Clare Stachel tied the contest with 40 seconds left in regulation, before Nkem Ezurike scored the winner 4:58 into OT, sending U-M to a 2-1 win over Central Michigan in round one of the NCAA Championship.
Meghan Toohey and Emily Jaffe provided the scoring for the Wolverines, as No. 21 U-M topped Purdue 2-0. The win pushes Michigan's unbeaten streak to 10 matches.
Greg Ryan recently concluded his fifth season at the helm of the University of Michigan women's soccer program. During his 20-year collegiate coaching career, Ryan owns a record of 230-118-37 (.645), and has eight NCAA Championships appearances, including two Final Four berths. In his five-year tenure in Ann Arbor, Ryan is 45-37-19 (.539), guiding the Wolverines to three-straight winning seasons and two NCAA Championships bids, including a Sweet 16 appearance in 2012.
Ryan was tasked with rebuilding the program, placing an emphasis on smart soccer on both sides of the ball. After two rebuilding years, Ryan and the Wolverines broke through in 2010, finishing with a 10-5-4 record (equalling the total number of wins from the past two seasons combined) and qualifying for the NCAA Championships, the program's first bid to the postseason since 2006. Adversity struck the team in 2011, as seven players were lost for the season due to illness or injury. Despite that, the Wolverines still finished with a winning record (9-8-2), garnering back-to-back winning seasons for the first time since 2003-04.
The Wolverines had a record-breaking 2012 season, finishing with 16-5-3 record (7-2-2 Big Ten), and reaching the NCAA Sweet 16 for the third time. Armed with one of the most talented rosters in school history, Ryan's Wolverines set eight new program records -- many of them on defense -- including fewest goals allowed (17) and most shutouts in a season (13). The offensive attack was as versatile as it was deep, with 14 different players scoring at least one goal. Michigan finished in the top three of the Big Ten Conference for the first since 2004, reached the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2003, and went 10-1-0 at the U-M Soccer Stadium, the second most successful home slate in school history.
Ryan accepted the position of head coach for the Michigan women's soccer program on Feb. 1, 2008, after spending the previous three years as the head coach of the U.S. Women's National Team. There, he guided Team USA toa 45-1-9 record, including abronze medal at the 2007 FIFA World Cup and a championship title at the 2005 Algarve Cup.Prior to his appointment as head coach, Ryan served as an assistant with the national team, helping Team USA secure a gold medal at the 2004 Olympics in Athens.
Through four separate NCAA coaching assignments, Ryan has compiled a 205-105-32 (.646) record, earned NSCAA Coach of the Year honors in 1991 and picked up a pair of conference coach of the year awards heading up programs at Southern Methodist, Colorado College, Wisconsin and Michigan.
Coming to Ann Arbor marked a return to the Big Ten Conference for Ryan, who spent eight years as the head coach at Wisconsin (1986-93). Ryan led the Badgers to five NCAA appearances, two Final Four berths and one NCAA Championship match, compiling a 108-32-7 record. In 1991, Ryan led the Badgers to an NCAA Finals showdown against Mia Hamm, Kristine Lilly and the North Carolina Tar Heels, falling short in a 3-1 decision.
Prior to rejoining the collegiate coaching ranks at Michigan, Ryan headed the Colorado College women's program for four seasons (1999-2002), posting a 40-28-6 record with three-straight winning seasons from 2000 to 2002. During the 2000 campaign, Ryan led the Tigers to 13 victories -- their highest total in nearly a decade. Ryan's first taste of coaching came nearly two decades earlier as an assistant coach with the Colorado College men's team in 1983.
In his second head coaching stint, Ryan took the reigns at Southern Methodist University, amassing a 37-21-5 record in three seasons (1996-98). He led the Mustangs to a conference title and the second round of the NCAA Tournament, while claiming a pair of WAC Mountain Division Coach of the Year honors his first two seasons at the helm.
Ryan was a four-year letterwinner as a defender at SMU (1975-78), becoming the first Mustang to earn All-America honors when he was a first team selection in his senior season. He went on to play professionally for six seasons in the North American Soccer League (1979-84), suiting up for the Minnesota Kicks, Tulsa Rednecks, New York Cosmos and Chicago Sting. Ryan won a pair of NASL titles with the Sting in 1981 and 1984 before the league folded.
Minnesota drafted Ryan in 1978, but he played only one game for the Kicks before being traded to the Tulsa Roughnecks. The Roughnecks dealt Ryan to the New York Cosmos during the 1979 season and then, prior to the 1980 campaign, Ryan was again traded, this time to the Chicago Sting. He remained with the Sting for the rest of his professional career, winning a pair of titles and retiring with the league after the 1984 season.
The Dallas, Texas, native returned to SMU after his pro career and earned his B.S. in biology. He also earned his teacher's certification in biology from SMU in 1986.
Ryan is a USSF "A" licensed coach and has conducted numerous U.S. Soccer Coaching Education and Licensing courses during his career.
