Michigan
2-3-3, 1-0-1
Rutgers
2-4-2, 0-1-1
Ferch's Game-Winner Caps Second-Half Surge, Michigan Victory Over Rutgers
9/22/2023 10:55:00 PM | Men's Soccer
» Michigan earned its first Big Ten win of the season with a 3-2 victory over Rutgers.
» The Wolverines scored all three of their goals in the second half for the comeback win.
» Riley Ferch scored the game-winner with his first U-M goal.
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The University of Michigan men's soccer team scored all three of its goals in the second half to earn a 3-2 victory over Rutgers in a Big Ten contest Friday (Sept. 22) at U-M Soccer Stadium.
The Wolverines (2-3-3, 1-0-1 Big Ten) came out of the locker room trailing Rutgers 2-0 but came out of the halftime break firing on all cylinders. The Maize and Blue scored a pair of goals in a span of 1:20 to knot the score at 2 in the 54th minute. Michigan used a penalty kick from Bryce Blevins to get on the scoreboard and a one-touch shot by from six-yards out from Alex Waggoner to tie it up.
U-M continued to dominate the second half when a foul from 25-yards out set up a Wolverines set piece. Riley Ferch lined up and bent the ball into the lower-left corner of the goal to give Michigan the 3-2 advantage. From there, the defense did the work and kept Rutgers to just one shot in the remaining 20 minutes to go onto a a thrilling come-from-behind victory.
The Wolverines outshot the Scarlet Knights 14-13, including nine shots in the second half, while Moshtaba Al-Hasnawi recorded his second assist of the season and Isaiah Goldson made four saves in goal -- including two key stops to close out the first half.
The Scarlet Knights (2-4-2, 0-1-1 Big Ten) earned a quick corner-kick opportunity in the second minute and capitalized on it with a header into the bottom-right corner to take a very early 1-0 advantage and then extended the lead to 2-0 in the 19th minute.
Michigan saw a chance in the 20th minute when Quin Rogers brought the ball to the middle of the field and fired a shot with his left foot into the left corner, but the keeper made a diving save to keep the Wolverines scoreless.
Goldson kept the match within reach as he made two stellar diving saves in the 28th minute. U-M tallied five shots with two on goal and trailed 2-0 at halftime.
The Wolverines came out of the locker room and had its first looks when Duilio Herrera crossed the ball into a breaking Ferch, but the shot went just wide of the right goal post and a header from Waggoner was saved by the Rutgers keeper.
Michigan kept its second-half momentum going as Nolan Miller earned a penalty kick and Blevins finished it to bring U-M within one. Less than two minutes later, Al-Hasnawi sent a free kick into the far-right corner of the box for Waggoner to finish into the back of the net and knot the score at 2 in the 54th minute.
With all the momentum on Michigan's side, it earned another free-kick opportunity and Ferch buried the ball into the bottom-left corner of the goal to give U-M its third goal of the half.
Michigan will hit the road, heading to Bloomington, Ind., for a showdown against Indiana on Tuesday (Sept. 26) at 7 p.m. The match will be broadcast live on Big Ten Network.
Team Stats
Erick Ruiz (1)
Assisted By: Curt Calov
GOAL by RU Ruiz, Erick Assist by Calov, Curt.
02:02
Jackson Temple (4)
Assisted By: Jason Bouregy
GOAL by RU Temple, Jackson Assist by Bouregy, Jason.
19:21
Bryce Blevins (2)
U-M Bryce Blevins PENALTY KICK GOAL.
53:34
Alex Waggoner (3)
Assisted By: Moshtaba Al-Hasnawi
GOAL by U-M Waggoner, Alex Assist by Al-Hasnawi, Moshtaba.
54:57
Riley Ferch (1)
GOAL by U-M Ferch, Riley.
71:22
