Early Goals Spell Michigan in Loss to No. 22 Southern Cal

Sunday, September 23

Ann Arbor, Mich.

Noon

Michigan

2-4-1

Southern Cal

6-1-1

Southern Cal

Michigan

Early Goals Spell Michigan in Loss to No. 22 Southern Cal

9/23/2007 12:00:00 AM | Women's Soccer

Box Score PDF Boxscore

By: Ryan Sosin

Site: Ann Arbor, Mich. (U-M Soccer Field)
Score: #22 Southern Cal 2, Michigan 0
Records: U-M (2-4-1), USC (5-1-1)
Next U-M Event: Friday, Sept. 28 -- at Minnesota (Minneapolis, Minn.), 7 p.m. CDT

ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- In its final warm-up before the start of conference play, the University of Michigan women's soccer team dropped a 2-0 decision to No. 22 Southern Cal Sunday afternoon (Sept. 23) on U-M Soccer Field.

Senior Katie Bohard (Indianapolis, Ind./North Central) led the Wolverine offense with two shots and set-up one of the team's best scoring opportunities of the day. Junior goalkeeper Madison Gates (Baldwinsville, N.Y./C.W. Baker) made six saves in net for the Wolverines

Southern Cal got on the board early when Alyssa Davila knocked in a pass from Amy Rodriguez from point-blank range in the fifth minute. Gates went down to block the potential shot attempt, but Rodriguez was able to slip a pass to the middle to set up the goal.

The Trojan advantage grew to 2-0 in the 24th minute on a Megan Ohai goal. Ohai played a shot off the crossbar from two yards out and chipped it into the net past Gates who was coming down from trying to block the initial shot.

In the second half, Michigan began to generate chances. In the 54th minute, Bohard threaded the ball through two defenders as she raced for the corner to set up a cross to a charging Sarah Banco (Medfield, Mass./Noble and Greenough School) on the far side. Banco and a USC defender both went flying into the Trojan net as they went up to head Bohard's cross, but the play was negated on an offsides call before either got a piece.

Freshman Jill Ferree (Strongsville, Ohio/Strongsville) was almost rewarded for aggressive play in the 77th minute when she challenged Kristin Olson, who had ventured out of the box towards midfield to play a loose ball. The Trojan keeper whiffed on a clearing attempt and Ferree -- who swiped the ball with defenders swarming towards her -- let a shot go just wide of the net.

The Big Ten schedule awaits the Wolverines next week in Minneapolis, Minn. Michigan will take on the Gophers Friday (Sept. 28) at 7 p.m. CDT, before traveling to Iowa City, Iowa, for a Sunday (Sept. 30) matinee with the Hawkeyes at 1 p.m. CDT.

GAME SUMMARY

Team	1	2	F
Southern Cal	2	0	2
Michigan	0	0	0

Scoring, Time (Assist)
1st -- USC, Alyssa Davila, 4:04 (Amy Rodriguez)
1st -- USC, Megan Ohai, 23:40 (Lauren Brown)

Shots: U-M 8, USC 14
Saves: U-M 6 (Madison Gates), USC 3 (Kristin Olsen)
Corner Kicks: U-M 3, USC 3
Fouls: U-M 9, USC 12
Cards: U-M, Amy Klippert, 19:17 (yellow); USC, Amy Rodriguez, 29:02 (yellow)

NOTES

• Michigan falls to 0-3 all-time against Southern Cal.

• The Wolverines had their streak of not allowing a goal in the first half in a home game snapped at 14 games. The last time a U-M opponent scored in the opening stanza on U-M Soccer Field came Oct. 21, 2005, against then-No. 1 Penn State.

QUOTES

Michigan Head Coach Debbie Rademacher
On translating the offensive effort into goals ... "We have a young team and it just takes experience to finish and execute under pressure. I think it is going to come. We just need to keep staying with our game plan and working hard. The experience of playing these good teams, especially out of conference, is going to help us."

On the speed and skill of the USC players ... "They have national team players. They have players that are quality athletes and are able to match-up individually with anybody in the country and really work other teams. That team is ranked 18th (by Soccer Buzz) but they are certainly as good as any top 10 team."

U-M Graduate Senior Defender Lindsey Cottrell
On the difference in today's game ... "It's really disappointing. We can play with the best, and we've shown that. That's what Big Ten soccer and Division I soccer is all about -- it's that slim margin of error, that really small difference. That's what makes the difference in games. So it's really frustrating when you play so hard and practice well and then you have a minute letdown -- or a 30 second letdown -- because that's all that it takes for a team to capitalize."

On continuing the strong defense effort ... "Defensively, we need to worry about our one-on-one battling and making sure that we are covering our marks. Its basic things that we need to keep getting sharper at. On defense we've got a very solid team, it's about coming out confident and knowing that we can play and then taking care of our individual responsibility."