Page 12-The Michigan Daily- Friday, November 1, 1991 'M' stickers hope to get even with Buckeyes in home finale I by Tim Spolar Daily Sports Writer The Michigan field hockey team plays its final home match of the season against Ohio State Sunday at 11 a.m. The Wolverines hope to re- verse the outcome of last season's home-and-home split. The Buckeyes are a fitting op- ponent for the last home game of the year. Last season, the Wolver- ines took the road match, 3-1, but dropped the season finale at home, 1- 0. In the squads' previous meeting this season in Columbus, the Buck- eyes scored two early goals and held off a second-half Michigan attack for a 2-1 victory. The Wolverines hope that the home-field advantage, including the couple of hundred field hockey faithful that turn up for the rare Michigan appearances in Oosterbaan field house, will provide a spark to what has been an unpredictable of- fense over the past month. "(Playing in front of the home crowd) is a great advantage," junior forward Katie Vignevic said. "(The seniors) are really excited ... every- one seems to be pretty positive about the game. And, of course, no one wants to lose on their home field." Vignevic The Wolverines continue to fo- cus on the right side of the field, trying to incorporate the blazing speed of senior forward Kristin Shaiper into the offensive attack. "We're working on channeling the ball to our strong side of the field," Vignevic said. "(Focusing on the right side) is the best strategy for us to move the ball down the field. Kristin and Lelli (Hose) are on that side - and focusing on get- ting the ball over there works re- ally well for us." One of the main difficulties Michigan faced in the first game against the Buckeyes was the pres- ence of five transfer students from Holland. The Dutch players added not only superior skill to the Ohio State squad, but a language barrier which caused problems in the Wolverines' ability to matchup de- fensively. However, Michigan con- tinues to concentrate on Ohio State as a whole. "We're not really concerned with any individual players on their team," Vignevic said. "We were able to stay with Iowa for a lot of that game (last weekend), and they are a far superior team." The Wolverines (2-5 in the MCFHC, 7-8 overall) are out of the running for an NCAA tournament bid. However, the team is striving to better last season's 0-5-1 mark over its final six games. "Our goal is to finish third in the conference (behind Iowa and Northwestern)," Vignevic said. The teams with which Michigan is vying for the third spot are its next two weekend opponents: Ohio State on Sunday, followed by Michigan State and Northern Illi- nois in East Lansing next weekend. How well the Wolverines perform against the Buckeyes could set the tone for the games in East Lansing. MI:LLE GuY/uaily The Michigan women's soccer team will be competing this weekend in the Big Ten Club Conference Tournament at Mitchell Field. 'M' goals kick into gear Xcountry begins championships Harriers shoot for Badgers at Big Ten tourney by Bruce Inosencio Daily Sports Writer The Wisconsin men's cross coun- try team better look out for its Maize' and Blue counterparts. Eighth-ranked Michigan is gunning for fifth-ranked Wisconsin at this year's Big Ten Championships. The meet will also feature No. 17 Michigan State. After losing to the Badgers by three points last year, the Wolver- ines are out for revenge at this year's championships. "Wisconsin is known as a team that starts out slow and moves up in the late stages of a race," senior Wolverine co-captain Matt Smith said. "We are hoping to go out and get a big enough lead so that it won't matter how much they move up." Although Wisconsin has won the Big Tens the last few years, Michigan isn't intimidated. "We really want to get at Wis- consin and see what we can do. They are ranked ahead of us in national polls, but we have the talent and we've worked really hard all sea- son," Smith said. The Wolverines are confident they will bring home a champi- onship this year. Michigan has shown that it has the depth neces- sary to defeat any other Big Ten op- ponent. With the emergence of sophomore Shawn MacKay, the Blue has a solid front five. Along with Smith and MacKay, Michigan will be paced by Tony Carna, Dan Oden, and Rob Lee. The team as a whole has run well throughout the season, with their best performance as a team coming at the Dartmouth Invitational. Purdue's course is slightly hilly, but nothing at all like Michigan's home course. "The course for the Big Ten doesn't worry us too much because we do a lot of hill work and we are prepared for that type of course," coach Ron Warhurst said. One of Warhurst's most stressed points this season has been for his squad to run together, which will be the key to a championship in Michi- gan's biggest meet of the year. by Tim Rardin Daily Sports Writer Coming into the season, the Michigan women's soccer team set three primary goals for itself: beat Michigan State, win the Big Ten club soccer tournament, and win the national club tournament in Austin, Texas. The squad fell short of its first goal, losing to the Spartans, 2-0, last week. The second objective re- mains well within reach for the Wolverines, while the third is only possible if the second is fulfilled. Michigan has already defeated four of the seven teams in the tour- nament, including a 4-0 victory over defending Big Ten and na- tional club champion Minnesota. The Wolverines managed a 1-1 tie against Illinois, and have not yet played Indiana or Penn State. The eight teams will be divided into two groups and will employ a round-robin format within each group. Each squad will play three games on Saturday, with the top two teams in each group advancing to Sunday's semifinals. Group A consists of Michigan, Illinois, In- diana, and Northwestern; Group B of Minnesota, Purdue, Ohio State, and Penn State. The Wolverines will face Illi- nois Saturday at 9:30 a.m. at Mitchell Field. Michigan will then meet Indiana at 1 p.m., and will finish with a 4:30 matchup with Northwestern, whom they whipped 8-1 in the teams' last meeting. Sunday's two semifinal games, which begin at 10 a.m., will match the first-place team in Group A against the second-place team in Group B, and the first-place team from Group B against the second- place team from Group A. In the case of equal records after Satur- day's play, the edge will go to the squad with more goals in the tour- nament. The semifinal winners will clash in the finals at 1 p.m. Michigan, having finished sec- ond to Minnesota the last two years, is very confident this time around. "We've been practicing very hard trying to gear up for the tour- nament," sophomore stopper Car- rie Taylor said. "We feel very good about our chances." 'M' needs complete effort to compete Western turf to test Blue* kickers by Shawn DuFresne Daily Sports Writer The Michigan men's soccer club will be competing on carpet this weekend. Not the type from New York Carpet World, but the kind found in stadiums. The club travels to Kalamazoo Sunday to square off against West- ern Michigan in Waldo Stadium. "We haven't played on turf all year," Michigan co-captain Dick Hillary said. "I think Western will have a greater advantage because of that factor." The club is practicing today in Oosterbaan Field House in order to familiarize itself with the astro- turf surface. "The ball moves faster on turf, so it should be a fast-paced game," Hillary said. The Wolverines (8-8-4) are coming off a successful weekend in which they scored 14 goals in four games at the Big Ten Club Tourna- ment in Illinois. Western Michigan (9-6) lost its last match to Notre Dame, 1-0, but is in second place in the Mid- American Conference. "We struggled early in the sea- son, so I began to experiment with different lineups," Broncos coach Blake Glass said. "We only have two seniors and one junior on the team, and the rest are underclass- men." After testing different combin- ations of players, Glass found the one that worked best, and the Broncos went on a six-game winning streak which ended with the Notre Dame game. Dan Edwards, the Broncos' lead- ing scorer, and Jim Bernthal will lead the Western Michigan offense. Sweeper Kevin Bird will anchor the Western defense. Brian Rosewarne and Guy Met- zger will lead Michigan's offense, while Hillary and Kelley Kuehne will try to tame the Broncos' at- tackers. r works to team unity like it's our last year. No one has higher expectations than I do." RECRUITING PROSPECTS: The vaunted class of newcomers to the Michigan program has put the coaching staff at a recruiting disad- vantage. Principles of supply and demand dictate that the 1992 recruiting class will be extremely sparse. Every high-profile high school senior wants significant playing time as soon as he gets to college. No recruit would be thrilled by the log jam on the Wolverine bench. Michigan is extremely well stocked at every position - virtually any incoming frosh star would face a red-shirt season. But this factor is a moot point. Fisher has only one open scholarship to offer for next season - and 6- foot-1 guard Dugan Fife from Clarkston (Mich.) High School staked claim to it this summer. Fife's early verbal commitment allows the Wolverine coaches to fo- cus on the current crop of high school juniors, who comprise one of the strongest classes in recent mem- ory. SCHOLARSHIP ROULETTE: The most prominent change in NCAA policy goes into effect next season: the Michigan basketball program must reduce its number of scholarships in the 1992-93 season to 13. Michigan's 1991-92 roster lists 16 players, 15 of whom play under scholarship. 215 S.. State A2 (upstairs) 995-DEAD above Jason's Deli by Bruce inosencio Daily Sports Writer The Michigan women's cross country team expects to have a strong showing at Saturday's Big Ten Championships in West Lafayette. Wolverine coach Sue Fos- ter thinks it will be a good competi- tive race, and the times will most likely be fast. WOMEN'$ "When we ran at Purdue last year we did very well, and I think our team has good memories of that course," Foster said. Although Foster admitted that her team must run really well in order to win, she believes in her squad's abilities. "The team is ready to race well. We are looking for Wisconsin, Iowa, and Penn State to be our toughest competitors, but we think we can beat them," Foster said. "Penn State has beaten us once this season, but I think we're better at this point in the season," senior captain Megan Nortz said. "I know we can beat them if we run well as a team." First-year harrier Karen Harvey knows the team is capable of finish- ing strong. "We can be right in there if all goes well. We all need to run our best and focus on this meet only," Harvey said. "We will be in the top three def- initely, but I really think we can win it all," Nortz said. Although there is a question mark surrounding the team's expe- rience, the squad's youth is not seen as a big drawback. "We are a young team, but I don't think it will hurt us at all. I think we're more excited than ner- vous," Harvey said. Fishe BASKETBALL NOTEBOOK build b by Matthew Dodge i F T-S H I R T P R IN T E R Y DO YOU NEED T-SIHIRTS FOR A FRATERNITY OR SORORITY FUNCTION? WE'VE GOT 'EM " QUALITY GARMENT PRINTING AT REASONABLE PRICES " ONE WEEK DELIVERY ON MOST ORDERS " OUR ARTISTS WORK WITH YOU TO PRODUCE SHIRTS YOU CAN BE PROUD OF " COMPLETE LINES OF 100% COTTON & 50/50 COTTON WEARABLES 6% OFF T-SHIRT PRINTING WITH THIS AD MINIMUM ORDER - 12 SHIRTS I Daily Basketball Writer Michigan point guard Michael Talley refers to his Wolverine team as a family. In many ways he is right - this is a normal family. Five pre- cocious young siblings compete with their sage older brothers while the parents try to keep everyone happy. Michigan coach Steve Fisher and his assistants will do what they can to generate unity, but the re- sponsibility lies with the players. The veterans of last season's 14- 15 squad have a choice to make. The brash rookies have a choice to make. Family feud or family reunion. Frosh guard Jalen Rose has cast his vote: "We have no animosity - but we are competing against each other in practice. Off the court we're all friends." The returning nucleus is experi- eusced and savvy. The new blood of the newcomers adds talent and en- thusiasm. This high-profile division of la- bor could understandably tear a team apart - but it will not happen with this group of athletes. "We care about one another on and off the court," Talley said. "We've all played together before, so everyone gets along well.". Rose, wise beyond his years with either a basketball in his hand or a microphone in his face, speaks well for the rookies. "Next year is not promised to us. We need to do what we can now," Rose said. "We can play hard, :S 994-1367 1002 PONTIAC TRAIL ANN ARBOR PATHFINDER w PRESENTS WARREN MILLER'S 94.7 FM DEROIT'S- CLASSIC _ VSA ROCK. "tDWIOE SPONSOR AmericanAirlines om NOV 10 7:30 PM MICHIGAN THEATER TICKETS@ B.. OD TICKETMRSTER CA O R N E R AMPUS I I Now Available OVERNIGHT FILM PROCESSING! MICHIGAN MEN'S CLUB BASKETBALL ORGANIZATIONAL MEETING TUESDAY: NOVEMBER 5 8 P.M. 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