#1 Virginia vs. #3 Michigan Quarterfinal Breakdown
The Virginia Cavaliers took care of business against two difficult to break down opponents in Georgetown and Wake Forest in the second and third rounds respectively. The Cavaliers outlasted the Hoyas with a goal by Morgan Brian while patiently attacking a packed in Georgetown defense as Virginia outshot the Hoyas 15-1. In the third round the Cavaliers were paced by Makenzy Doniak and Morgan Brian and limited the Demon Deacons to one shot as well while controlling the play from start to finish in a 2-0 victory. The home field advantage on Friday night will be critical for Virginia, especially if they can start fast and get an early goal then they can settle into the flow of the match. The possession style offense that creates ample scoring chances for the Cavaliers is going to be tough to slow down for Michigan over the course of 90 minutes. A result for Virginia would push the team through to its first College Cup since 1991.
Michigan took full advantage of the Western Michigan upset of Marquette and defended their home field very nicely with two victories over Illinois State and a very tough Notre Dame side. The Wolverines are led by Nkem Ezurike and a very balanced offensive attack. Also, Michigan plays sound in the backline. I would suspect Greg Ryan would try to implement a more defensive minded approach against Virginia in order to give the Wolverines a chance to win. It will be interesting to see though if they push early to try and get a one goal lead to force the Cavaliers out of their comfort zone and make them chase. The Wolverines have gotten results in hostile venues away from Ann Arbor but the travel to Charlottesville on a holiday week and the increasingly rabid Virginia fan base will be its stiffest test of the year.
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