Marosevic Scores Twice to Ice Shutout Victory Over Penn State

Saturday, November 8

Ann Arbor, Mich.

2:00 PM

Michigan

12-4-2, 4-1-1BIGTEN

Penn State

5-10-3, 2-4-0BIGTEN

Penn State

Michigan

Marosevic Scores Twice to Ice Shutout Victory Over Penn State

11/8/2008 12:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer

Box Score PDF Boxscore

By: Ryan Sosin, Jeremy Reid

Site: Ann Arbor, Mich. (U-M Soccer Complex)
Score: #12 Michigan 2, Penn State 0
Records: U-M (12-4-2, 4-1-1 Big Ten), PSU (5-10-3, 2-4-0 Big Ten)
Next U-M Game: Thursday, Nov. 13 -- at Wisconsin - Big Ten Tournament First Round (Madison, Wis.), 3:30 p.m. CST

ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- Junior Peri Marosevic (Rockford, Ill./Edison Academy) scored his second goal of the game with five seconds remaining to seal a program-record eighth home victory for the No. 12-ranked University of Michigan men's soccer team, delivering a 2-0 win over Penn State on Saturday (Nov. 8) on the west practice field of the U-M Soccer Complex. Senior/junior Patrick Sperry (Hinsdale, Ill/Hinsdale Central) picked up his fifth shutout of the campaign with a six-save performance.

Peri Marosevic

Michigan got out to a 1-0 lead in the 28th minute on Marosevic's first goal of the game. Junior/sophomore Matt Schmitt (Muskegon, Mich./Reeths-Puffer) streaked down the left side and fired a tight angle shot that was stopped by the Nittany Lion goalkeeper, but Marosevic pounced on the rebound and scored from five yards out to get the Wolverines on the board.

The two teams battled back and forth for the remainder of the first half and through much of the second half. The Nittany Lions almost found paydirt late in the second half but were turned aside on successive saves by Sperry. In the 88th minute, a Penn State attacker let a shot fly from 10 yards out that was blocked by a Wolverine defender. The ricochet came to another PSU player's foot where his shot was also turned aside before, from his knees, Sperry made one more stop to end the threat.

With five seconds remaining, Marosevic once again dented the twine to sew up the record-setting victory and give U-M a 2-0 lead. As time wore down and with Penn State still pressing, senior Alex Morisset (Shelby Township, Mich./De La Salle) looked down field to chip the ball out of the defending third. Morisset found a better option in Marosevic cutting hard across midfield. Morisset placed the pass into Marosevic's path and sent him storming down on the goalkeeper. The Wolverine attacker steered the ball around the charging goalkeeper and into the cage.

The Wolverines garner the No. 2 seed in the Big Ten Tournament and will face No. 7 seed Wisconsin on Thursday (Nov. 13) at the McClimon Track/Soccer Complex in Madison, Wis. The game is slated for 3:30 p.m. CST.

GAME SUMMARY

By Periods	1	2	F
Penn State	0	0	0
Michigan	1	1	2

Scoring, Time (Assist)
1st -- U-M, Peri Marosevic, 27:36 (Matt Schmitt)
2nd -- U-M, Marosevic, 89:55 (Alex Morisset)

Shots: U-M 13, PSU 13
Shots on Goal: U-M 6, PSU 6
Saves: U-M 6 (Patrick Sperry), PSU 4 (Warren Gross)
Corner Kicks: U-M 2, PSU 6
Fouls: U-M 10, PSU 14
Cards: U-M, Nader Jarun, 28:50 (Yellow); PSU, Patrick Krispin, 76:45 (Yellow).

NOTES

• Senior/junior Patrick Sperry posted his program-best sixth conference shutout of his career. He also earned his 18th perfect game, pulling to within one of Peter Dzubay's (19, 2002-05) school record.

• Michigan finished the conference slate with the fewest goals allowed, averaging 0.50 goals allowed per game. Sperry aided in those numbers with three shutouts.

• The Wolverines clinched their eighth home victory of the season, besting the previous standard of seven set by the 2005 (7-1-0) and 2007 (7-1-2) teams.

• Junior Peri Marosevic scored the 22nd and 23rd goals of his career, surpassing Mike White (22, 2000-03) to move into third on the U-M all-time list.

• Marosevic extended his point streak to three games with a pair of goals against Penn State (3g, 1a).

• Marosevic leapfrogged three places on the single-season points list, moving into third place with 27 points. His four-point day pushed him past Mike White (24, 2003 and 25, 2002) and Mychal Turpin (25, 2002).

• Marosevic tallied the eighth game-winning goal of his career, breaking a tie with junior Mauro Fuzetti (7) and Mychal Turpin (7, 2001-04) to take sole possession of second on the all-time list. Marosevic trails only Knox Cameron (12, 2001-04) for the program record.

• Junior/sophomore Matt Schmitt's eighth assist of the campaign matched Adam Bruh (2003) for the fourth-highest single-season total in program history.

QUOTES

Michigan Head Coach Steve Burns
On the game ... "I really like Penn State because they are truly a lot better than their record says they are. They are feisty and they bring a lot of energy to the game. There was a lot of good, hard, physical play. For the most part, it was just two good teams going at it."

On if he could foresee setting the program record for home wins in a season ... "Certainly we knew we had the potential to do it. It was a matter whether the players could really pull together and unlock it. I think that the best is still yet to come for this team."

U-M Junior Forward Peri Marosevic
On his first goal of the game ... "It was a great combination play by our team to get the ball out to Matt Schmitt on the outside left. I knew -- as a forward you have to make those strong runs into the box -- Matt was going to get a cross (pass) off; he has the ability to do it and position myself to do it. I didn't get the first touch on it, but I got the rebound and it was pretty much an easy touch for me."

U-M Senior Midfielder Alex Morisset
On setting up the insurance goal ... "At first, I thought the center back was going to stay, so I was going to try and chip it over him. Then I saw him coming and I was just trying to get to the ball first and get a poke in there because I knew Peri (Marosevic) would be alone. I got to the ball first and poked it to Peri on a breakaway to the goal."

U-M Senior Forward Steve Bonnell
On what has played the biggest role in the team's success ... "The most important thing is that we are a team. We are not thinking about ourselves or our stats or what is going on individually. This year, statistically, we are the best Michigan team because we are playing as a team."