Scarlet Knights Halt U-M's Season-Opening Win Streak

Friday, September 24

Piscataway, N.J.

7:00 PM

Michigan

6-1-0

Rutgers

3-3-2

Michigan

Rutgers

9/24/2004 12:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer

Box Score

PISCATAWAY, N.J. -- The third-ranked University of Michigan men's soccer team suffered its first loss of the season tonight (Friday, Sept. 24) in a 3-0 affair at Rutgers. The teams were tied 0-0 at the half, but two second-half goals by Rutgers' Chris Karcz led the Scarlet Knights to the win. Michigan was unable to get its offense going throughout the game with only four total shots and one shot on goal.

Both teams struggled to find the offense in the first half, combining for nine shots in the period. Michigan had the best scoring chance of the half when the Wolverines found Mychal Turpin (Pontiac, Mich./University of Detroit Jesuit HS) on a run down the right side. Turpin beat his defender to the net, but Rutgers goalkeeper Lubos Ancin came out to deflect the attempt wide. On the ensuing corner, Rutgers cleared the ball, keeping the game scoreless.

Rutgers struck first in the second half, making the score 1-0 at 46:44. Zach Simi beat the Michigan defense down the right side of the field, forcing U-M goalkeeper Joe Zawacki (Livonia, Mich./Stevenson HS) to come out and make a play on the ball. Simi, however, crossed the ball to Chris Karcz for the first goal of the match.

Rutgers increased its lead to 2-0 at 77:23 with Karcz's second goal of the match. Once again, Karcz received a crossing pass from Simi in front of the Michigan net and fired a shot. Zawacki got a piece of the ball, but it dribbled across the goal line, giving Rutgers a 2-0 lead with just over 10 minutes to play.

The Wolverines pressed in an attempt to tie the game before time ran out. Rutgers, however, scored its third goal of the game with a goal by Scott Gahagan at 87:42.

The Wolverines will return to action with a match against Long Island University on Sunday (Sept. 26). The match is set to take place at noon in Brooklyn, N.Y.

GAME SUMMARY

Team	1	2	F
Michigan	0	0	0
Rutgers	0	3	3

Scoring, Time (Assist)
2nd -- RU, Chris Karcz, 46:44 (Zach Simi)
2nd -- RU, Karcz, 77:23 (Simi)
2nd -- RU, Scott Gahagan, 87:42 (Alieu Terry)

Shots: U-M 4, RU 12
Saves: U-M 1 (Joe Zawacki), RU 1 (Lubos Ancin)
Corner Kicks: U-M 5, RU 7
Fouls: U-M 19, RU 8
Cards: RU, Joe Donoho, 15:38 (yellow); U-M, Bobby Trybula, 29:38 (yellow); RU, Alieu Terry, 87:12 (yellow)

Q U O T E S

Michigan Head Coach Steve Burns
On the game ... "They just outplayed us. I think it was an average to below average performance for our team, but a lot of lessons came out of this game. First is that teams get up to play Michigan and to beat Michigan. All game long, the Rutgers players gave a little more than our players to win the game. We shot ourselves in the foot with turnovers in the back third of the field, turnovers in the middle third of the field and Rutgers punished us for it."

On the offensive struggles ... "It was not so much the Rutgers defense but what we didn't do offensively. We turned the ball over too much, keeping us from getting in our normal rhythm offensively. We didn't make good passes and we had trouble receiving the ball when facing the field. We just had a lot of technical problems and turned it over too much."

On how the team bounces back ... "I think the spirit of the team is still intact, so there are no issues there. I think this is a team that will rebound easily. This is only our first loss of the season. The challenge is to rebound from that first loss, put it aside, learn from it and get better."

N O T E S

The Wolverines' six-game winning streak to start the season was snapped with the 3-0 loss. Michigan's 6-0 start to the season was the best in program history.

Contact: Paul Dickerson (734) 763-4423