused 
veteran who’s been on the 
receiving end of insults his 
entire 
career. 
He 
speaks 
candidly, but maturely, about 
how he feels, not in a combative 
way, but in a stern assertion of 
how he feels.
He hasn’t always been able to 
handle criticism as assuredly.
“It’s not something that’s 
easy 
to 
have 
people pointing 
fingers at you,” 
he 
said. 
“It’s 
something that 
takes 
time. 
I 
understand 
my role on this 
team and as a 
football player, 
there are things 
that 
happen, 
things are going 
to 
go 
wrong, 
people are going to say, ‘You 
suck.’ But, I mean, at the end 
of the day, they can’t do what 
they do, that’s why they watch 
us on TV.”
Ambry 
Thomas 
getting 
chance on offense
Whether in seven-year-old 
Pee Wee football or on the road 
at Notre Dame, the recipe for 
sophomore Ambry Thomas has 
long been the same: Just run.
“I was literally seven years 
old,” Thomas said. “Every time 
I touched it, I just ran and 
scored. They just tell me ‘Run!’ 
That’s all I did. I just ran. Like 
Forest Gump, run.”
When you have the speed 
Thomas does, that works out 
more often than it doesn’t. 
When Thomas watches film, 
his speed even stands out to 
him.
“I didn’t know I was that 
fast,” Thomas said. “I knew I 
was fast, but that fast, no.”
The Monday after the loss to 
Notre Dame, Michigan coach 
Jim Harbaugh informed the 
team Thomas wouldn’t just be 
using his speed at cornerback 
and on special teams; he’d 
work in with the offense as 
well. It’s a chance Thomas had 
awaited with baited breath.
He got one carry on Saturday 
against 
Western 
Michigan, 
gaining 
five 
yards. 
He 

estimates he’s been working 
on offense for a play or two 
in each practice — hardly a 
challenging endeavor for the 
sophomore.
But an enticing opportunity 
for him and for an offense in 
dire need of explosive plays, 
nonetheless.
Last 
season, 
Michigan 
ranked 
58th 
in 
IsoPPP, 
a 
statistic 
that 
meaures 
explosive 
offensive 
plays. 
Thomas is a walking explosive 
play. He was in Pee Wee. He 
was in high school. He can be 
in college, too.
“High school, it was like 
the same thing. That’s when I 
really got at corner,” Thomas 
said. “They saw what I could 
do at corner, they liked my 
speed there. They said ‘Aw, 
yeah, this guy could possible 
be a two-way player at the next 
level.’
“I just like knowing that 

you have the opportunity to 
change the game, if you get the 
ball in your hands. That’s real 
exciting to me.”
McCurry’s first touchdown
Redshirt 
freshman 
wide 
receiver 
Jake 
McCurry didn’t 
keep the ball. 
It didn’t occur 
to him that his 
first touchdown 
in the Big House 
— and the first 
catch 
of 
his 
career — might 
carry 
some 
sentimentality 
down the road.
“That didn’t go through my 
head at all,” McCurry said 
Tuesday afternoon.
With just under nine minutes 
left in Saturday’s blowout over 
Western Michigan, McCurry 
lined up in the slot to redshirt 
freshman quarterback Dylan 

McCaffery’s right. McCaffery 
took the snap, faked a handoff 
and rolled to McCurry’s side.
“I’m not really sure what 
I am in the progression. I 
was one of the main routes,” 
McCurry said. “I 
just 
remember 
looking at the 
leverage 
the 
DB 
had 
— 
it 
was 
a 
quick 
play. We got up 
right there and 
ran it. It was a 
quick play, and I 
remember I had 
to get outside 
and try to stack 
him a little bit. That’s really all 
I thought when I was running 
the route.”
McCaffery 
delivered 
the 
strike to McCurry on the 
sideline, who then juked a 
lunging defender and dove into 
the endzone. 

It was McCaffery’s first 
passing 
touchdown 
of 
his 
career, to boot.
“Initially, I just wanted to 
see Dylan, because I’m pretty 
close with Dylan — it was a 
special moment that he threw 
me the ball. I was just excited, 
that’s the only way to describe 
it.”
McCurry heard from all 
walks of life — his phone 
blowing up with tweets, texts, 
all forms of congratulatory 
messages. 
“It was definitely a special 
moment,” McCurry said. “It 
was specifically special with 
Dylan and other guys that were 
on the field that are my best 
friends, like Joel Hornigford, 
Oliver Martin, I think Andrew 
Steuber might have been out 
there, Tru (Wilson). Those are 
the guys I’ve really hung out 
with a lot, and are really close 
to.”

ALEXIS RANKIN/Daily
Fifth-year senior tackle Juwann Bushell-Beatty was part of an offensive line that rushed for over 300 yards in Michigan’s 49-3 win over Western Michigan Saturday.

JORGE CAZARES
Daily Sports Writer
JACOB KOPNICK
Daily Sports Writer

MEN’S SOCCER

MAX MARCOVITCH
Daily Sports Editor

CARTER FOX/Daily
Junior forward Jack Hallahan scored one of three goals in Michigan’s shutout of Marquette on Monday night.

“I was just 
excited, that’s 
the only way to 
describe it.”

“Everytime I 
touched it, I 
just ran and 
scored.”

