Michigan
Notre Dame (ex)
Michigan Suffers Exhibition Loss to No. 16 Notre Dame
8/28/2005 12:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The University of Michigan men's soccer team dropped a close exhibition game, 2-1 in overtime, to Notre Dame on Sunday (Aug. 28) at U-M Soccer Field. Notre Dame scored the first goal 23:06 into the game when Nate Norman scored off of Alex Yoshinaga's corner kick.
For both teams, the first half was an offensive struggle, with Michigan only taking six shots and Notre Dame taking nine shots. This battle continued until Notre Dame received a corner kick which was kicked by Yoshinaga, who allowed Norman to beat the Wolverines' freshman goalkeeper Patrick Sperry (Hinsdale, Ill./Hinsdale Central HS) to the left. Michigan would then turn up its defense, only allowing Notre Dame to take three more shots on goal for the first period.
The Wolverines were down 1-0 at the end of the first period, but came out in the second half determined to turn up the offensive pressure. Michigan's second-half leader was freshman Steve Bonnell (St. Clair Shores, Mich./Detroit Country Day School), with two shots, one shot on goal and an assist. The Wolverines' only goal came midway into the second half, when Bruh kicked a corner kick to Bonnell, and Bonnell assisted junior Kevin Savitskie (Plymouth, Mich./Salem HS) for his header goal.
The Wolverines continued to pour on the offensive attack just minutes after their first goal, when Bonnell kicked the ball forward to senior Trai Blanks (Ann Arbor, Mich./Pioneer HS) for a breakaway opportunity. Unfortunately Notre Dame's defense was able to get back in position to deflect the ball away to give Michigan a corner kick. Due to the Wolverines' offensive pressure, they were able to hold the Fighting Irish to only six shots in the second half and just three shots on goal.
For the remainder of the second half, the teams continued to fight in a defensive battle, taking the game into overtime with the score being 1-1. Michigan had a positive outlook for the overtime when senior Adam Bruh (Rosyln Heights, N.Y./Wheatley) got a restart kick to hit the right post just three minutes into overtime.
A minute later, Notre Dame closed the game out when Ian Etherington was assisted by Matt Besler for the game-winning goal. Besler took the ball across midfield and passed it to Etherington to beat freshman Alex Lubyansky (Farmington Hills, Mich./North Farmington HS) to the left.
The Wolverines open the regular season at home against Detroit on Thursday (Sept. 1) at 7 p.m. on the U-M Soccer Field.
GAME SUMMARY
| Team | 1 | 2 | OT | F |
| Notre Dame | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| Michigan | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
Scoring, Time (Assist)
1st -- UND, Nate Norman, 23:06 (unassisted)
2nd -- U-M, Kevin Savitskie, 63:25 (Adam Bruh, Steve Bonnell)
OT -- UND, Ian Etherington, 93:37 (Matt Besler)
Shots: U-M 13, UND 17
Saves: U-M 10 (Patrick Sperry 6, Alex Lubyansky 2, Team 2), UND 3 (Justin Michaud)
Corner Kicks: U-M 6, UND 6
Fouls: U-M 16, UND 13
Cards: UND, Bright Dike, 40:00 (yellow); U-M, Kevin Hall, 58:24 (yellow); U-M, Chase Tennant, 82:21 (yellow)
Contact: Joseph Conrad (734) 763-4423
