Michigan
Michigan State
Buca's Golden Goal Lifts Michigan at Michigan State
3/23/2021 5:08:00 PM | Men's Soccer
» Kevin Buca scored the golden goal in the 98th minute.
» Jackson Ragen provided the equalizer in the 82nd minute.
» Owen Finnerty made a pair of saves.
Site: East Lansing, Mich. (DeMartin Stadium)
Score: #11 Michigan 2, Michigan State 1 (OT)
Records: U-M (4-1-1, 4-1-1 B1G), MSU (2-6-0, 2-6-0 B1G)
Next U-M Event: Saturday, March 27 -- vs. Indiana (U-M Soccer Stadium), 2 p.m.
EAST LANSING, Mich. -- A golden goal scored by junior Kevin Buca in the 98th minute lifted the No. 11-ranked University of Michigan men's soccer team to a come-from-behind 2-1 overtime victory at Michigan State on Tuesday (March 23) at DeMartin Stadium, sweeping the regular-season series.
The Wolverines trailed, 1-0, into the later stages of the second half until senior Jackson Ragen scored the equalizer in the 82nd minute. Less than two minutes into the overtime period, Michigan State went down to 10 men after Michael Miller received a straight red card for a studs-up challenge on senior Austin Swiech.
Swiech was involved on the game-winning goal, depositing a long throw-in into the box. Ragen drew two defenders at the near post, but the ball missed him entirely. Michigan State goalkeeper Hunter Morse came off his line to try and clear, but ended up knocking his own defender to the ground, and Buca wiggled in and poked the ball into an open net.
WATCH: Get the ball into the box and see what happens. The long throw from Austin Swiech causes chaos, and Kevin Buca takes advantage, poking home the game-winner in the 98th minute. #GoBlue pic.twitter.com/UwsDfwwZBm
— Michigan Men's Soccer (@umichsoccer) March 23, 2021
Buca also scored the game-winner against the Spartans in the two teams' first matchup back on Feb. 23 in Brighton, Mich.
Neither team was able to generate much offense in the first half, each firing two shots through the opening 15 minutes. The hosts went up in the 38th minute on a goal from Nick Stone. The Wolverines had three shots at halftime, the best chance coming from sophomore Inaki Rodriguez, whose attempt was high of the target.
The Wolverines hunted for the goal out of the break and nearly had it in the 50th minute. Sophomore Moshtaba Al-Hasnawi slotted a beautiful ball inside the box to senior Marc Ybarra, but he pushed his shot wide of the post. In the last 15 minutes, U-M installed Ragen up top and played with three at the back, which led to more chances.
Ragen netted the equalizer in the 82nd minute. Senior Umar Farouk Osman played a long ball forward that Stone mishit to junior Derick Broche. Broche brought it down and played Ragen through on goal, who looped a ball past hard-charging Morse for the equalizing goal.
WATCH: Jackson Ragen tallies his fourth goal of the season, equalizing the match in the 82nd minute. #GoBlue pic.twitter.com/eBW7WOR9UK
— Michigan Men's Soccer (@umichsoccer) March 23, 2021
Sophomore Owen Finnerty returned to action after serving his one-match ban for a red card. He made two saves.
"I thought our guys handled the adversity really well," said head coach Chaka Daley. "We had a little more than an hour to chase it and created some spectacular opportunities. We were really good in the first two-thirds, but lacked a little bit in and around the goal. At a certain point, we had to take the risk and put them under more pressure even though we knew it would open us up at the back. That was the conversation. How could we put them under more duress? Moving Jackson up top caused them some problems and we found two goals as a result."
Michigan returns to its home grounds on Saturday (March 27) for the first time since November 2019, hosting perennial power Indiana to U-M Soccer Stadium. The match will begin at 2 p.m. and will be broadcast live on Big Ten Network.
