Wolverines' NCAA Tournament Run Ended at Indiana

Saturday, November 29

Bloomington, Ind.

7:00 PM

Michigan

13-6-3

Indiana

14-6-3

Michigan

Indiana

11/29/2008 12:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer

Box Score PDF Boxscore

By: Ryan Sosin, Jeremy Reid

Site: Bloomington, Ind. (Bill Armstrong Stadium)
Event: NCAA Championship (Third Round)
Score: #12 Indiana 3, #14 Michigan 0
Records: U-M (13-6-3), IU (14-6-3)
Next U-M Game: Season Complete

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- The No. 14-ranked University of Michigan men's soccer team, the 11th seed in the national tournament, was eliminated after a 3-0 loss to sixth-seeded and No. 12-ranked Indiana in the third round of the NCAA Championship on Saturday night (Nov. 29) in Bill Armstrong Stadium. Senior/junior Patrick Sperry (Hinsdale, Ill./Hinsdale Central) made four saves in the losing effort.

Santos Perez

Michigan tried to draw first blood in the first five minutes when junior Mauro Fuzetti (Houston, Texas/Stratford) sent in a bounding pass from corner past the foot of an IU defender to senior Steve Bonnell (St. Clair Shores, Mich./Detroit Country Day) in the box. The senior tried to jockey for position but could not find a clear path to the net. He got off a shot that went careening off of a defender and out to senior/junior Daniel Gray (Setauket, N.Y./Chaminade), who sent a blast wide to the left.

Sperry was tested and responded with strong saves on a pair of shots inside 20 minutes, but it was in the 18th minute when the Wolverine defense made its best play of the opening stanza. The Hoosiers came storming down the left side, stringing together several passes as they overlapped their way to goal. As an IU forward tried to make the final cut into the box, junior Julian Robles (Los Angeles, Calif./Damien) came crashing in, making a clean slide tackle to stymie the forward progress and assume possession for the Maize and Blue.

Indiana broke the stalemate on its eighth shot of the game to go up 1-0 in the 34th minute. Indiana cycled the ball around the box until a slim gap for a shot opened up from the top of the box. IU's Andy Adlard sent a low shot through the crowd and past the outstretched Sperry into the back left corner of the cage.

Michigan threatened eight minutes after the break but could not find pay dirt. Senior Michael Holody (Clarkston, Mich./Clarkston) sent a booming pass from midfield to senior Santos Perez (Troy, Mich./Athens) on the right wing. Perez got to the ball and settled it before sending a blast from the top corner of the box. His shot came just inches from ringing off the crossbar but was tipped away by the leaping IU goalkeeper.

The two teams engaged in air combat for the next several minutes, trying to use a long pass to establish a presence in the opposing third. The back-and-forth play continued for a bulk of the frame with both teams generating unsuccessful chances in the box. Perez continued to be U-M's launcher of choice once it got inside the attacking third. The senior had three strong serves into the box between the 60th and 70th minute.

Michigan got a golden chance to level the slate in the 73rd minute when junior Peri Marosevic (Rockford, Ill./Edison Academy) got off a point-blank shot. The Wolverines caught an advantage by playing through after IU seemed to expect a penalty call. Holody found his teammate from the right side of the goal mouth, sending a pass through three defenders to Marosevic all alone on the doorstep. IU netminder Chay Cain was in the right spot though, turning aside the attempt.

IU added to its lead at 76:50, going up 2-0. The Hoosiers came racing down the field but were slowed by the U-M defense. Adlard lobbed a pass from the right over two defenders and an attacker to Brad Ring on the far side where he chipped the ball into the back of the cage.

The home team piled on to its lead five minutes later, increasing its edge to 3-0. John Mellencamp got a pass behind the Wolverine defense with no one to beat but the goalkeeper. With Mellencamp bearing down on him, Sperry made a valiant attempt, but the IU attacker was able to send a shot into the right side of the net.

The Wolverines continued to press as time wore down, controlling the ball in the attacking third for the final five minutes of the contest but did not convert.

The loss cuts short the Wolverines' bid at the College Cup and concludes a 2008 season that produced a 13-6-3 overall record.

GAME SUMMARY

By Periods	1	2	F
Michigan	0	0	0
Indiana	1	2	3

Scoring, Time (Assist)
1st -- IU, Andy Adlard, 33:52 (Lee Hagedorn, Neil Wilmarth)
2nd -- IU, Brad Ring, 76:50 (Adlard)
2nd -- IU, John Mellencamp, 81:33 (Adlard)

Shots: U-M 9, IU 18
Shots on Goal: U-M 1, IU 7
Saves: U-M 4 (Patrick Sperry), IU 1 (Chay Cain)
Corner Kicks: U-M 6, IU 7
Fouls: U-M 14, IU 16
Cards: U-M, Mauro Fuzetti, 30:56 (Yellow); IU, Daniel Kelly, 36:11 (Yellow).

NOTES

• Michigan fell to 3-3-1 all-time in the NCAA Championship, including a 0-2 record against Indiana in the national tournament.

• The Wolverines came up one win short of the program record for wins but did match the standard for winning-percentage (.659).

• Senior Michael Holody made the 73rd start of his career tonight, moving him into sole possession of third place on the U-M career list.

• With four shots tonight, junior Peri Marosevic tied the second-highest single-season mark with 63 strikes on the season. His 2008 performance matched that of Knox Cameron in 2003 and came up just three short of his 2006 program record 66 shots.

• Playing in their final games in a Michigan uniform were fifth-year senior Michael Parke and seniors Steve Bonnell, Michael Holody, Nader Jarun, Alex Morisset, Jake Stacy and Santos Perez.

QUOTES

Michigan Head Coach Steve Burns
On the game ... "We want to wish Indiana well. We know that they will represent the Big Ten Conference well in the Elite Eight. The first thirty minutes, the game really seemed like it was ours for the taking. We just did not take it. Indiana scored in the 34th minute against the run of play. In a game like this, the first goal meant everything. On their first goal, they were willing to take a chance and hit a ball in behind our defense. The ball bounced and in the tussle came off one of our defenders backs. They pounced on the rebound and made a nice stab at the ball from 16 yards out to put it away in the side netting -- from that point on, we were chasing the game. You have got to give them credit; they found a way to score the first goal and we did not."

On what made IU's offense more successful against U-M than it had been ... "When we were chasing the game, we made a switch with 18 minutes left to our goal-down shape. That is a little early and you saw what resulted from it. We hit one off the crossbar that looked like it just needed another six inches and it was going to clear the crossbar and suddenly it is a tie game. So we took a chance by pushing to that goal-down shape kind of early, but when you do that, you can get exposed on the counterattack. Their second goal came off of our corner kick, which is a prime time to get countered on."

U-M Senior Defender Michael Holody
On the frustration of missing chances late ... "It is always frustrating when you are close to scoring, hitting the crossbar and even before that we had a couple of chances, and we just could not get it on frame. I just believed we were eventually going to get it, but unfortunately before we could, they stung us on the counterattack. It made it tough. Any time you miss a shot, it is frustrating."