At halftime of Wednesday’s match against Valparaiso, Michigan men's soccer coach Steve Burns thought he had seen the worst half of soccer out of his team all season. Looking for what to say on a cold, wet night against a non-conference opponent sandwiched between key weekend conference games, Burns turned to the history of the sport.

“I told the guys at the half, the game of soccer hasn’t changed in 120 years,” Burns said. “The team that passes best is the team that’s going to win, so we need just to connect.”

The Wolverines passed and connected well in the second half, as the team exploded offensively in a 4-2 win over visiting Valparaiso. After playing narrowly in the first half with a 4-4-2 formation, a switch to a 4-3-3 formation gave the Wolverines the width to attack the gaps in the Crusader defense.

The Wolverines (2-1-0 Big Ten, 8-2-3 overall) started off the scoring in the 58th minute with a Valparaiso own-goal generously credited to redshirt senior Matt Schmitt, who now has a three-game scoring streak. Schmitt had no qualms about the goal’s crediting.

“I count it,” Schmitt said. “Forwards are always going to count that as their goal. Defenders want it to be an own-goal, goalies want it to be an own-goal, and forwards count it as a goal. I’m counting it as a goal."

The main threat for the Crusaders on the night was redshirt junior Stefan Antonijevic. The towering 6-foot-6 forward stood four inches above the tallest Wolverine defender.

He certainly punished Michigan. Frustrated by an earlier yellow card that saw him subbed out of the first half, Antonijevic answered back with a scoring header in the 72nd minute on a cross from Adrian Ortiz.

Antonijevic’s goal proved to be the spark plug for an offensive explosion, as three goals followed in the next six minutes. Michigan freshman forward Soony Saad was next to score, unleashing a low strike into the left corner to help Michigan regain the lead.

Senior forward Justin Meram then followed with the play of the game, as he dribbled in from the left wing through three Vaparaiso defenders before laying off the ball to a waiting Schmitt, giving the senior two goals on the night and four goals in three games.

“Justin is an ankle-breaker,” Burns said. “He’s a guy who can turn you inside-out and just corkscrew players.”

The dissatisfaction of a tough first half off his back, Meram pulled out his dancing shoes to celebrate his sweet play.

“That’s my style,” he said.

The satisfaction of an insurance goal was short-lived, though, as the Crusaders responded two minutes later with another goal. Senior Jake Freisinger slotted a ball through the legs of the Wolverines’ redshirt junior goalkeeper Chris Blais.

But Soony Saad would not be stopped, as the dynamic freshman scored a brace of his own, hitting a shot from outside the box into the low right corner to secure the win.

The Wolverines now eye a weekend trip to Bloomington to face a talented Indiana team, with Big Ten pride and a four-game winning streak on the line.