Men's Soccer Championship - Semifinal Update 2
Nov. 11, 2005
(#1 seed) Detroit 2, (#4 seed) Wright State 1Detroit, Mich. - Headers from Andrew Ornoch and Jason Massoglia lifted top seed Detroit to a 2-1 victory over fourth seed Wright State in the semifinals of the Horizon League Men's Soccer Championship. Detroit improves to 12-5-2 after avenging a 1-0 regular-season (Sept. 30) loss to the Raiders, who finish the year at 10-10-0. UDM also avenged its only League loss of the regular season, a 1-0 setback on the same Titan Field surface (Sept. 23).
The teams played on even terms for most of the first half, until Detroit capitalized on two Raider mistakes in the closing seconds. Vahid Assadpour intercepted a WSU free kick and sprinted to the right corner of the field before lifting a crossing pass to an unmarked Ornoch in front of the net. The Horizon League Player of the Year beat the clock and knocked the ball behind WSU goalkeeper Jason Balach for his tenth goal of the year. This one came with five seconds left in the half for a 1-0 lead.
Assadpour also set up the Titans' second strike, finding Massoglia to seemingly put the match out of reach. Following a Raider foul on the left sideline, Assadpour's cross-field free kick bounced to Massoglia, whose header slipped inside the far post. Massoglia's eighth tally of the year stretched the margin to 2-0 with only 3:40 to play, before Wright State's late rally.
Tony Labudovski pulled the Raiders back to within one goal, heading home a Jason Tackis free kick from the left corner. His ninth marker of the season trimmed the deficit to 2-1 at 88:23, but Wright State could not net the equalizer.
Detroit advances to the League Championship contest, a re-match of last season's final when UW-Milwaukee (now 12-4-4) posted a 3-2 victory to advance to the NCAA Tournament for the fourth consecutive year. This year's champion will be decided when the teams meet Sunday (Nov. 13) at 1 p.m. (EST) at Detroit's Titan Field.
Box Score
