Michigan Rolls into NCAA Sweet 16, Beats No. 18 UC Davis

Tuesday, November 25

Ann Arbor, Mich.

2:00 PM

Michigan

13-5-3

UC Davis

13-5-4

UC Davis

Michigan

Michigan Rolls into NCAA Sweet 16, Beats No. 18 UC Davis

11/25/2008 12:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer

Box Score

By: Ryan Sosin, Jeremy Reid

Site: Ann Arbor, Mich. (U-M Soccer Complex)
Event: NCAA Championship (Second Round)
Score: #14 Michigan 2, #18 UC Davis 1
Records: U-M (13-5-3), UC Davis (13-5-4)
Next U-M Game: Saturday, Nov. 29 -- at Indiana - NCAA Championship Sweet 16 (Bloomington, Ind.)

ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The No. 14-ranked University of Michigan men's soccer team, the No. 11 seed in the national tournament, advanced to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Championship with a 2-1 victory over UC Davis Tuesday afternoon (Nov. 25) at the U-M Soccer Complex. Senior Jake Stacy (Grand Rapids, Mich./Forest Hills Central) and junior Peri Marosevic (Rockford, Ill./Edison Academy) scored for the Wolverines.

Jake Stacy (left) and Peri Marosevic

Senior/junior goalkeeper Patrick Sperry (Hinsdale, Ill./Hinsdale Central) made one save to earn the victory in goal in the first-ever game played on the competition field at the new U-M Soccer Complex.

Michigan stormed out of the gate in the second half, opening the scoring within the first five minutes of the half. Junior/sophomore Matt Schmitt (Muskegon, Mich./Reeths-Puffer) made a run down the right side before dropping the ball off to junior Mauro Fuzetti (Houston, Texas/Stratford), who made a move to get around a UC Davis defender before feeding a cross toward the penalty spot. Stacy got on the end of the cross and headed the ball past the Aggie goalkeeper at the 49:12 mark to give U-M a 1-0 lead. For Stacy, the goal was his eighth of the season.

The Wolverines increased their advantage to 2-0 with a goal from Marosevic at 66:27, proven to be the game-winner. Fuzetti again registered an assist, starting the play with a pass to Marosevic, who ran left to right across the face of the goal before stopping and shooting back across his body, wrong-footing the Aggie goalkeeper and finding the back of the net from 15 yards out for his team-best 13th goal of the campaign.

UC Davis scored a consolation goal with just 2:50 remaining in the contest. After earning a free kick wide on the left flank, Dylan Curtis whipped in the free kick and Chris Leer headed home a goal for the Aggies. The goal was Leer's fourth of the season.

The Wolverines and Aggies played a scoreless opening 45 minutes as the two teams tried to adjust to the snowy and windy conditions. U-M nearly opened the scoring just four minutes into the contest as a chip by senior Steve Bonnell (St. Clair Shores, Mich./Detroit Country Day) forced a save from the UC Davis goalkeeper. The rebound fell to Stacy and his shot was also saved.

The Maize and Blue had another chance in the 17th minute when Fuzetti whistled a shot over the crossbar.

Michigan held an 8-3 shot advantage in the first half and had the only four shots on goal in the first 45 minutes. U-M held a 16-6 overall shot advantage in the contest.

With the victory, the Wolverines move to 3-0 all-time in home matches in the NCAA Tournament.

Michigan will take on No. 12-ranked Indiana in the Sweet 16 round on Saturday (Nov. 29) in Bloomington, Ind. Kickoff with the tournament's No. 6 seed is slated for 7 p.m. on Jerry Yeagley Field at Armstrong Stadium.

GAME SUMMARY

By Periods	1	2	F
UC Davis	0	1	1
Michigan	0	2	2

Scoring, Time (Assist)
2nd -- U-M, Jake Stacy, 49:12 (Mauro Fuzetti)
2nd -- U-M, Peri Marosevic, 66:27 (Fuzetti)
2nd -- UCD, Chris Leer, 87:10 (Dylan Curtis)

Shots: U-M 16, UCD 6
Shots on Goal: U-M 9, UCD 2
Saves: U-M 1 (Patrick Sperry), UCD 7 (Ryan McCowan)
Corner Kicks: U-M 9, UCD 4
Fouls: U-M 15, UCD 19
Cards: U-M, Michael Holody, 72:53 (Yellow); UCD, Lance Patterson, 87:23 (Yellow).

NOTES

• Today's game marked the inaugural contest held on the competition field of the U-M Soccer Complex.

• The Wolverines earned their program-record ninth home win of the season.

• Michigan improved to 3-0-0 in NCAA Championship contests at home, adding today's win to a 2003 victory against St. Peter's and a 2004 win over Akron.

• Patrick Sperry matched a program record for wins in a season with his 12th victory. Sperry (12-5-2) tied the 2003 total posted by Peter Dzubay (12-7-1).

• Peri Marosevic tallied his ninth career game-winning goal. He remains in second place all-time behind Knox Cameron (12, 2001-04).

• Marosevic tied a program record for game-winning goals in a single season with his fifth such marker. He matched the 2003 output that Knox Cameron produced.

• Marosevic moved out of a tie and into sole possession of second place on the U-M single-season goal-scoring list with his 13 goal of the season. Only Mychal Turpin dented the twine more in a season when he scored 14 times during the 2003 campaign.

• Jake Stacy moved into a tie for fifth place on the U-M career goals list with his 15th maker. He matched teammate Mauro Fuzetti, who garnered an assist on Stacy's goal today.

• Stacy and Steve Bonnell made the 78th appearances of their career, the fourth-highest total for any Wolverine. Meanwhile, Michael Holody made the 72nd start of his career, matching the third-most appearances in the starting lineup in program history. He is tied with Adam Bruh (2002-05) on the list.

QUOTES

Michigan Head Coach Steve Burns
On the game ... "The first game of any tournament is always the most difficult. Once you get it under your belt, things tend to roll from there. We are extremely pleased that we got a nice, solid win against an extremely strong opponent -- an opponent that gave us some real problems with the matchup. UC Davis put an excellent season together. They have only been playing Division I soccer for two years and they've been in two consecutive NCAA Tournaments. We are pleased to be moving on to either Indiana or Saint Louis."

On an NCAA game marking the opening of the competition field ... "It was the first game on the field ever and to get a win and christen it in that way was special. You can see the potential that it has. Once the stadium is built and once we really build up that fan base that you know is out there, it is going to give us a real home-field advantage. You've got to say the 31 degrees -- feels like 22 (degrees ) -- was a home-field advantage also."

U-M Junior Peri Marosevic
On his goal ... "It was a pretty nicely played ball by Mauro Fuzetti from the outside. I just took my time, turned the defender and took a touch around him. I knew that as long as I kept the ball low to the ground, the keeper would have a hard time handling it. So I made sure I kept it low, and with the slippery ground it made it easier for me and more difficult on the keeper."

On reigniting the offense ... "It is NCAA Tournament time, everyone wants to show up and score. With Jake Stacy getting the first goal meant a lot to us, knowing that everybody is on the same page; everybody wants to get that goal. I am very happy for Jake for getting it and myself for getting the other (goal). It just shows that we are able to play different defense -- our offense and defense will be ready to compete against anything."

U-M Junior Mauro Fuzetti
On executing the game plan ... "We knew from the pregame that they were going to be a physical team, so we tried to move the ball around faster and hope that they could not keep up with us. It is harder playing in these conditions when it is cold and snowy, but we knew they were going to be a physical team so we wanted to keep the ball on the ground and keep it moving fast."

On the first goal of the game ... "Once I got wide, I knew that I wanted to cross (pass) it in. I looked up and saw that we had two or three guys in the box. I just wanted to play a good ball to the PK spot, which is a dangerous area, and that's where it went and luckily Jake was there to finish it off."

U-M Senior Nader Jarun
On his team's performance ... "We fought hard. From the beginning to the end we knew what was at stake -- it could be our last game of the year. I think we treat every single game like that. We saw a bunch of guys play like warriors tonight and I think you will see that the rest of the year."