With the return of two star players from injury — senior
Knox Cameron and junior Chris Glinski — the Michigan
men’s soccer team (1-3-1 Big Ten, 9-5-4 overall) was hoping
these comebacks would spark a win on the home field yesterday.
But after two overtimes, the game ended in a 0-0 tie against
Oakland (3-1-1 Mid-Continent, 10-4-3 overall).
Like the scoreless tie, you can’t put a number on
intensity.
“There was a big fight from both teams,” Cameron
said. “We matched their defense, and they matched ours. So I
think (the tie) was a just result.”
When the whistle had blown to signal the end of the second
overtime, the Wolverines had set a record. They have kept their
opponents scoreless for 310 consecutive minutes — the longest
streak in program history.
Unfortunately, Michigan set another record: the longest it had
gone without scoring a goal itself — 220 minutes.
Kept on the sidelines all season with a ACL tear, Cameron
entered yesterday’s contest all smiles.
“It felt really good,” Cameron said. “For
about the first two minutes, I couldn’t stop smiling. Then I
realized I couldn’t breathe after that. It just feels good to
be back and playing in meaningful games once again.”
Michigan’s offense started off slow, unable to fire a
single shot on goal in the first half.
Going into halftime, Michigan coach Steve Burns made changes in
Michigan’s attack.
“We talked about the fact that our shape was good, but we
had 45 minutes of poor execution,” Burns said. “Now
that (the first half) was out of our system, we wanted to come out
and execute and keep the ball on the ground and move it
quickly.”
But Michigan still struggled. As the final seconds of the clock
wound down in the first overtime, senior Mychal Turpin broke away
from the Oakland defense and had a clear shot on goal. But Golden
Grizzlies goalie Jeff Wiese made a key save. This was just one
among several late-game Michigan attempts.
The Wolverines did come into the second half aggressive on the
defensive end.
“(Oakland) was doing a good job bringing the energy,
tackling and the attitude into the game,” Burns said.
“We need to be bringing what they were bringing. I think for
the most part in the second half and in both overtimes, we
did.”
The Wolverines’ defense was the stronghold that kept the
Golden Grizzlies’ offense quiet. Burns picked out senior Matt
Niemeyer as a strong contributor at midfield.
The defense was in high spirits with the return of junior Chris
Glinski, who was also previously injured with a fractured ankle.
But the defender was still transitioning from being on the
sidelines.
“It feels good and frustrating at the same time,”
Gilinski said. “I’m definitely not 100 percent right
now. I still have a fracture, and I want to get out there and do
all the stuff I normally can do. And I really
can’t.”
Yesterday’s stalemate marked the ninth time this season
that Michigan played into overtime. Despite Michigan’s
must-win attitude nearing the Big Ten and NCAA Tournaments, the
Wolverines couldn’t produce results.
“It felt like a tournament game,” Burns said.
“The boys are doing a great job defensively. We’ve just
got to score goals.”