Cameron Knocks in Three as Michigan Tops Penn State

Sunday, October 26

State College, Pa.

2:00 PM

Michigan

12-4-0, 4-1-0

Penn State

6-8-0, 1-4-0

Michigan

Penn State

10/26/2003 12:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer

Box Score

By: Gene Skidmore

Site: State College, Pa. (Jeffrey Field)
Score: #11 Michigan 4, Penn State 2
Records: U-M (12-5, 4-1 Big Ten), PSU (6-8, 1-4 Big Ten)
Next U-M Event: Saturday, Nov. 1 -- at Ohio State (Columbus, Ohio), 7:30 p.m.

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. -- The No. 11-ranked University of Michigan men's soccer team posted its program-best 12th win of the season Sunday afternoon (Oct. 26), as junior Knox Cameron (Bronx, N.Y./Cardinal Spellman HS) tallied his first collegiate hat trick to lead the Wolverines to a 4-2 victory at Penn State on Jeffrey Field. In front of family members who made the trip from the Bronx, N.Y., Cameron netted one goal in the first half and two in the second to propel Michigan to its first victory over the Nittany Lions in six tries. The win also assures Michigan of no lower than the second seed in the Big Ten Conference Tournament (Nov. 13-16) in Bloomington, Ind.

Cameron put the Wolverines on the board first with a header off an Adam Bruh (Roslyn Heights, N.Y./Wheatley HS) cross at the 21:22 mark of the first half. It marked the second consecutive game Michigan made good on a corner kick opportunity, as Mike White (Livonia, Mich./Stevenson HS) headed in a Bruh corner Friday night (Oct. 24) at Akron. The goal was Cameron's ninth of the year and gave U-M a 1-0 advantage midway through the first.

Senior tri-captain Kevin Taylor (Miami, Fla./Gulliver Prep) put the Maize and Blue up 2-0 just 3:31 later, at 24:51, when he converted his sixth penalty kick of 2003. Mychal Turpin (Pontiac, Mich./University of Detroit Jesuit HS) made the play a go when he was pulled down once he got behind the Nittany Lion defense in the 18-yard box. Taylor has now scored via the penalty kick in four of the last five weeks dating back to the weekend of Sept. 26-28.

Markku Viitanen pulled PSU within one goal when he sent a 20-yard laser past sophomore goalkeeper Peter Dzubay (Sylvania, Ohio/Northview HS) at 28:44. Viitanen's shot made it through the traffic in front of the net, and Dzubay got his fingers on it but it was not enough as the ball crossed the goal line, making the score 2-1 in favor of the Wolverines.

The score remained 2-1 at the end of the first 45 minutes of play with Penn State outshooting Michigan by the count of 9-4. However, U-M made it a two-goal advantage just 4:09 into the second half, when Cameron banged a one-timer past PSU replacement keeper Matt Novchich at 49:09. Matt Niemeyer (St. Louis, Mo./John Burroughs HS) set up the scoring play when he found Kevin Robinson (Caro, Mich./Faith Baptist HS) on the wing. Robinson then one-touched the ball to Cameron, who fired the eventual game-winner to the back of the net.

Penn State did not quit though as the Lions again made it a one-goal game at 54:08 with a goal off the foot of Viitanen from 12 yards out. Chad Severs was awarded the assist.

At 63:41, Cameron gave the Maize and Blue an insurance goal with this third tally of the game. White found Cameron 12 yards away from the goal mouth, and Cameron did the rest as he collected the ball and sent it just inside the far left post to complete his first hat trick in a Michigan uniform.

Michigan concludes its Big Ten Conference and regular-season schedules with a league matchup at Ohio State next Saturday (Nov. 1) in Columbus, Ohio. Kickoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. in Jesse Owens Stadium. Michigan holds a 2-1 advantage in the three-game series, with back-to-back victories in 2001 and 2002.

GAME SUMMARY

Team	1	2	F
Michigan	2	2	4
Penn State	1	1	2

Scoring, Time (Assist)
1st -- U-M, Knox Cameron,21:22 (Adam Bruh)
1st -- U-M, Kevin Taylor,24:51 (penalty kick)
1st -- PSU, Markku Viitanen, 28:44 (unassisted)
2nd -- U-M, Cameron,49:05 (Kevin Robinson, Matt Niemeyer)
2nd -- PSU, Viitanen,54:08 (Chad Severs)
2nd -- U-M, Cameron,63:41 (Mike White)

Shots: U-M 8, PSU 19
Saves: U-M 10 (Peter Dzubay), PSU 2 (Eric Earnhardt 1, Matt Novchich 1)
Corner Kicks: U-M 4, PSU 4
Fouls: U-M 25, PSU 21
Cards: U-M, Ryan Sterba,29:00 (yellow); PSU, Brian Devlin, 35:12 (yellow); U-M, Matt Niemeyer, 35:38 (yellow); PSU, Jeff Chambers, 60:43, (yellow); U-M Adam Bruh, 73:10, (yellow); PSU, Markku Viitanen, 85:08, (yellow).

QUOTES

Michigan Head Coach Steve Burns
On the game ... "This was a very big Michigan victory. Friday we were out-played and out-coached at Akron. We learned a lot from that game. It taught us that we needed to play more direct instead of small touches to feet. That was a very important lesson for us to learn at this stage of the season. We applied that lesson today and came away with an important win for the program."

On the offensive effort this season ... "Soccer is such a team sport that when one guy gets a (hat) trick it means there is great understanding taking place on the field. When a team has few stars and everyone understands each other, things like this will happen. We only lost one player from last year's team, so these guys clicked very early on in the season. Our chemistry is very good now. We understand each other very well."

On Knox Cameron ... "Knox put together a great performance today. His family was here from the Bronx (N.Y.), and he made them all very proud. He put us on his back and carried us to a very big Michigan victory. He put on a strong performance."

On Peter Dzubay ... "Penn State played a lot of lofted balls into the box, causing a lot of action in front of Pete. That forced him to have to make some decisons on how to play the ball when it entered his space, in terms of when he should exit the goal mouth. He played some great balls with punches and controlled the ball when he needed to. He played a great game in net today."

On Kevin Taylor ... "With Penn State's style and their lofting the ball into the box strategy, Kevin became a human breakwall in the fury of a storm. He turned away wave after wave of Penn State chances."

On Dawson Stellberger ... "Dawson played awesome. He is so sure-footed and has a great work ethic. He has controlled the middle well for us all year."

U-M Junior Midfielder Knox Cameron
On the game ... "Something just clicked. My family was in town and I wanted to do something very special for them. My dad has not seen me play in awhile, so I felt a little pressure to perform. Once I hit the field though, I just wanted to play. It feels good to score the hat trick, but it is more important that we got the win."

On the win ... "We felt a little down after the Akron game Friday night, so we wanted to come out and put another win to our record today against Penn State. This is great for the program because we have never been in this position before. Obviously, if Indiana wins out they will be the Big Ten champions, but we still need to take care of our business next week at Ohio State."

NOTES

• The win improves Michigan's 2003 record to 12-5 overall, marking the first time in the program's four-year existence the Wolverines have reached the 12-win mark.

• The win also marked a new single-season high for conference wins, as the Wolverines improved to 4-1 in Big Ten Conference play.

• Michigan notched its first-ever win against Penn State with the 4-2 victory this afternoon in State College, Pa. The Wolverines are 1-5 all-time in the six-game series.

• Knox Cameron netted his first career hat trick against Penn State.

• Cameron's three-goal effort is the Wolverines' third hat trick of the season and sixth in program history. Cameron joins Mychal Turpin (three) and Jurgen Schmieder (2002) (two) as U-M's all-time hat-trick heroes.

• Knox Cameron set the single-season scoring record with his six-point game against the Nittany Lions. Cameron has 31 points this season, surpassing the previous single-season record of 25 shared by Mike White and Mychal Turpin in the 2002 season. Both Cameron and Turpin had tied the mark with 25 points this season entering today's game against Penn State.

• In the last six games, Knox Cameron has registered 17 of his 31 points.

• With 11 goals this season, Knox Cameron is tied for the program's single-season goals scored record. He is deadlocked with teammate Mychal Turpin, who also has tallied 11 goals this season.

• Knox Cameron now holds the single-season game-winning goals record with five. He has 11 game-winners in his career.

• With his sixth goal of the season in Sunday's tilt against Penn State, Kevin Taylor equalled his total from his first three seasons. He now has career totals of 12 goals and five assists for 29 points.

• All six of Kevin Taylor's goals this season have come on penalty kicks. He has converted all of his chances from the penalty spot this season. Michigan is 5-0 this season in matches in which Taylor converts a PK. In his career, Taylor is a perfect 9-for-9.

• Sophomore goalie Peter Dzubay set a career high and tied the U-M all-time mark for saves in a game with 10 against the Nittany Lions. Bryan Lau (2001) had 10 saves against Wisconsin (Nov. 8, 2001).

• Dzubay extended his program-best number of wins in a season to 10. He has accumulated 17 career wins in the Maize and Blue, which stands as Michigan's career record.

• With his seventh assist of the season, sophomore Adam Bruh is the first Wolverine ever to reach the 20-assist plateau in a career. Bruh had 13 assists as a freshman.

• Senior/junior midfielder Matt Niemeyer registered his first assist of the season. It was his first helper since Sept. 21, 2001, against Butler.

• Senior Mike White has scored in three straight games. He has an assist against Penn State, U-M's lone goal against Akron (Oct. 24) and a tally against Wisconsin (Oct. 19).

• Michigan has scored at least four goals in a game on five occasions this season. Three of those have come in Big Ten play.