His team got lucky, and Michigan women’s soccer coach Greg Ryan knows it.

With less than a minute left in the first half, sophomore Courtney Mercier chased down a ball on the left side and a Miami player fouled Mercier near the corner flag.

“I was amazed, because the girl didn’t need to foul Courtney in the corner – there was only 20 seconds to go,” Ryan said. “And Courtney wasn’t going to go anywhere, and we got lucky that she fouled her.”

Junior Jackie Carron lofted a picturesque pass off the free kick towards the back goalpost. Freshman Holly Hein headed the ball straight into the crossbar but launched the rebound into the net, scoring her team-high third goal of the season.

“Holly’s a gamer," Ryan said. “She gets a chance (to score), she sticks them in.”

It was the only score of the day, enough for the Wolverines to beat the Hurricanes 1-0 yesterday at the U-M Soccer Complex. Yesterday's victory, coupled with last Wednesday's 3-0 win over Oakland marked Michigan's first back-to-back shutouts since the beginning of the 2007 season.

With the win, the Wolverines (5-5) surpassed last season's win total. And after the game, Ryan said that the girls could start believing in themselves.

Before the lone goal, the match had been somewhat even. Michigan had its chances but Miami’s attack seemed relentless, with 10 shots and three corner kicks in the first half alone.

But when the ball got deep in their half of the field, the Wolverine defense held its own and forced the Hurricanes to take most of their shots from outside the box.

Miami threatened even more in the second half.

With just over 18 minutes left to play, goalie Haley Kopmeyer tried to cradle the ball, but it took a funny bounce and got away. A Miami player took the ball, but sophomore Kim Siebert was in position to get her foot in, to give time for Kopmeyer to recover and make the save.

Ryan said it was the only mistake that Kopmeyer made on the day, and Carron described Kopmeyer’s play as “phenomenal.” She finished the day with eight saves.

Kopmeyer was tested again with less than a minute left to play. Two Miami players charged a ball that bounced into the box, and Kopmeyer saw the ball come in behind the defense. She tried to beat them to the ball and punch it away, and got just enough of it to get it away from the offense. The ball rolled towards the goal, but Carron was in the right place to coddle it away from the net.

The game was also dictated by very physical play. Michigan and Miami combined for 25 fouls. Hein said that physical games earlier in the season allowed the Wolverines to adapt and be prepared for games like yesterday’s.

The Hurricanes even had to play a man down for the last 12 minutes of the game when junior Miami defender Brittney Macdonald was given her second yellow card of the game.

But Ryan knows Michigan beat a very good Miami team.

“This is a team that (Miami coach Tricia Taliaferro) has been recruiting for years and years,” Ryan said. "It’s a very talented team. They’re very tall. They’re very athletic and fast and skillful. They’re smart. And I’ve got a team that’s being rebuilt.”

Even though the Hurricanes were talented, Michigan beat them with help from each other.

“That was the difference all day," Ryan said. "If somebody was making mistakes somebody was covering up for it. And that allowed us to have the shutout.”