Michigan
1-3-3
Illinois
4-2-1
U-M Opens Conference Play with Scoreless Tie at Illinois
9/19/2003 12:00:00 AM | Women's Soccer
Site: Champaign, Ill. (Illinois Soccer Stadium)
Score: Michigan 0, Illinois 0 (2OT)
Records: U-M (1-3-3, 0-0-1 Big Ten), Illinois (4-2-1, 0-0-1 Big Ten)
Next U-M Event: Sunday, Sept. 21 -- at Northwestern (Evanston, Ill.), 1 p.m. CDT
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- The University of Michigan women's soccer team opened its Big Ten Conference schedule with a 0-0 double-overtime tie against Illinois Friday night (Sept. 19) in front of a record crowd of 1,030 at the Illinois Soccer Stadium. Freshman Megan Tuura (Tucker, Ga./St. Pius X Catholic HS) played the entire 110 minutes in net for the Wolverines and made two saves, the biggest coming in the second extra period to help preserve the scoreless tie.
The game-saving stop came with just under five minutes left in contest, as Christen Karniski sent the ball through on the left side and Tuura was able to dive and get her hand on it for her second stop of the night. The shot was one of three that Illinois registered in the second overtime. U-M's only attempt in the period was a shot by junior Kate Morgan (San Jose, Calif./Archbishop Mitty HS) that went wide left of Leisha Alcia.
The Wolverines gained the momentum early in the first extra period, with junior Laura Tanchon (Laguna Niquel, Calif./Dana Hills HS) pressuring the Illini defense with one of U-M's two shots on goal. Michigan loaded the field with its defensive specialists in the first overtime, limiting Illinois to just one shot in the period.
Illinois reeled off eight shots in the second half, compared to Michigan's four. Eva Strickland started things off at 48:11 with the Illini's only shot on goal in the half. Eight minutes later, the Wolverines recorded their only second-half shot on net with freshman Judy Coffman's (San Jose, Calif./Santa Theresa HS) strike at 56:27. Both teams had trouble finding the goal the rest of regulation, as each defense was able to block a majority of the attempts on net.
The two teams had similar success in the first half, each recording four shots but none resulting in any legitimate scoring chances.
The Wolverines (1-3-3) end the weekend with a match against Northwestern on Sunday (Sept. 21) in Evanston, Ill. The game is set to start at 1 p.m. CDT at the Thomas Sports Complex.
GAME SUMMARY
| Team | 1 | 2 | OT | OT | F |
| Michigan | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Illinois | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Shots: U-M 10, Illinois 16
Saves: U-M 2 (Megan Tuura), Illinois 3 (Leisha Alcia)
Corner Kicks: U-M 4, Illinois 6
Fouls: U-M 24, Illinois 18
Cards: U-M, Erika Kleinholz, 78:07 (yellow)
QUOTES
Michigan Head Coach Debbie Rademacher
On the game ... "The game was not very pretty. We did not have a great offensive output, but we showed some nice passes and a couple of good series at times. We just weren't as dangerous on the offensive end as we were last game."
On the defensive effort against Illinois ... "All of our defenders made the key tackles at the right times in the game."
NOTES
• Megan Tuura earned her first career shutout against Illinois.
• Michigan is 6-2-1 all-time against the Fighting Illini.
