Unlikely hero nets OT upset

By Jamie Josephson  On  September 13th, 2006

Doink!

That was the sound of the Michigan men's soccer team's first major upset victory of the season.

With the score tied at one goal a piece at the end of regulation, Michigan and No. 14 Kentucky took their battle into overtime in Lexington, Ky. The Wolverines found a new hero at the 96th minute - and an unlikely hero at that.

Sophomore Alex Morriset found himself wide open from 35 yards out of the Wildcats' goal. Not known as a scorer, Morriset decided to take a shot. With Kentucky's goalie leaping into the air to attempt the save, Morriset's knuckleball banked off the underside of the crossbar and snuck into the net, giving the midfielder his first career goal as a Wolverine and Michigan a huge upset win against Kentucky, 2-1.

"Here's Alex, and he's not a goal scorer," said Michigan coach Steve Burns, chuckling. "He is a central midfielder that is a great defender. . He certainly has more yellow cards than goals, and that's his role."

Michigan (4-3) notched its first upset against a top-15 team this year in its first overtime contest of 2006. The Wolverines also served Kentucky (5-1-1) its first loss of the season.

"I think more than anything, the win reinforces the belief, the confidence and the attitude that we are a good team, and we will continue to be a good team," Burns said. "Sometimes that is a challenge when you have young players on the field. They all come from winning programs, but suddenly they are thrown into an environment where they suffer a couple of losses. That's really what this victory means . reinforcing the attitude that they can win these games."

Michigan drew first blood at the 36-minute mark. Sophomore Steve Bonnell made a long run down the right side of the field and played the ball to freshman Mauro Fuzetti in the middle. The rookie dribbled to the right of a Kentucky defender, found a seam to shoot through and launched a shot across his body that went into the upper-left corner of Kentucky's net. Fuzetti's first goal of the season gave the Wolverines a 1-0 lead.

"Mauro is a goal scorer and one of the top three finishers on the team," Burns said. "Mauro had the keeper beat right when the ball left his foot. He's been in that situation before this year and usually passes the ball to other players. But we've been telling him, 'That's your shot. You take the responsibility and do it because you can.' "

But before Michigan could blink, the Wildcats responded. Kentucky earned a corner kick just two minutes later. Off of the corner, a Kentucky player hit the ball up in the air, and the Wildcats' Riley O'Neill snapped a header toward the goal. Michigan goalie Patrick Sperry tipped the shot, but the deflection wasn't enough, and Kentucky evened the score at one.

With the score tied, the second half became a very physical, back-and-forth battle. By the end of the game, the two squads committed a total of 43 fouls.

Sperry also made some great saves to keep Michigan in the game, tallying a total of six on the day. A crucial stop came in the early part of the second half, when O'Neill had the ball again, six or seven yards off to the side of Michigan's goal. O'Neill ripped a good volley, but Sperry deflected it wide.

"It was a great reaction save," Burns said. "He's a good reactionary keeper, making saves on the line. He has also been making good decisions on balls that are played in the air in front of him, boxing balls with both hands when he flies into traffic."

When neither team could find the back of the net by the end of regulation, the game went into overtime. Burns' heavy emphasis on fitness paid off, as Michigan proved that it had plenty of fight left to stain the Wildcats' perfect record and complete its third consecutive victory.

"Going into overtime, I told the guys to spend a couple of moments visualizing their celebrations when we beat this team in overtime," Burns said. "We were going to have to dig deep and find that reserve and go after this team. . We were able to stay focused, put it together in overtime and get a great win."

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