A brief glance at the University of Michigan soccer team’s stats is quite revealing. Three players – Justin Meram, Soony and Hamoody Saad – have accounted for the majority of the offense this season, scoring 37 of the team’s 46 goals this year.
That attack has really been firing on cylinders of late. Michigan has won seven games in a row, including a 2-1 win in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
“Those are three guys that have some serious firepower,” head coach Steve Burns told MLSsoccer.com of his talented trio.
Not only are these three guys carrying the offensive load, they hail from close by – the Saad brothers are both natives of Dearborn, while Meram comes from Shelby Township.
[inlinenode:324091]The three have only been together for this season – Meram (pictured above) is a senior, Hamoody (right) is in his second year with Michigan and Soony is wrapping up his freshman year. As a result, it took a bit of time for the three to adjust and realize what they could be capable of.
“It was a matter of trying to get it all work together,” Burns said. “There was a little animosity with who’s passing to who, when who’s open and that type of thing, but that’s the beautiful thing about soccer – it’s all about the relationships. Once all three of them started to realized their strengths and how they all could work together is really when it started to blossom.”
Meram echoed the sentiments of Burns’ assessment.
“In the beginning, we were trying to feel out the combination between us," the striker said, "right now it’s perfect because we keep clicking better and better every game."
Meram and Soony Saad – the Wolverines leading scorer with 18 goals – are the forward tandem, and first choice to start together up front. Hamoody fills in at the attacking midfield spot, playing the role of a No. 10. Each player brings something a little bit different to the attack.
A former junior college standout at Yavapai College, Meram is a direct runner, causing trouble with his movement, while Soony finishes anything and everything in front of him. His highlight reel includes a goal from 67 yards out against Bowling Green.
From his midfield spot, Hamoody looks to distribute the ball to teammates in dangerous positions, and has shown a knack for scoring as well. Burns waxed poetically about all three.
“Justin is that player that can pull a defense apart because he is so tricky when he’s out in space, when he’s faced up against a back four," he said. "You’ve really got to devote a lot of defensive resources to him.
[inlinenode:324090]“Soony [at right] is that fox in the box, that everybody wants. That guy, when he latches on to the ball in the box, or in Soony’s case, from 30 yards out, look out, because the kid can strike a ball big time. He’s got a quick release and he’s going to test keepers. Hamoody is that creative force that can run a team."
The current seven-game winning streak came after a 7-1 shellacking at the hands of Akron on Oct. 19. Since then, the Wolverines have outscored opponents 21-8, including a 4-1 rout of Penn State in the Big Ten Championship game. Hamoody, Soony and Justin all tallied against the Nittany Lions, with Meram’s brace proving crucial, and Hamoody scoring on a penalty kick.
With all three clicking, Michigan becomes a different team. Burns understands the sort of advantage he has with three very talented attacking players on the field at once.
“Once of the things that is very true about any soccer team is if you got three dangerous attacking personalities that are all on the field at the same time, it’s tough for teams to key on and shut down all three of them,” he said. “There’s always one guy that’s going to be able to hurt you if two of them get shut down.”
The late-season surge landed Michigan a No. 10 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament. So far, so good for the Wovlerines, winning a close 2-1 match against Central Florida at home in the second round.
This weekend, they travel to South Carolina for the Third Round. If their attacking trio continues to click like they have in the past, it’ll be difficult for any team to put a stop to Michigan.
Ready to Launch: MLS Matchday 2010, The official MLS iPhone app. It's FREE! Download it here!
