Wolverines Drop Heartbreaker Against Coastal Carolina

Sunday, August 27

Ann Arbor, Mich.

2:30 PM

Michigan

0-2-0

Coastal Carolina

1-1-0

COASTAL

Michigan

Wolverines Drop Heartbreaker Against Coastal Carolina

8/27/2006 12:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer

Box Score

By: Joseph Conrad

Site: Ann Arbor, Mich. (U-M Soccer Field)
Score: Coastal Carolina 3, Michigan 2
Records: U-M (0-2-0), CCU (1-1-0)
Next U-M Event: Friday, Sept. 1 -- Northern Illinois at MSU/Radisson Fall Classic (East Lansing, Mich.), 2:30 p.m.

ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The University of Michigan men's soccer team fell short to Coastal Carolina 3-2 on Sunday (Aug. 27) at the U-M Soccer Field. Sophomore Michael Holody (Clarkston, Mich./Clarkston) and senior tri-captain Brian Popeney (Canton, Mich./Plymouth Salem) netted one goal apiece to lead the Wolverine charge.

With 15 minutes left in the match, Popeney and sophomore Steve Bonnell (St. Clair Shores, Mich./Detroit Country Day) connected for the second Maize and Blue goal of the afternoon. Bonnell earned his first assist of the year after crossing a good ball from the right corner of the field to Popeney, setting up Popeney to head in the marker to the left side of Chanticleers keeper Jeremy Wolfgang.

Minutes after the second goal, the Wolverines continued to make attempts to net the equalizer. Junior Tolu Olowolafe (Bear, Del./Glasglow) took one of the closest attempts, creating space between the Coastal Carolina defense after dribbling past three Chanticleer defenders. Olowolafe blasted a laser from 25 yards out but it was parried out of bounds for a Michigan corner kick.

With 18 minutes left in the first stanza of play, Michigan found momentum in an equalizing successful penalty kick from Holody. The penalty kick was forced after junior Michael Parke (Portage, Mich./Portage Central) streaked through the Chanticleers' defense, where he was then snatched from behind as he was taking a wide shot. With the Michigan bench witnessing their second penalty kick in as many games, Holody stepped up to the ball and launched a low rocket to the right, beating Wolfgang by inches as he correctly guessed which way the ball was going.

The Maize and Blue carried the intensity until the final minute of play, as sophomore Alex Morisset (Shelby Township, Mich./De La Salle) intercepted a Chanticleer pass and dribbled past two defenders, only to come up short after losing the ball from a side tackle.

The Wolverines entered the second half with a 1-1 score, until the Chanticleers' Luke Ibbetson netted his second and third goals in the 48th and 61st minutes. The Maize and Blue responded as it maintained possession of the ball by taking the last nine shots in the final 20 minutes of action.

Freshman Peri Marosevic (Rockford, Ill./Edison Academy) led the way for Michigan in the final minutes of attack as he took two shots on goal, forcing two saves and one corner kick as the Maize and Blue searched for the game-tying marker. Marosevic was one of five players to take three or more shots as the Wolverines outshot the Chaticleers 26-10.

The Wolverines hit the road for the first time this season as they travel to East Lansing, Mich., to compete in the Michigan State Invitational from Friday and Sunday (Sept. 1-3) on the Old College Field. In the annual tournament Michigan will face Northern Illinois (Sept. 1) at 2:30 p.m. and No. 3-ranked New Mexico (Sept. 3) at 11 a.m.

GAME SUMMARY

By Periods	1	2	F
Coastal Carolina	1	2	3
Michigan	1	1	2

Scoring, Time (Assist)
1st -- CC, Luke Ibbetson, 13:49 (Bobby Zimmer)
1st -- U-M, Michael Holody, 17:28 (Penalty Kick)
2nd -- CC, Ibbetson, 47:28 (unassisted)
2nd -- CC, Ibbetson, 60:57 (Kevin Van Den Berg)
2nd -- U-M, Brian Popeney, 84:15 (Steve Bonnell)

Shots: U-M 26, CC 10
Shots on Goal: U-M 12, CC 5
Saves: U-M 2 (Patrick Sperry), CC 10 (Jeremy Wolfgang)
Corner Kicks: U-M 7, CC 2
Fouls: U-M 16, CC 28
Cards: CC, Craig Reed, 31:38 (yellow); CC, Wesley Kent, 51:30 (yellow); CC, Oron Levy, 73:16 (yellow); U-M, Mauro Fuzetti, 84:49 (yellow); CC, Tim Shaw, 86:00 (yellow)

NOTES

• Today match was the first-ever meeting between Michigan and Coastal Carolina.

• With the back-to-back loses to St. John's and Coastal Carolina, Michigan has lost the first two games of the season for the first time in program history.

• Sophomore Michael Holody and senior tri-captain Brian Popeney scored their first career goals.

• Freshman Peri Marosevic made his first collegiate start, taking three shots with two on goal.

• Sophomore Nader Jarun made his debut in a Michigan uniform as a reserve.

• Senior tri-captain Kevin Hall played in his 63rd career game, three games away from tying Matt Niemeyer for fifth place on Michigan's all-time games played list.

QUOTES

Michigan Head Coach Steve Burns
On the game ... "I believe we played well enough to win but didn't get the win. What's important now is that our core group of guys and our entire team responds and shows the resiliency knowing that we're a good team. We were able to put together a lot of good soccer and it's just a matter of taking care of the chances that we create in front of net."

On maintaining possession of the ball in the final minutes of play ... "Possession for possession's sake can be misleading. I think we were very good in the back two-thirds of the field but we're still in that phase where we're trying to really exploit a team once we get in behind them. That comes from experience and unfortunately you take some knocks by dropping games like this, but it just has to be fuel for our team to be resilient and eventually it's going to come for us."

On how playing in tough matches can help the team in the rest of the season ... "These are all big games that help their learning curve. The steeper that learning curve with a difficult schedule, the quicker you come together as a team, and this team is going to come together relatively quickly."

On how the team builds off the intensity in the final moments of the match heading into the Michigan State Invitational ... "The last minutes of the game that you're chasing, you're throwing everything at it, you're very susceptible to the counterattack. We didn't pay for it this game and we almost equalized. What I see is that we have a great core of leadership and a young talented team and the direction that we head into I know will get us ready for the Michigan State weekend."