Weekly Release #12
11/7/2000 12:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer
Big Ten Tournament Schedule
(At Columbus, Ohio)
Thursday, November 9
Game 1 -- #4 seed Wisconsin vs. #5 seed Ohio State -- 9:30 a.m.
Game 2 -- #3 seed Penn State vs. #6 seed Michigan -- Noon
Game 3 -- #2 seed Michigan State vs. #7 seed Northwestern -- 2:30 p.m.
Friday, November 10
Game 4 -- #1 seed Indiana vs. Game 1 winner -- Noon
Game 5 -- Game 2 winner vs. Game 3 winner -- 2:30 p.m.
Sunday, November 12
Game 6 -- Game 4 winner vs. Game 5 winner -- 2 p.m.
This Week
The University of Michigan men's soccer team (6-9, 1-5 Big Ten) takes its first trip to the Big Ten Conference Championship this week (Nov. 9-12) at Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio. The Wolverines, seeded sixth, take on No. 3 seed Penn State in the first round of the tournament on Thursday (Nov. 9) at noon.
Big Ten Soccer Championship
The 2000 Big Ten Conference Men's Soccer Championship will be held Thursday, Friday and Sunday (Nov. 9-10-12) at Ohio State's Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium. Top seeded Indiana (6-0 Big Ten) receives a first-round bye and will meet the winner of the Ohio State-Wisconsin match on Friday at noon.
The Hoosiers enter the 2000 event having won six straight Big Ten championships, dating back to 1994. The only other team to win a Big Ten championship outright was Penn State in 1993. In 1995, Wisconsin and Indiana shared the championship title after the final was cancelled.
Sunday's championship game begins at 2 p.m. and will be televised on a tape-delay basis by Fox Sports Chicago on Monday (Nov. 13) at 7:30 p.m. CST.
Scouting the Opponent
Penn State -- No. 22-ranked Penn State is 11-5-2 overall and 3-2-1 in Big Ten play. Michigan lost a 2-1 overtime decision to PSU back on Sept. 23 in Ann Arbor. The Nittany Lions have outshot their opponents 277-162 this season, and scored 15 more goals. Derek Potteiger is their most potent scorer with 26 points at the end of the regular season, on 11 goals and four assists. Potteiger had the game-winner over the Maize and Blue earlier this season. Pete Shellenberger, who also had a goal against U-M, is second on the team with 10 points, on three goals and four assists. Ryan Sickman has been strong in goal all year with a 9-2-2 overall record. Sickman has six shutouts this season, and a 0.80 goals-against average. Penn State on the Internet: www.gopsusports.com.
Last Week
Michigan lost its final regular-season game on a chilly Saturday afternoon (Nov. 4), falling 3-0 to No. 20-ranked Ohio State in front of 901 fans at Elbel Field. The Wolverines played short-handed most of the match after Steve Walton (Portage, Mich./Portage Central HS) received a red card at the 12:25 mark, forcing U-M to play one man down the rest of the match.
Ohio State had two goals in the first half, three minutes apart from one another. Michigan had eight shots in the half, including two on goal, but the Wolverines were unable to get on the board. The two teams battled back and forth controlling the tempo, but the Buckeyes took a 2-0 lead into halftime. The Wolverines' offense stayed focused and maintained pressure on the Buckeyes' backfield in the second half. U-M had five corner kicks in the period but was unable to put any shots toward the goal.
By the Numbers
The Michigan soccer team had a home total attendance of 6,408 for its inaugural season, averaging 915 per match. That was on average 328 more fans than when U-M was on the road, where the average crowd was 587.
Points Leaders
At the end of the regular season, Kevin Robinson and Tom Gritter (Grand Rapids, Mich./Grand Rapids Christian HS) are tied for the team lead in points with nine. Robinson is also tied for the team lead in assists with Ian Hirschfield (Fort Lauderdale, Fla./Pine Crest HS) with three. Senior Ryan Yoder and freshman Kevin Taylor (Miami, Fla./Gulliver Prep) are both in third with eight points.
Big Ten Conference Standings (Through Nov. 6)
Big Ten Pct. Pts. Overall Pct. 1. Indiana 6-0-0 1.000 18 13-5-0 .765 2. Michigan State 4-1-1 .750 13 10-5-2 .647 3. Penn State 3-2-1 .583 10 11-5-2 .667 4. Wisconsin 3-3-0 .500 9 10-8-1 .553 Ohio State 2-2-2 .500 8 9-4-4 .647 6. MICHIGAN 1-5-0 .167 3 6-9-0 .400 7. Northwestern 0-6-0 .000 0 0-16-1 .030
Championship Experience
The Maize and Blue roster includes 13 players from last year's U-M club team: Andrew Balazer, Albert Geldres, Dave George, Steve Huber, JJ Kern, Matt Murch, Pat Murphy, Brian Peters, Will Purdy, Jack Stead, Mahesh Subramanian, Steve Walton and Ryan Yoder. Michigan won back-to-back club national titles in 1997 and 1998, led by coach Steve Burns.
Been a While
Michigan men's soccer is in its first season after being granted varsity status in March 1999. The last Michigan men's sport to be added as a varsity program was men's gymnastics in 1948.
Contact: Steve Grialou (734) 763-4423
