WOLVERINES PSYCHED OUT? leers-a seven ByERROL SHIFMAN A Daily Sports analysis After watching the Michigan icers drop their sixth straight game, 5-2, Sunday afternoon to the Minnesota Gophers, it appeared that things were as bad as they could get. The Wolverines looked inept and nothing was going right for them. Then, the team bus broke down on the way home from Willow Run Airport to Ann Arbor.. The team was stranded for an hour on I-94, one half mile from the State Street exit. What kind of ef- fects can a day like this have on a player's mind, especially on the heels of a long losing streak? THE WOLVERINES showed signs of snapping their streak in Sunday's first period. Michigan for- ced the play throughout the period and John Olver scored a power play goal at 11:38 and there was hope. Olver's goal was of the fluke variety as it bounced in off his body into the net but when your down anything will do. Cheap goals seem a big part of long winning streaks. When the first period ended Michigan 1, Minnesota 0, the team had to be in- spired. If they were inspired it did not last long. The Gophers picked up the tying goal at 4:30 of the second stanza as center Steve Christoff (who com- piled three goals and three assists in the series) picked up a rebound and beat 'M' goalie Frank Zimmerman. From then on, except for some outstanding saves by Zimmerman, it was all Gophers. Minnesota. would get three or four shots at a time while the Wolverines had to struggle to get their sticks on the puck. In fact, Minnesota had two goals called back in the third period or the score would have been higher. The reason the two goals were nullified was the Gophers' overzealousness. One goal was ruled null because it was kicked in by Christoff. Their aggressiveness gained them numerous scoring chances. In fact after Rob McClanahan's goal gave the Gophers a 5-1 lead, two Minnesota players ended up in the Michigan net. MICHIGAN could manage to put only one other thing into the Minnesota net, Dan Lerg's shot through the legs of Gopher goalie Paul Joswiak at 15:02 of the last period. Coach Dan Farrell attributed a big part of the loss and the streak to the players' personalities. "It's a lack of a lot of things," explained Farrell. "We've got a lot of followers and not a lot of leaders, not a lot of kids with drive." FARRELL SAYS that when the pressurejis on you find out who your players are. Farrell believes, as I do, that a player's mental state determines how he plays. Certainly Michigan's problem cannot be a lack of talent. The same team won 11 of its first 14 games this year. But if they're not careful, certain factors enter the players' minds and poof ! A losing streak. Then the problems compound themselves. This losing streak started possibly with a touch of over confidence. After routing Wisconsin at home, the icers had to be mentally high for the series up at Michigan Tech. Maybe too high. Tech swept the series. NOW THE players started doubting themselves, they began changing little parts of their game and that little bit of aggressiveness needed to win was gone. The players started being too careful. Then the media starts criticizing the team, the coach starts blaming certain individuals and the snowball grows. Excuses start popping up. Sure Michigan was only at home once in the mon- th of December and have played eight of its last ten games on the road. Granted it is tougher to win on the road but it has been done. The coach starts ame itch giving these excuses to the press and the players start believing they cannot win on the road. A win- ning team cannot have these things in their heads. Soon the benchings and the line-up changes start. Someone has to take the blame, maybe the changes will shake something up. But how do these changes offset the players' confidence? FOR INSTANCE Michigan's defense was shoddy. Forward Ben Kawa who had limited experience on defense, was moved back to help out. In the process Dave Brennan was benched. Can this help the con- fidence of the defense as a unit? The coaches are not dealing with professionals and the all out goal of winning to earn a living. They're dealing with kids and for them, more than for the professional, it's what's in the head that counts., The Michigan icers will have to get their heads together and stop letting the criticisms and excuses get them down-all of that crap is involved in the game. A game we know they can play. Weak Wolverines FIRST PERIOD Scoring-1-M Olver (Hamp~on, Miller) 11:38. Penalties-Minn- Lind (charging) 9:55; Minn-Meredith (roughing) 13:21; M-Turner (hooking) 17:15 SECOND PERIOD Scoring-2-Minn-Christoff (Verchota, Harrer) 4:30; 3-Minn- Boo (Lambert, Lind) 12:47; 4-Minn-Christoff (Verchota, Boo) 17:46. Penalties-Minn-Doshan (holding) 15:24; M-Thayer (hook- ing) 16:01; Minn-Baker (crosschecking) 19:16 THIRD PERIOD Scoring-5-Minn-Pepper (Christoff, Verchota) 5:03; 6-Minn- McClanahan (Doshan, J. Baker) 6:43; 7-M-Lerg (Coffman, Mars) 15:02. Penalties-Minn-Christoff (hooking) 1:31; M-Thayer (tripping) 3:05; M-Turner (hooking) 7:27 SAVES The Michigan Daily-Tuesday, January 17, 1978-Page 9 Recreational w~ ~o;L~SPOTS For information 'on~Recreational Sports at the University, watch this weekly column and refer to the posters in the CCRB, NCRB and the IM Building. " Men's Intramural Sports-Turn entries to IM Building, 606 E. Hoover, 763-3562. Bowling (singles) and Handball (doubles) entries are due January 18. Entries for all-campus table tennis (singles) and independent, gradu- ate, residence hall and fraternity paddleball are due January 23. Faculty/ staff entries in paddleball are welcome on a doubles only basis. " Special Interest Recreation-A clinic on Family fitness will be held in the North Campus Recreation Building exercise room on January 22 from 3-5 p.m. For further information, contact Ellen Gold at 763-4560. Registration for children's and adolescent programs are underway at the North Campus Recreation Building. For fee and schedule infor- mation, call 763-4560. Registration Session I, for 3-6 year olds still has a few openings, but Session II, 7-10 year olds, is filled. There are a few openings available for anyone interested in Physical Activity Instruction for Faculty and Staff. The registration deadline is January 23. For more information, call Rochelle Bast at 763-3084. I RACKHAM GRAD SCHOOL Grad fellowship financial aid brown bag sessio Wed. Jan. 18, 12-2 p.m., 4th floor. Assembly Ha Rackham Bldg. Representatives of Graduate Fe lowships Office and the Office of Financial Aid wi discuss current and 1978-79 fellowship and financ aid opportunities. Bring your lunch and a friend. . I Zimmerman (M) Joswiak (Minn) 8 11 8-27 6 12 11-29 WOMEN CA GErS DROP TWOa Blue, trips on'road Patrick J. Gregoary, AFROTC 2-yr. CADET, Meteorology Major UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN "Meteorology is not a career field open to only the Atmospheric Science majors. Any student majoring in math, the natural sciences, or engineering can get into the Air Force meteorology program. Being the largest employer of meteorologists in the country, the Air Force can provide the student with good opportunities for professional growth. Likewise, the AFROTC on the U of M campus has on excellent program in developing profes- sionalism through its managerial and leadership classes. The Air Force ROTC is a good start in building a career. Sophomores and students with two years of school remaining, call 764-2405 for additional information. By BILLY NEFF There's nothing like home sweet, home! The women's basketball team is rapidly finding that out this winter; in Michigan's first ten games, it has eight losses, 'all of them coming on the road. The rebuilding quintet has won both of its home games. . This"weekend in Indiana, the women suffered a fate similar to past road trips. In West Lafayette, Gloria Soluk's girls came back from a 47-27 halftime deficit against Pur- due, staging a furious rally before succumbing 79-69. With two and a half minutes remaining in the contest and the cagers trailing by a mere four poin- ts, sophomore guard Jean Otto drove inside and was fouled (accor- ding to coach Soluk) but there was no call, thus ending her team's comeback hopes.P Freshperson center Abby Currier, the team's leading scorer this season, stood out once again with 26 points on 11 of 23 field goal shooting wile ga'nering 14 rebounds. Karen Gilhooley and Brenda Venhuizen split 20 points evenly. Sasturday the women traveled to Assembly Hall in Bloomington, Bobby Knight's haven, and came away wishing they hadn't made the trip. Soluk's squad ran into a "buz- zsaw" in a 79-51 defeat. Currier, once again, was the shining light for the Wolverines as she notched 14 points on 7-12 shooting. Unfortunately, none of her teammates posted more than seven points and the rest of the team shot a mere 21 per cent from the field. The women's basketball mentor spoke frankly of her team's problems, "Ourkids have to learn to play good, strong defense. We have to really work on our fundamentals like dribbling." And what will be the ultimate solution to the women's basketball problems? "We have to have a good recruiting year." Yes, they do. #< ;". zIL i X READ and USE DALY CLASSFEDS Gateway to a great way of life. v 1 I .., . m C7AREER Worried Planning $ Placement About Your Future? 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