Fit To Be Tied: Wolverines Play to Draw at Long Island

Sunday, September 26

Brooklyn, N.Y.

Noon

Michigan

6-1-1

Long Island

1-3-2

OT 1

OT 2

Michigan

Long Island

Fit To Be Tied: Wolverines Play to Draw at Long Island

9/26/2004 12:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer

Box Score

By: Paul Dickerson

Site: Brooklyn, N.Y.
Score: #3 Michigan 1, Long Island 1 (2OT)
Records: U-M (6-1-1), LIU (1-3-2)
Next U-M Event: Friday, Oct. 1 -- at Kentucky (Lexington, Ky.), 7:30 p.m.

BROOKLYN, N.Y. -- The third-ranked University of Michigan men's soccer team earned a 1-1 draw today (Sunday, Sept. 26) in a match at Long Island. Senior Mychal Turpin (Pontiac, Mich./University of Detroit Jesuit HS) gave the Wolverines a 1-0 lead with a goal at 38:11. Long Island, however, tied the game with an own goal by the Wolverines with less than one minute to play at 89:38. Neither team was able to gain an advantage in 20 minutes of overtime play, resulting in the draw. Senior goalkeeper Joe Zawacki (Livonia, Mich./Stevenson HS) made six saves for the Wolverines.

The Wolverines started the game slowly, but after the 10th minute began to pick up the play and go on the offensive. Turpin finally broke through in the 39th minute to give Michigan a 1-0 lead. Turpin received a pass from junior Ryan Sterba (Westlake, Ohio/St. Ignatius HS) in the LIU penalty box. The senior sent a shot from nine yards out to the upper left corner to beat Long Island goalkeeper Ryszard Gorski.

Michigan continued to attack in the second half but was unable to put the game away with a second goal. Around 15 minutes into the period, the Wolverines found Turpin on a pair of breakaways and Karl Lopata (Farmington Hills, Mich./Farmington HS) had a chance in front of the LIU net, but U-M came up empty and the score remained 1-0. Many of the Wolverines scoring chances were created by Dawson Stellberger (Crested Butte, Colo./Crested Butte Academy) and Matt Niemeyer (St. Louis, Mo./John Burroughs HS), who controlled the central midfield throughout the game.

As the clock wound down in the second half, the Blackbirds pressed to get the equalizer. With less than a minute to play, LIU fired a shot off a restart that was deflected by the Michigan defense. The deflection caught Zawacki out of position and slipped inside the near post for the goal. With the score tied at 1-1, the teams prepared for overtime.

In the second overtime period, the Wolverines had a chance to win the game, finding Trai Blanks (Ann Arbor, Mich./Pioneer HS) on a long cross to the back post. Blanks made a good read on the ball but was unable to make solid contact and the game ended in a 1-1 tie.

The Wolverines will continue their road swing with matches at Kentucky and Louisville. Michigan will face the Wildcats on Friday (Oct. 1) at 7:30 p.m. and then take on Louisville on Sunday (Oct. 3) at 3:30 p.m.

GAME SUMMARY

Team	1	2	OT	OT	F
Michigan	1	0	0	0	1
Long Island	0	1	0	0	1

Scoring, Time (Assist)
1st -- U-M, Mychal Turpin, 38:11 (Ryan Sterba)
2nd -- LIU, U-M own goal, 89:38

Shots: U-M 9, LIU 16
Saves: U-M 6 (Joe Zawacki), LIU 4 (Ryszard Gorski)
Corner Kicks: U-M 4, LIU 9
Fouls: U-M 15, LIU 9
Cards: None

QUOTES

Michigan Head Coach Steve Burns
On the game ... "I would say we were like a toothless tiger out there. We looked the part, but we really didn't have any bite today. I think over the course of the season we will have a lot of matches like this that are real struggles. Overall, I think we played a pretty good game and got average to above average performances out of all our players. The only disappointing thing is that we were not able to finish the game."

On if playing in close games will play dividends later in the season ... "Good teams figure out a way to win games like that. I think we know how to do that, but we just didn't have the right mentality for it more than anything. We can win tight games, now we have to walk the walk and go out and do it."

On the play of Joe Zawacki ... "He has played very well. The team has a lot of confidence in him. Our defense uses him a lot to relay the ball, reverse the field and build our attack that way. He has been making a lot of good decisions back there for us. I know that whoever we have back there we will have very solid goalkeeping."

On the play in the central midfield ... "Our central midfield was everything we needed it to be today. Dawson Stellberger and Matt Niemeyer did a great job of controlling that portion of the field for us. They recognized when to take risks and a good job of knowing when to keep possession versus when to push the attack. I was very pleased with their play."