Second-Half Charge Not Enough in Loss to No. 1 Lions

Friday, October 21

Ann Arbor, Mich.

7:00 PM

Michigan

7-7-2, 3-5-0

Penn State

16-0-0, 8-0-0

Penn State

Michigan

10/21/2005 12:00:00 AM | Women's Soccer

Box Score PDF Boxscore

By: Matt Baumer

Site: Ann Arbor, Mich. (U-M Soccer Field)
Score: #1 Penn State 4, Michigan 2
Records: U-M (7-7-2, 3-5 Big Ten), PSU (16-0, 8-0 Big Ten)
Next U-M Event: Sunday, Oct. 23 -- vs. Minnesota (U-M Soccer Field), noon

ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The University of Michigan women's soccer team fell to the top-ranked Penn State Nittany Lions 4-2 on Friday night (Oct. 21) at U-M Soccer Field. Despite outshooting PSU 10-8 in the second half and twice cutting the Nittany Lions' lead to one, the Wolverines could not net the equalizer. Danelle Underwood (Grand Rapids, Mich./Forest Hills Northern) and Therese Heaton (Wheaton, Ill./Warrenville South) each scored second-half goals for U-M in the loss.

Megan Tuura (Tucker, Ga./St. Pius X Catholic) kept the Wolverines in the game early, making four saves in the first 20 minutes of play. Penn State scored first at 29:43 off a long cross from Zoe Bouchelle to Sheree Gray. Gray sprinted to the ball at the top of the box and fired one low past Tuura to make the score 1-0.

Michigan's best chance in the first half came off a Judy Coffman (San Jose, Calif./Santa Theresa) corner kick. Coffman's service sailed just inches away from a leaping Jamie Artsis (Chatsworth, Calif./Harvard-Westlake School) and no Wolverine could get a foot on it before the ball was cleared. The Wolverines went into halftime down 1-0.

Penn State added to its lead less than three minutes into the second half at 47:53. Gray sent a long cross to the middle of the box to Tiffany Weimer, who settled it and placed it just inside the right post to put the Nittany Lions up 2-0. Skylar Andrews (Dallas, Texas./Plano West Senior) held Weimer, the nation's leading score, to just three shots and blanketed her all over the field to help frustrate the Big Ten's highest scoring team.

Michigan had two incredible chances closely following the Nittany Lions' second goal. Coffman created space with a juke and shot one that sailed inches over the crossbar. Minutes later Underwood headed a shot off a cross that bounced just wide of the net. The Wolverines cut Nittany Lions' lead to 2-1 at 65:42. Melissa Dobbyn (Livonia, Mich./Stevenson) dribbled through the Penn State defense to the top, right corner of the 18-yard box and ripped a low shot that Penn State goaltender Erin McLeod could not handle and Underwood was there to bury the rebound.

The celebration was short lived as Nittany Lions' midfielder Ali Krieger dribbled from midfield into the 18-yard box and shot one past Tuura less than two minutes later at 67:24 to move the score to 3-1.

The Wolverines fought back and cut the lead to 3-2 six minutes later at 73:34. Underwood fed a pass to Heaton at the top of the 18-yard box. Heaton turned and fired a perfectly placed left-footed shot into the upper right corner of the net. Katelin Spencer (Brighton, Mich./Brighton) nearly tied the game less than five minutes later. Spencer chased down a loose ball left of the six-yard box and fired a sliding shot that McLeod dove and stopped.

Penn State put the game out of reach minutes later at 81:49. Holly Lincoln carried the ball into the box from the left corner and fired a shot that Tuura blocked. Lincoln followed up her own rebound and put it home. The Wolverines had two scoring chances in the final minutes of the game but could not muster up the comeback.

Michigan will complete the Big Ten home weekend with a noon match Sunday (Oct. 23) against Minnesota at U-M Soccer Field.

GAME SUMMARY

Team	1	2	F
Penn State	1	3	4
Michigan	0	2	2

Scoring, Time (Assist)
1st -- PSU, Sheree Gray, 29:43 (Zoe Bouchelle)
2nd -- PSU, Tiffany Weimer, 47:53 (Gray)
2nd -- U-M, Danelle Underwood, 65:42 (Melissa Dobbyn, Jamie Artsis)
2nd -- PSU, Ali Krieger, 67:24 (unassisted)
2nd -- U-M, Therese Heaton, 73:34 (Underwood)
2nd -- PSU, Holly Lincoln, 81:49 (unassisted)

Shots: U-M 13, PSU 16
Saves: U-M 7 (Megan Tuura 7), PSU 3 (Erin McLeod 3)
Corner Kicks: U-M 3, PSU 5
Fouls: U-M 10, PSU 18
Cards: U-M, Danelle Underwood, 51:41 (yellow); U-M, Skylar Andrews, 67:46 (yellow); PSU, Natalie Jacobs, 69:15 (yellow)

NOTES

• With her second-half goal, Therese Heaton moved to within three points of Jessica Limauro (1995-98) for fourth place in all-time points by a Wolverine. Heaton's 76 career points trail Limauro's 79. Heaton also tied her career-best season total in points (24) with her second-half goal.

• Heaton moved into a tie for fifth place on Michigan's career games played list in tonight's game.

• Megan Tuura's seven-save performance moved her into sole possession of third place in all-time career saves in the Michigan record book. She has a team-leading 62 saves this season and 223 in her career.

• Judy Coffman fired two shots in tonight's game, reaching the 50-shot mark on the season. Her 50 shots this season are the second highest total on the team.

• Jamie Artsis added to her career-best season total in assists after tallying her third helper of the season on Danelle Underwood's second-half goal.

• Melissa Dobbyn added to her team leading-point total with an assist on Danelle Underwood's second-half goal. She has a team-leading 28 points this season. She also continued her streak of being the only Wolverine player this season to record a shot in every game with her two shots tonight.

• Dobbyn and Heaton each extended her point streak to five games. Dobbyn has tallied three goals and five assists in the last five games, while Heaton has netted four goals and earned three assists over the five-game span.

• Danelle Underwood tallied three points for the first time in her career with her goal and assist in tonight's contest. Underwood is now tied with Judy Coffman for the third most points on the team this season with 12. Underwood also equaled her career high in shots with a team-high six. She fired a team-high six shots at Miami (Ohio) earlier this season (Sept. 11).

QUOTES

Michigan Head Coach Debbie Rademacher
On tonight's game ... "What's disappointing is that you have them within one goal and you give up that killer (goal). It's 2-1, then it's 3-1, then it's 3-2, then it's 4-2. I think that's disappointing, but we had some real shining moments in our attacking game and made it really exciting."

On giving up goals right after scoring ... "We talk about it all the time and the girls are conscious of it. It's something we need to figure out and we're trying to find the answer. Certainly we've been vulnerable."

On the momentum gained in the second half ... "As the first half went on, we started gaining a little bit. I just told them that we were winning balls and then giving them away when we certainly had the ability to hold the ball and move it around better. I think they realized that and they just need to relax a little bit and settle the game down."

On the play of freshman defender Skylar Andrews ... "We talked about that being her focus. She had the job of marking Tiffany Weimer. Tiffany is a goal scorer and can slip away at any moment. Skylar really stayed focused and she did have a good game despite Weimer getting the goal."

U-M Freshman Defender Skylar Andrews
On tonight's game ... "It was a tough battle the whole game. I knew that once this game started I was going to tough it out and battle and try to shut down whoever I was marking. [Marking Tiffany Weimer] was my job and yes, I got beat once, but I was still in for the rest of the game."