Meram's Hat Trick Helps U-M Shoot Down Falcons

Wednesday, September 23

Ann Arbor, Mich.

7:00 PM

Michigan

7-1-0

Bowling Green

1-5-2

Bowling Green

Michigan

9/23/2009 12:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer

Box Score

Sept. 23, 2009

Site: Ann Arbor, Mich. (U-M Soccer Complex)
Score: #24 Michigan 5, Bowling Green 1
Records: U-M (7-1-0), Bowling Green (1-5-2)
Attendance: 614
Next U-M Game: Sunday, Sept. 27 -- at Penn State (State College, Pa.), 2 p.m.

• Boxscore

ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- Junior forward Justin Meram (Shelby Township, Mich./Yavapai College) exploded for three goals -- two in the second half -- for a hat trick to lead the No. 24-ranked University of Michigan men's soccer team to a 5-1 victory over Bowling Green on Wednesday night (Sept. 23) at the U-M Soccer Complex. The triumph is U-M's seventh straight, second in a row by a 5-1 score and fifth straight by two or more goals.

Senior forward Mauro Fuzetti (Houston, Texas/Stratford) and freshman midfielder Hamoody Saad (Dearborn, Mich./Dearborn) each added a goal in the victory, while junior/sophomore goalkeeper Chris Blais (Seattle, Wash./Kennedy Memorial) made two saves in the net.

Trailing Bowling Green 1-0 with five minutes remaining in the first half, junior defender Chase Tennant (Rochester, Mich./Rochester) connected with Meram in the midfield with a long ball out of the back. Meram swiveled his way around several defenders and squared up in front of the net, where he placed the ball behind BGSU goalkeeper Jeff Smoker to tie the game.

The Wolverines found their offense in the second half and jumped on the Falcons from the first whistle. Meram opened the second half with a header on a beautiful feed from freshman defender Brian Klemczak (Livonia, Mich./Stevenson) and junior/sophomore midfielder Adam Shaw (Lone Tree, Colo./Highlands Ranch ) and it was merely seconds later that Saad sent a pass from fifth-year senior midfielder Daniel Gray (Setauket, N.Y./Chaminade) past Bowling Green's goalkeeper for the 3-1 advantage just five minutes into the second half.

Michigan controlled the action for the rest of the game, rarely allowing the Falcons past midfield. Meram scored his third goal of the game on a give-and-go from freshman midfielder Latif Alashe (Northville, Mich./Northville), while Fuzetti picked up his team-leading seventh goal of the season in the 62nd minute to put U-M up 5-1 and help move the Wolverines to 4-0 at the U-M Soccer Complex this season.

Bowling Green came out and put pressure on the Wolverine defense from the outset of the match and seemed to control the offense early in the game as the Falcons found the back of the net just 10 minutes in on a restart after an injury. Jacob Lawrence connected with Max Weston on a through ball for the 1-0 advantage.

The Falcons threatened to add another to their tally in the 31st minute when Gavin Dozier slipped through the defense and ripped a shot from about 15 yard outside of the box, but Blais stepped up big and made the save.

Michigan opens Big Ten action on Sunday (Sept. 27) when it heads to State College, Pa., to face the Penn State Nittany Lions. Kickoff is set for 2 p.m. at Jeffrey Field.

GAME SUMMARY

By Periods	1	2	F
Michigan	1	4	5
Bowling Green	1	0	1

Scoring, Time (Assist)
1st -- BGSU, Max Weston, 9:34 (Lawrence Jacob, Chuko Evwaraye)
1st -- U-M, Justin Meram, 39:30 (Chase Tennant)
2nd -- U-M, Meram, 49:11 (Brian Klemczak, Adam Shaw)
2nd -- U-M, Hamoody Saad, 49:39 (Daniel Gray)
2ND -- U-M, Meram, 57:48 (Latif Alashe)
2ND -- U-M, Mauro Fuzetti, 61:23 (unassisted)

Shots: U-M 23, BGSU 6
Shots on Goal: U-M 9, BGSU 3
Saves: U-M 2 (Chris Blais 2, Tim Bergsma 0); BGSU 4 (Jeff Smoker)
Corner Kicks: U-M 4, BGSU 7
Fouls: U-M 11, BGSU 10
Cards: BGSU, Tyler Deal, 36:28 (Yellow).

N O T E S

• Michigan owns a 5-2 record against Bowling Green. U-M and the Falcons last met during the 2007 season, a 5-2 U-M victory.

• The Wolverines move to 4-0 on their home field this season. Last season, U-M went 9-2 on its home turf and was 1-0 on the competition field at the U-M Soccer Complex.

• With tonight's victory, the men's soccer program and head coach Steve Burns move within three victories of the 100th victory in program history. Burns will also pick up his 100th career victory at the helm of the program.

• U-M's five goals tie the highest offensive output this season. The Maize and Blue scored five goals in its last outing against Western Michigan on Saturday (Sept. 19) and, prior to that, had scored three goals on three occasions. Michigan is outscoring its opponents 18-6 in the second half.

• Junior/sophomore goalkeeper Chris Blais has not allowed a second-half goal since Drake scored in the 61st minute on Sept. 3. U-M has only allowed six goals in the second half, with four of those goals coming against Notre Dame in the season opener on Sept. 1.

• Junior forward Justin Meram's hat trick is the first for U-M since former Wolverine Peri Marosevic (2006-08) scored three goals against Western Michigan last season.

• Redshirt freshman Tim Bergsma made his second consecutive appearance in goal in tonight's contest.

• Fifth-year senior Tom McCurdy made his season debut tonight off the bench. McCurdy is a walk-on and former captain of the U-M men's soccer club team who joined the varsity squad last season.

Q U O T E S

Michigan Head Coach Steve Burns
On the team's performance ... "I think our team is getting stronger and stronger. Soccer is a player-centered game; players have to make decisions on the field. When things aren't going the way things are scripted, I think our players are feeling a little bit more comfortable to take ownership and make those adjustments to figure out ways to find opponents weaknesses. I thought that all game long we did a great job of that and continued to build momentum and that's really where we are with the season right now, we just continue to gain in confidence, strength and belief."

On the defense ... "I think we've always prided ourselves at Michigan in being a great defensive team and this group is no different. It's a new group, though, a group that doesn't have a lot of experience together and you do make mistakes but it's how you learn from those mistakes and it how they learn and how they rebound that's most important. (Chris) Blais gives us a lot of confidence back there to step up and get tight in marking players that may or may not be more athletic than us. (Adam) Keller is a great destroyer, Julian (Robles) knows how to balance things off the defense and then when you get Chase (Tennant) and Brian Klemczak out there, those are two guys that are very comfortable on the ball. Those wide positions, in our shape, we want those wide players being the playmakers and getting forward into the attack. I think we've found a back four that gives us that strength that we're looking for."

U-M Junior Forward Justin Meram
On his hat trick ... "It feels great to contribute and get a victory and there is no better feeling than scoring a hat trick for the Michigan soccer team."

Contact: Jessica Poole (734) 763-4423