Lesson at Bowling Green motivates men's soccer

By Peter Lund

Daily Sports Writer

The Michigan men's soccer team heads into Kalamazoo today for a game against Western Michigan and one might wonder which team will make the trip.

Will it be the squad that stepped up and took No. 2 Penn State to overtime on Sept. 24? Or will it be the lackluster team that let down in their next game and fell to a 2-5 Bowling Green squad, 2-0?

Michigan coach Steve Burns said the Wolverines will not have another performance like they had against Bowling Green. The Wolverines have not played since the loss to last Thursday and they've had a few days to practice.

"The focus of practice for the last few days was giving 100 percent mental effort," Burns said. "Against Bowling Green, our mental preparation was terrible."

Although the Broncos are just 3-6-1, they are coming off an impressive 5-0 win against 7-5 Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

Sophomore forward Rob Friend scored two goals and an assist in that game for Western Michigan and leads the team with five goals and two assists. But the player to watch is freshman forward Scott Duhl, who has four goals and one assist on the season.

Duhl "is a strong player. He's one we need to be aware of," Burns said. "If you give him too much space, he'll run at you and hurt you. From 20 yards out, he's good at putting the ball in the back of the net."

The Western Michigan defense will also be tough. Although the Broncos had problems defensively early in the season, they have allowed just one goal in their last two games.

Even with another tough game looming against two-time defending national champion Indiana on Sunday, don't expect Michigan to be looking forward.

"This is a critical game for us, in terms of turning the corner into the second half of our season. It's going to be a dogfight." Burns said. "I think the message was sent to our players that they can't look past anybody."