Michigan wins Big Ten soccer crown
Published 5:26 pm Sunday, November 14, 2010
STATE COLLEGE, Pa. — Freshman Soony Saad scored his nation-leading 18th goal of the season at 4:09, before senior Justin Meram tallied two highlight-reel goals and sophomore converted a penalty kick at 52:07, sending the University of Michigan men’s soccer team to a 4-1 win over Penn State for the program’s first Big Ten Tournament title Sunday at Jeffrey Field.
With the triumph, the Wolverines earn the conference’s automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
Tournament Most Valuable Player Soony, who scored three goals in three Michigan tournament wins, helped U-M tie the Big Ten record for most goals in a Big Ten Tournament title game. The five goals between the two teams also tie the Big Ten single-game record for a title match.
Defensive Player of the Tournament, red-shirt junior Chris Blais, made a career-best 10 saves in 83:33 minutes of action, while redshirt sophomore Tim Bergsma saw 6:27 minutes in the net as time was winding down.
Michigan’s offense came out on fire and started the scoring just five minutes into the game. Soony Saad picked up his nation-leading 18th goal of the season when Penn State goalkeeper Brendan Birmingham misplayed the ball in the box and Saad just tapped it home to give the Wolverines the early 1-0 advantage.
Meram, who has scored six goals in his last five games and is currently riding a five-game scoring streak, tallied his first goal in the 14th minute of the game. Hamoody Saad tracked down a ball in the midfield and played a perfect feed to the feet of Meram, who put it just past the outstretched hands of the Penn State goalkeeper, making the U-M lead 2-0 just 14 minutes into the first half. Meram struck again, for his second multiple goal game of the season, just 15 minutes later. Meram collected the ball in Michigan half of the field just a few feet away from the midfield line, juked a defender to his knees and sent a rocket high past the goalkeeper, giving U-M a 3-0 lead, the most goals the Wolverines have scored against a Big Ten team in the first half all season.
Drew Cost then scored Penn State’s lone goal of the game in the 44th minute.
Blais’ seven first-half saves helped the Maize and Blue defense stymie each shot that the Nittany Lions sent its way. Blais made two quick saves, including sending one over the crossbar and punching one out of danger to keep Penn State off the scoreboard until late in the first half.
The Wolverines put things out of reach for the Nittany Lions early in the second half with a converted penalty kick — the first of the season — from Hamoody Saad and coasted to their first-ever Big Ten Tournament title.
The Wolverines, who earn the Big Ten’s automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament, will now wait to find out who they will face in the NCAA Tournament. ESPNU will broadcast the selection of the 48-team field at approximately 4:30 p.m. today. The first and second rounds of the tournament will be held on campus sites on Thursday and Sunday.