Flash back to Sept. 16, 2005. The Michigan men's soccer team suffered its first ever loss to Oakland 2-1, on the road. The faces of frustration and disappointment rode the bus home in dead silence.

Flash forward to last night. This time, Michigan played on its home turf. This time, the Wolverines played with confidence. This time, the only thing left for dead was the Golden Grizzlies. Michigan buried Oakland alive, 3-0.

"We talked about the fact that Michigan has a lot of tradition," Michigan coach Steve Burns said. "We really just tried to make sure that the guys represented our school well (yesterday). We knew coming in that Oakland is a real motivated team. . We knew we had to be on. And I think the guys were on."

Michigan (0-1 Big Ten, 5-4 overall) struck net first 17 minutes in and never looked back. Sophomore Santos Perez dribbled through Oakland's defense and passed the ball to freshman Peri Marosevic, who was sitting at the top of the 18-yard box. The rookie had a defender behind him but turned and sent the ball toward Oakland's net. Even though Grizzlies goalie Steve Clark got a hand on the shot, the deflected ball sailed over his head, giving the Wolverines an early 1-0 lead.

"That's what scoring goals is about, making those runs all the time" Burns said. "When you make that run, the timing is right and the ball gets played there, it looks pretty easy. But it's about being in the right place all the time, and, for the most part, Peri does that. We did a pretty decent job finding his feet as he was slipping into those holes, too."

But the freshman forward was just heating up. Once again (at 30:12) Marosevic found himself in the 18-yard box. Once again, Marosevic received the ball with his back to the net. And once again, Michigan's go-to scorer used a spin move to shoot the ball across his body into the left corner of Oakland's net.

Running over to the Michigan crowd with two fingers raised in the air, Marosevic's second goal of the day also marked his team-leading fifth tally of the year.

"Coach Burns told me (yesterday) that I would have that opportunity, with guys at my back, close to the goal and just being able to spin off," Marosevic said. "I took what coach said and used it. It is part of my game. It is what I do. I love having the goal to my back because I know where it is. I don't have to look back. All I have to do is turn and shoot."

Though Michigan carried the momentum through the first half of the game, Oakland (1-0 Mid-Continent, 2-6) had numerous golden opportunities to score. The Grizzlies earned a total of six corner kicks in just the first period of play, but couldn't crack the Wolverines' defense.

"Corner kick defense has been a focus for us," Burns said. "Last year, we didn't give up any goals on corner kicks. But we have already given up two this year. We've really been emphasizing and focusing on the little details with defending those corner kicks."

Michigan also got some help from its last line of defense, goalkeeper Patrick Sperry. The redshirt freshman put on a show of his own, notching his second shutout of the season with five saves.

Heading into halftime with a 2-0 lead, Michigan wasn't about to let the Grizzlies climb their way back into the game.

"At halftime, the challenge was still there to continue to represent Michigan and really show the coaching staff and everybody in the stands what kind of season we're going to have in the second half of the season," Burns said.

Just over five minutes into the second period, Michigan made its statement. Off of a free kick from senior co-captain Brian Popeney, sophomore Michael Holody fished the ball out of a scrum and sent it into the back of Oakland's net. After posting an assist earlier in the game, Holody's goal hammered the final nail into the Grizzlies' coffin and sealed Michigan's 3-0 shutout.

After a disappointing 2-1 loss to Wisconsin on Sunday, Michigan bounced back against Oakland with a vengeance.

"We are getting stronger each game," Marosevic said. "As you can see (yesterday), that's what we do. This is our style of play. We can be dominant."

Oakland 0
Michigan 3