Nov. 8, 2007

EAST LANSING, Mich. - No. 2 seed Ohio State defeated No. 7 Michigan, 1-0, in the opening day of the Big Ten Men's Soccer Championship at Old College Field in East Lansing. Ohio State improves to 12-3-4, while Michigan falls to 10-7-2. The Buckeyes advance to face Northwestern on Friday at 11 a.m.

The Buckeyes scored the game's only goal in the 15th minute as Tim Gabel played a ball from 40 yards out on the left side to Xavier Balc on the right side. Balc volleyed the ball from eight yards out past Michigan goalkeeper Patrick Sperry.

Midway through the second half, the Buckeyes had a great scoring opportunity as Ryan Kustos broke free behind the Michigan defense on a pass from Steven Traeger. Kustos took a shot from 15 yards out, but it was too high.

In the 79th minute, Michigan's Perica Marosevic sent a ball across the mouth of the Ohio State goal, attempting to find Michael Holody. The ball, however, flew just out of Holody's reach. Four minutes later, Marosevic had a shot from 12 yards out, but OSU's Casey Latchem made the stop. Marosevic had one last attempt, but his shot was high and wide with under ten seconds remaining.

OSU's Latchem recorded the shutout with four saves. Patrick Sperry made five saves for the Wolverines. Michigan held an advantage in both shots (14-10) and corner kicks (6-2).