Michigan
10-2-0 (5-1-0)
Ohio State
3-7-1 (1-3-1)
Another Kayal Game-Winner Lifts U-M Over Ohio State
10/6/2002 12:00:00 AM | Women's Soccer
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The University of Michigan women's soccer team earned its 10th win of the season with a 1-0 decision against Ohio State this afternoon (Sunday, Oct. 6) at the U-M Soccer Field. Senior defender Andrea Kayal (Wayne, N.J./Wayne Hills HS) scored her second game-winning goal of the weekend in the 33rd minute to give the No. 13 Wolverines the hard-fought victory.
| | Kayal |
The Buckeyes earned the first dangerous opportunity of the game at 12:06 when Sarah Lanham beat a defender and found herself with open space 25 yards away from the Michigan goal. Finding goalkeeper Suzie Grech (Narberth, Pa./The Shipley School) off her line, Lanham chipped a shot over Grech toward the open net. The shot hit off the crossbar, however, and bounced straight to Michigan's keeper.
Michigan tallied the game's only goal on a corner kick at 32:16. Converting on the third of 11 corners on the game, senior defender Amy Sullivant (Utica, Mich./Eisenhower HS) launched a long service across the Ohio State goal mouth to Kayal. Kayal ran onto the ball and sent a header past Buckeye goalie Jen Heaney from three yards away.
Kayal nearly put Michigan ahead by two goals just minutes later on a 22-yard direct kick in front of the Buckeyes' goal. Kayal's shot bent around the three-person wall, but Heaney got enough of the shot to deflect the ball up and off the crossbar for a Wolverine corner.
In a closely contested second half, strong defenses kept scoring opportunities at a premium. Finding success on corner kicks, Michigan nearly scored in the 67th minute. Senior Abby Crumpton (Rochester Hills, Mich./Rochester Adams HS) flicked Sullivant's kick to the back post, to a waiting Carly Williamson (Barrington, R.I./Barrington HS). Williamson beat the OSU defense with a strong header, but Buckeye defender Emily Gilbert was able to get a body in front of the ball to keep it out of the net.
Ohio State's best opportunity to gain the equalizer came with 6:15 left in the contest. Moving the ball out of the backfield, Gilbert lofted a long pass into the runs of Buckeye forwards Lisa Grubb and Nicole Braman. Grubb outjumped a Wolverine defender to head the ball forward to Braman, who was all alone behind the Michigan defense, but the play was whistled offsides on Grubb's touch.
OSU kept the pressure on Michigan until the final horn. Grech held firm, facing 11 shots and making six saves for her fourth shutout of the season.
The Wolverines travel to the state of Indiana next week for two Big Ten matches, facing Purdue on Friday (Oct. 11) in West Lafayette and Indiana on Sunday (Oct. 13) in Bloomington.
GAME SUMMARY
| Team | 1 | 2 | F |
| Ohio State | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Michigan | 1 | 0 | 1 |
Scoring, Time (Assist)
1st -- U-M, Andrea Kayal, 32:16 (Amy Sullivant)
Shots: U-M 14, OSU 11
Saves: U-M 6 (Suzie Grech), OSU 5 (Jen Heaney 4, Team 1)
Corner Kicks: U-M 11, OSU 4
Fouls: U-M 18, OSU 20
Cards: U-M, Abby Crumpton, 59:09 (yellow); OSU, Lindsey Eckles, 78:35 (yellow)
Q U O T E S
U-M Head Coach Debbie Rademacher
On the game ... "It wasn't pretty but we played physical and didn't allow them to get anything going. We feel lucky to get out of this game with the one goal because there wasn't much soccer being played. It was a physical game, which meant a lot of one touch, foul, one touch, foul possessions going on."
On the importance of Andrea Kayal's goal ... "We played much better in the second half, but Andrea's goal was huge. We are not going to win by four goals every match, so her goal was very important. As long as we keep the score 0-0 we feel that we have a good chance of winning the game because we have had plenty of corner kicks and dangerous opportunities. Once we get that goal, we're confident our defense is strong enough to win us the game."
On the play of Kayal ... "She played very solid today, as she has all year. She and Carly Williamson have played well together in back. Andrea had a great weekend for us both offensively and defensively. Both of her goals proved to be game-winners."
Senior Tri-Captain Andrea Kayal
On her game-winning goal ... "I work really hard to get into the corner kicks and give our team every opportunity to score. Being able to put that one away felt really good and gave us a big boost. Sometimes people misjudge the distance of the corner kick and jump before the ball gets to them. So what I do is let them jump and come down before I go up and get the ball for the scoring chance."
On scoring both game-winners this weekend ... "It feels so good. We have been working so hard to win the Big Ten championship. I am just happy to contribute in any way to help this team achieve its goal of winning that championship."
N O T E S
With her goal against the Buckeyes, Andrea Kayal tied a career high with three goals on the season. Kayal scored three markers in 2001.
All of Kayal's last six goals, dating back to Sept. 9, 2001, against Dayton, have been game-winners.
In just 12 games, Amy Sullivant has already reached her assist total from last season, when she had a career-best seven helpers.
Oct. 6 is the earliest Michigan has reached the 10-win plateau in the nine-year history of the program. In 1997 Michigan was 10-2-1 on Oct. 10 after earning a 6-0 win over Wright State.
Contact: Andrew Ladd (734) 763-4423
Team Stats
Kayal, Andrea (3)
Assisted By: Sullivant, Amy
Header off corner
32:16
