Michigan Knocks Off No. 18 South Carolina to Reach NCAA Elite Eight

Sunday, November 28

Columbia, S.C.

2:00 PM

Michigan

16-4-3

South Carolina

13-7-2

Michigan

South Carolina

Michigan Knocks Off No. 18 South Carolina to Reach NCAA Elite Eight

11/28/2010 12:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer

Box Score PDF Boxscore Photos

By: Jessica Poole

Site: Columbia, S.C. (Stone Stadium)
Event: NCAA Tournament (Third Round)
Score: #19 Michigan 3, #18 South Carolina 1
Records: U-M (16-4-3), SC (13-7-2)
Attendance: 2,256
Next U-M Event: Saturday, Dec. 4 -- at Maryland - NCAA Quarterfinals (College Park, Md.), 1 p.m.

COLUMBIA, S.C. -- The No. 19-ranked University of Michigan men's soccer team scored three times in a 17-minute span to knock off No. 18-ranked and No. 7 seed South Carolina, 3-1, on Sunday afternoon (Nov. 28) at Stone Stadium. Senior forward Justin Meram (Shelby Township, Mich./Eisenhower) scored twice to help the Wolverines advance to the NCAA Elite Eight for the second time in program history, joining the 2003 squad.

Justin Meram

Freshman forward Soony Saad (Dearborn, Mich./Dearborn) scored his 19th goal of the season, sandwiched between Meram markers in the 64th and 81st minutes, and tallied an assist. Redshirt junior goalkeeper Chris Blais (Seattle, Wash./Kennedy Memorial) made six stops in the victory.

Following 63 minutes of scoreless soccer, the Wolverines strung together three straight second-half goals. Michigan opened the scoring at 63:52, converting on a third pass after a corner kick. Meram got open on the left post to receive a pass from senior midfielder Alex Wood (Northville, Mich./Northville). Meram made a quick touch and slid it into the right side of the net.

Michigan's lead extended to 2-0 on a marker from Saad six minutes later. In a mirror image of his unsuccessful scoring effort 20 minutes earlier, Saad carried the ball down the left side toward the end line where he unleashed a low line drive past the outstretched arms of the South Carolina keeper. Meram then put the game firmly out of reach inside the final 10 minutes, using a juke to streak past a defender before roofing his second marker of the game.

The Wolverines had their chances in the first half, owning an 11-7 shot advantage. Meram got in alone on a breakaway midway through the frame but was forced to shoot wide by a sliding goalkeeper. Blais kept the game scoreless late in the stanza with a diving stop off a set play. South Carolina earned a free kick near midfield and sent a booming cross to the opposite side of the field. The attacker took one touch on the ball and sent a shot at the near post, into the arms of a laid out Blais.

South Carolina got one goal past Blais in the 84th minute on a cross play into a header to make it a 3-1 contest. Despite the marker, the Wolverines cruised to the final.

Michigan will face No. 2 seed Maryland in the NCAA quarterfinals next Saturday (Dec. 3) at 1 p.m.

GAME SUMMARY

By Periods	1	2	F
Michigan	0	3	3
South Carolina	0	1	1

Scoring, Time (Assist)
2nd -- U-M, Justin Meram, 63:52 (Soony Saad, Alex Wood)
2nd -- U-M, Saad, 70:03 (unassisted)
2nd -- U-M, Meram, 80:40 (unassisted)
2nd -- SC, Sam Arthur, 83:15 (Ben Brettschneider)

Shots: U-M 22, SC 18
Shots on Goal: U-M 12, SC 7
Saves: U-M 4 (Chris Blais), SC 1 (Jimmy Maurer)
Corner Kicks: U-M 5, SC 7
Fouls: U-M 11, SC 17
Cards: SC, Danny Cates, 40:32 (Yellow); SC, Will Traynor, 64:36 (Red); U-M, Soony Saad, 71:53 (Yellow); SC, Evan O'Dell, 81:43 (Yellow); U-M, Jeffrey Quijano, 81:43 (Yellow).

NOTES

• The Wolverines picked up their first road win in NCAA Tournament action today. Heading into today's game, Michigan was 0-2-1 in road NCAA games. U-M advanced against Notre Dame on penalty kicks in 2003. Michigan moves to 6-3 in NCAA Tournament action with today's victory.

• Michigan is the lone Big Ten team remaining in the NCAA Tournament. Prior to today's games, the Big Ten was the lone conference with each of its teams selected for the tournament still in action.

• U-M's three goals in the third round are the most goals scored by a team in the third round of the 2010 NCAA Tournament. So far, the most goals scored in the 2010 NCAAs was six in Providence's 6-2 win over Saint Peter's.

• Justin Meram extended his goal-scoring streak to seven consecutive games with his two goals in today's game. Meram has scored 10 goals in Michigan's last seven games. His seven-game goal scoring streak is the longest for a Wolverine this season.

• Soony Saad's game-winner was his sixth of the season and his 19th goal of the season. Saad is tied for second in the nation in goals and total points.

QUOTES

Michigan Head Coach Steve Burns
On the game ... "Carolina was a tough team to play against. They have really honed their direct play nicely, and they get their midfielders forward. But I thought overall our defense did a great job dealing with a lot of that, and once we could get the ball down and play through the pressure they were putting on us, we had a decent amount of success creating chances. Certainly want to take our hats off for South Carolina and the kind of season they put together.

"We talked to our guys in the locker room at the half. This was a tough environment to play in. The crowd was into it, and you could sense we were starting to get a little anxious as well. We really needed to assure these guys the chances were going to come if we could keep the ball on the ground and play one and two touches and look to work the holes the way we did. I thought they showed a lot of composure doing that. Justin (Meram) eventually found that goal, and that was off a corner kick where we played the short, it came out, went over from the right side to the left side then came back to the right side to Justin for the shot. So I guess we'll call that a set piece goal, even though it wasn't totally scripted like that. And you know, I had the angle (on the red card). Justin went up for the header and was exposed, and Traynor did come across with the elbow and caught him in the jaw, and the ref was right there as well. You got to look at the tape to see if that's a red. I'm sure Coach Berson is upset with that, as I would've been upset with that. A tight game like this, you want to play 11 versus 11. Certainly, it made a difference in the game. Once we went up a goal and a man, we've been in that position before and we train for it a decent amount. I think our guys in terms of our possession and level of composure were going to be able to withstand the penetrating, foraying run that they would make that would leave them exposed, and we really took advantage of that.

"Latif Alashe was really good for us today, I thought. I thought he was just a real warrior out there and a real man that played a great 90 minutes. One of the things that we were hoping for was to see it more of a track meet, knowing they were going to play real direct at us and that game was going to be spread out. We could bring players off the bench in Matt Schmitt and Fabio Pereira that both are impact players and could change a game. We didn't quite feel that South Carolina had that depth in their bench, and we were hoping that we'd have to see them use it as much as possible."

U-M Senior Forward Justin Meram
On the game ... "At halftime, we just talked about how we're a second-half team. We've been like that all season. We knew our chances were going to come. Their goalie is outstanding and was great in the air, so I thought if I would hit it far post on the ground, maybe I'd get lucky. And we got the first goal."

On his first goal ... "Soony (Saad) played a great ball over the top of their guy, and I just knew if I got a little opening, just hit it as hard as I could, and that's what I did. So, my hat's off to Soony for being aware and being a great teammate, playing it off. "

U-M Junior Goalkeeper Chris Blais
On the game ... "Justin (Meram), Soony (Saad), they've been doing all kinds of stuff for us. We've been getting great goal support. Big Ten final, we won 4-1. Against UCF, we won 2-1, and today, 3-1. When you're scoring like that, it gives the defense a little bit more confidence, and I think that really showed today. I knew, and the back four knew, we were going to score; it was just going to take time. Obviously, South Carolina's keeper played very well, made a lot of saves in the first half. But I knew the goals were going to come. That definitely gives me and the back line a lot of confidence, because we do know we're going to score goals."