Sterba Pushes Wolverines Past Akron in NCAA Opener

Friday, November 19

Ann Arbor, Mich.

2:00 PM

Michigan

11-7-4

Akron

13-5-3

Akron

Michigan

11/19/2004 12:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer

Box Score

By: Paul Dickerson

Site: Ann Arbor, Mich. (U-M Soccer Field)
Event: NCAA Tournament (First Round)
Score: Michigan 2, Akron 1
Records: U-M (11-7-4), Akron (15-5-3)
Next U-M Event: Tuesday, Nov. 23 -- at Indiana in NCAA Second Round (Bloomington, Ind.), 7 p.m.

ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- In muddy conditions, the University of Michigan men's soccer team notched a 2-1 victory over Akron today (Friday, Nov. 19) in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. The score was knotted at 1-1 at the half, but a goal from Ryan Sterba (Westlake, Ohio/St. Ignatius HS) -- the first of his U-M career -- at 58:50 proved to be the game-winner for Michigan. In net for the Wolverines, Peter Dzubay (Sylvania, Ohio/Northview HS) tied a season high with eight saves, including one with less than 30 seconds to play.

The Wolverines struck first with a goal by Trai Blanks (Ann Arbor, Mich./Pioneer HS) at 9:23. Knox Cameron (Bronx, N.Y./Cardinal Spellman) carried the ball to the top of the Akron penalty box and fired a shot that was deflected wide and off the left post. The ball caromed back across the net on the right side to Blanks, who sent it to the back of the net for the goal.

Akron answered quickly with a goal at 15:47 by Hans Jorgen Haugland. After U-M defender Chris Glinski (Rochester, Minn./Lourdes HS) slipped on the play, Akron's Ross McKenzie found Haugland in the box for the pass. Haugland sent the ball to the lower left corner, making the score 1-1.

The Zips continued their aggressive play, nearly scoring two more goals in the opening period. In the 22nd minute, McKenzie received a pass in the Michigan box, but his wide-open shot was saved by Dzubay. Then with less than two minutes to play in the half, the Zips fired a point-blank shot off a corner kick. Dzubay was there again for the save and the game was tied 1-1 at the half.

In the second half, the Wolverines quickly took the lead with Sterba's goal at 58:50. Blanks received the clearing pass in the Michigan end at the right sideline and beat two defenders to the midfield stripe before hitting Bruh in the middle of the field. Bruh then threaded a pass through the Akron defense, hitting Sterba in-stride on the left side. Sterba carried the ball for a few yards before firing a shot across the net and into the lower right corner for the 2-1 lead.

At time wound down in the game, Akron began to press for the equalizer. In the 83rd minute, the Wolverines failed to clear an Akron corner, leaving an open net for Jeremy Field. His header, however, sailed over the net and out of play.

Then in the final minute, Akron's Cameron Knowles sent a shot from the top of the box that Dzubay just got a hand on to deflect toward the left post. Blanks was standing at the post to ensure the ball did not bounce into the net, sealing the win for Michigan.

The Wolverines (11-7-4) advance to face No. 2 seed Indiana on Tuesday (Nov. 23) in Bloomington, Ind. Akron is eliminated and finishes the year with a 13-5-3 overall record.

GAME SUMMARY

Team	1	2	F
Akron	1	0	1
Michigan	1	1	2

Scoring, Time (Assist)
1st -- U-M, Trai Blanks, 9:23 (Knox Cameron)
1st -- UA, Hans Jorgen Haugland, 15:47 (Ross McKenzie)
2nd -- U-M, Ryan Sterba, 58:50 (Adam Bruh, Blanks)

Shots: U-M 11, UA 21
Saves: U-M 8 (Peter Dzubay), UA 5 (Justin Christafaris)
Corner Kicks: U-M 7, UA 4
Fouls: U-M 13, UA 20
Cards: U-M, Matt Niemeyer, 47:53 (yellow); UA, Ross McKenzie, 73:50 (yellow).

QUOTES

Michigan Head Coach Steve Burns
On the game ... "First off, congratulations to Akron on a very good season. They are an excellent team that has had an excellent season. They played very well today and gave us all we could handle. We talked about this game being a low-scoring game because that is what the NCAA Tournament is all about. Teams are going to be focused defensively and they are not going to give much away. They are in form now and they're going to find a goal here and there. First and foremost comes how you defend, and it was nice to see it play out that way."

On the second-half strategy ... "The talk at halftime was about getting the ball out on the flanks because that was where we were having a lot of success. We didn't utilize that flank space enough in the first half and (Ryan) Sterba was there quite a bit on the left and (Kevin) Savitskie and (Michael) Parke on the right. We wanted to make sure that once the ball was out there, if there was a big seam between their last defender and their goalkeeper, that we were hooking balls in. We really did feel that because of the conditions today, the game was going to be won the by team that really capitalized on something in their opponent's third of the field. We wanted to make something happen as much as possible for us. The goal did come from the flank. Sterba found the seam, the ball circulated into him nicely and it was a quality finish."

On the play of Peter Dzubay ... "I sent an email to Dzubay a few days ago and we had been talking about who the X-factor guys might be in the game for us. We knew who the guys were who had to have good games and I forgot to mention Dzubay. So, I sent an email out to him and said, 'You are probably the biggest X-factor for us. You are the guy who could single-handedly win us this game.' You saw it today. He did it two or three times in the first half, coming off his line and snuffing out balls from a very good goal scorer in McKenzie. That last save with 19 seconds left to push it wide was nice."

On the play of the defense ... "We've been in 10 overtime games out of our 22 and of those 10 games, eight have been against teams in the NCAA Tournament. What I really like about this team and what they've done this year is that when the games weren't going the way we wanted them to, we hung in there mentally and we figured out ways to win games. That is a skill that you have to have in order to be a good team. I think this team has shown that all season long with the ups and downs with all the injuries. The one constant is that this team has hung in there mentally and developed that skill to win tight games."

U-M Junior Goalkeeper Peter Dzubay
On what it takes to make a great save ... "You have to start out in the right place but then you just kind of go with it and you have to feel it. You don't think, you just react to the play. As a goalie, if you're thinking about what your doing, you might not be able to make that great play. You just feel it and go with it."

U-M Junior Defender Ryan Sterba
On his game-winning goal ... "I got a great pass from Adam (Bruh) and I just took off with my head down and ran for five yards. The ball was right in my stride and I just had to put it in. It was a perfect pass. The keeper came out and I just had to get it past him. It was really exciting."

On how his goal changed the momentum of the game ... "I think that we weren't getting too many chances in the second half and we needed to capitalize on any that we did get. I think as soon as we got that goal, our defense really tightened up to make sure we didn't give them anything more. We really closed it down for the rest of the game."

Akron Head Coach Ken Lolla
On the game ... "We are extremely proud of our guys. We have talked about two things all year with our guys and that is effort and attitude. We always felt that if we got those two right on any given day, that we would be a pretty good team and a tough team to deal with. I thought today that we got both of those right. The mentality going into the game, the focus and the attitude was very good. From an effort standpoint, I thought we battled very well. We won a lot of the individual battles on the field. I thought we gave then everything they could handle. Again, I'm proud of our guys and what we did today. We were just a little unfortunate."

On the halftime adjustments ... "We were telling to them to continue to do what we were doing. We were getting at them. If you look at the possession of the game and the shot count, I would guess it looked dominating to some extent. I thought we had them on their heels for a good part of the game. At halftime, we wanted to get more of the same. I thought their keeper came up with some huge saves in both halves to keep them in it."

Akron Senior Defender Cameron Knowles
On responding to Michigan's second goal ... "Going a goal down kind of put us on the back foot a little bit, but everyone knew we could score and that we had more goals in us. We'd had the better chances. I don't think it was that big of a negative impact on the team and the way we were playing. We knew if we kept doing the same things and kept playing the same way that we would create chances and we did. We couldn't put them away."

NOTES

• With the win, the Wolverines will play in the second round of the NCAA Tournament for the second straight year. Last season, Michigan earned a first-round bye and defeated St. Peter's 6-2 in the second round en route to an Elite Eight appearance.

• Michigan is now 2-1-1 in NCAA Tournament games.

• The match was the second meeting between Michigan and Akron this season. The Wolverines also won the earlier contest, a 4-0 affair on Oct. 29 in Ann Arbor.

• Peter Dzubay tied a season best with eight saves today. Dzubay now has 60 saves this season.

• Ryan Sterba scored his first career goal in the 59th minute of the game. Sterba now has 13 career points on one goal and 11 assists.

• Trai Blanks matched a career-best performance with three points today on one goal and an assist. Blanks also had three points in U-M's earlier match against Akron on Oct. 29.