Michigan
Michigan State
U-M Shuts Out Michigan State in Big Ten Quarterfinals
11/8/2001 12:00:00 AM | Women's Soccer
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. -- The No. 2-seeded University of Michigan women's soccer team recorded a 2-0 shutout over No. 7-seeded Michigan State in quarterfinal action of the Big Ten Tournament on Thursday (Oct. 8) at Purdue's Varsity Soccer Complex.
A downpour in warmups turned into a steady drizzle for the entire first half, similar to U-M's last meeting against the Spartans (Oct. 26). U-M used the break at halftime to regroup after the 20th-ranked Wolverines had only one scoring chance and limited ball possession in the first 45 minutes.
Despite quality scoring chances it appeared that the game was heading into overtime, until Abby Crumpton (Rochester Hills, Mich./Rochester Adams HS) scored the first goal of the game at 86:45. Michigan was awarded a free kick that Amy Sullivant (Utica, Mich./Eisenhower HS) took on the left side at the 18-yard mark. Sullivant's kick was headed in the air by Carly Williamson (Barrington, R.I./Barrington HS), whose contact forced the ball behind her to Crumpton, who then scored from the six-yard mark.
The goal seemed to rally the Spartans as they were able to create a two-on-one, their best scoring chance of the game, but Suzie Grech (Narbeth, Pa./The Shipley School) cleared it to midfield where Sullivant took possession. Sullivant split the first pair of defenders and dribbled past the last Spartan back. MSU's goalie came sliding out of the net, hoping to beat Sullivant to the ball, but instead the junior defender tapped the ball to her left and kicked it to the center of the net with a minute remaining to cap the 2-0 win.
Grech only saw three shots from the Spartans and made one save to extend her U-M single-season shutout record to 10. She hasn't allowed a goal in 527:48 minutes, dating back to the final minutes of the Penn State game (Oct. 7).
The Wolverines (12-6-1) are in semifinal action Friday (Nov. 9) at 1 p.m. as they take on No. 3-seeded Illinois, a 4-1 quarterfinal winner over Iowa, on the West Field of the Purdue Varsity Soccer Complex. Illinois defeated Michigan 2-1 in overtime on Sept. 21 in Champaign, Ill., in the Big Ten opener for both schools.
GAME SUMMARY
| Team | 1 | 2 | F |
| Michigan State | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Michigan | 0 | 2 | 2 |
Scoring, Time (Assist)
2nd -- U-M, Abby Crumpton, 86;45 (Amy Sullivant, Carly Williamson)
2nd -- U-M, Sullivant, 88:52 (Suzie Grech)
Shots: U-M 13, MSU 3
Saves: U-M 1 (Suzie Grech), MSU 4 (Stacy Heller)
Corner Kicks: U-M 5, MSU 0
Fouls: U-M 9, MSU 13
Cards: U-M, Erika Kleinholz, 26:08 (yellow); MSU, Amy Allen, 79:39, (yellow); U-M, Carly Williamson, 83:19 (yellow); MSU, Nicole LePlae, 85:38 (yellow)
Q U O T E S
U-M Assistant Coach Carrie Maier
On the team's performance ... "The first half was really ugly. We didn't stick with our game plan at all, but we used halftime to regroup and we came out a completely different team in the second half. We just took control and we won."
On facing Illinois ... "We will be ready for Illinois. We really want to take it to them since they are one of the two Big Ten teams that we lost to. We played well against them last time but broke down mentally at the end."
U-M Assistant Coach Scott Forrester
On goalkeeper Suzie Grech ... "Suzie stayed sharp, which was important considering the downpour we played through in the first half. We played poorly in the first half, but Suzie's long-ball distribution helped a lot and we really took advantage of it in the second half in terms of our ball possession."
N O T E S
Abby Crumpton is on a four-game goal scoring streak dating back to the Oct. 26 Michigan State game and has scored five of Michigan's last seven goals.
Michigan now holds a 12-5 record at the Big Ten Tournament and is 10-2 in the last five tournaments.
U-M is now 6-0 when playing in cold, wet and windy conditions. The Wolverines have defeated Dayton (1-0), Iowa (1-0), Ohio State (4-0), Purdue (1-0) and Michigan State twice (2-1 and 2-0) in bad weather.
Contact: Karen Simpson (734) 763-4423
