Michigan Drops Overtime Decision at Top-Ranked Akron

Friday, October 28

Akron, Ohio

7:30 PM

Michigan

8-7-1

Akron

15-0-1

OT 2

Michigan

AKRON

10/28/2005 12:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer

Box Score

AKRON, Ohio -- The University of Michigan men's soccer team took the nation's No. 1-ranked team to overtime Friday (Oct. 28), but Akron's Sinisa Ubiparipovic scored 4:29 into the first extra period to give the Zips a 1-0 victory on Lee R. Jackson Soccer Field. This was Michigan's first time facing a No. 1-ranked team, and the Zips (15-0-1) extended their unbeaten streak to 16.

Heading into overtime, the Wolverines were familiar with this situation, as it was their fifth overtime game of the season and just the second for Akron. Unfortunately Michigan was unable to come up with any offensive pressure and allowed Ubiparipovic the opportunity to score the golden goal at the 94:29 mark. Ubiparipovic was assisted by Ross McKenzie. The play was set up from McKenzie when he crossed the ball to Ubiparipovic, making it possible for the Akron player to beat senior Peter Dzubay (Sylvania, Ohio/Northview) in the corner.

The Wolverines got off to a slow start on offense in the first half, only taking three shots, but they were able to play intense defense and allow only five shots, with Dzubay grabbed three saves. Neither team had any true scoring opportunities, as senior Ryan Alexander (Southfield, Mich./University of Detroit Jesuit) was the only Wolverine to challenge Akron goalkeeper Evan Bush in the first half, giving him his only save of the period.

While searching for offense in the second half, Michigan was able to match its first half defensive intensity. This was very apparent when Dzubay made one of the biggest saves of the night at the 79:52 mark. The senior keeper was caught out of position, giving Akron a wide-open net, but once the ball was fired he quickly recovered and made an enormous save. Dzubay finished the night with six saves against seven shots on goal in 94:29 minutes.

Coming out of intermission, the Wolverines were able to find offensive pressure from Alexander, junior Kevin Hall (Kalamazoo, Mich./Central) and senior Ryan Sterba (Westlake, Ohio/Cleveland St. Ignatius), as each player posted two shots and one shot on goal, forcing Bush to make three saves in the half.

The Wolverines head to State College, Pa., to match up against the Penn State Nittany Lions on Sunday (Oct. 30) at 1 p.m.

GAME SUMMARY

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

Scoring, Time (Assist)
OT -- UA, Sinisa Ubiparipovic, 4:29 (Ross McKenzie)

Shots: U-M 7, UA 15
Saves: U-M 6 (Peter Dzubay), UA 4 (Evan Bush)
Corner Kicks: U-M 4, UA 6
Fouls: U-M 14, UA 10
Cards: U-M, Michael Holody, 67:07 (yellow); U-M, Ryan Alexander, 83:32 (yellow)

Q U O T E S

Michigan Head Coach Steve Burns
On the game ... "Akron is a very good team that has two special players and a very good supporting cast. We had a great, classic college soccer game against them that was a fight from start to finish. While we knew they were going to have more chances against us, we were only looking for the special chances we were going to get against them, and we had them. I'm proud of our guys for bringing the fight. At the same time it's disappointing anytime you drop one in overtime after playing well."

On the team's defense ... "We played a very disciplined and very strong defensive game, from start to finish. We had some great work out of our forwards that did some strong tracking back and our defensive mid made a lot of great plays as well as our back four kept everything very tight and limited. They limited two of the top players in the country, #9 Ross McKenzie and #10 Sinisa Ubiparipovic to one shot on net, one shot total. (Peter) Dzubay was special on the net, so in terms of defense we know it's the strength of our team. The defense of our team was good enough to win on the day, but special players make special plays, and their two special players combined at the end to come up with a special play, so give them credit."

On how the team fared against the No. 1-ranked team ... "It's not good enough, plain and simple, it's not good enough. We went into the game expecting to win, like we do with all of them, and we were in the position to win the game, but they did. Now it's time for us to regroup and get ready for the next big game."

Contact: Joseph Conrad (734) 763-4423