Women's Soccer vs. Siena Heights Thursday, 5 p.m. Mitchell Field SPORTS Field Hockey vs. Penn State Friday, 4 p.m. Oosterbann Fieldhouse The Michigan Daily Tuesday, October 6, 1992 Page 8 'M' icers begin official practices by Chad A. Safran Daily Hockey Writer After last season's disap- pointing final loss to Wisconsin in the NCAA semifinals, the Mich- igan hockey team had six months to look back and reflect upon what went wrong. The redemption process has begun as practice officially got underway yesterday at Yost Ice Arena. Although the players have been skating on their own for the past two weeks, Monday was the first day that Michigan coach Red Berenson and the rest of his staff were allowed to be on the ice instructing his players, under NCAA guidelines. Berenson gave his team a mixed grade for the season's opening practice. "I would give them an 'A' based on effort," said Berenson, now beginning his ninth year at the helm of the Wolverines. "They would get a 'C' for execution, but that takes time and that's why we have practice." Junior defensemen Aaron Ward agreed with Berenson's evaluation. "It went pretty well," Ward said. "It waspthe first time for everything. The skating was look- ing pretty good, but we were off on our passing. We were not reaching each other's sticks with our passes. " Usually several non-scholar- ship students show up on the first day of practice in an effort to make the squad. Last year, with the combination of scholarship athletes and those attempting to walk on, 40 players were on the Mixed signals for blue golfers Women fall to Big Ten foes, finish fourth in Lady Buckeye by Jaeson Rosenfeld A rain cloud has covered the Michigan women's golf team's first- round action for the last two compe- titions this season. When it finally got on the course at the Lady Buck- eye Fall Invitational, the Wolverines faced another set of clouds - the clouds of inconsistency. After having a successful Saturday in which the Wolverines were forced to play 36 holes due to the weather problems, Michigan could not repeat its performance on Sunday. With a third-round score of 338, the Wolverines dropped from third to fourth place, allowing Notre Dame to sneak ahead while Ohio State took the title. Senior Wendy Bigler led Michigan's first-day surge with a 36-hole total of 157. The co-captain was pleased with her play after struggling at Michigan State a week ago. "At State I didn't hit the ball well," Bigler said. "The first day here I hit the ball the best I have in a tournament this year." In addition to Bigler, senior Maura Hawkins 36-hole total of 164 also boosted the Wolverines. Mich- igan coach Sue LeClair thinks that Hawkins has finally got herself back on track after shooting poorly in her first two meets. "She has been listening to some relaxation tapes that have really helped," LeClair said. "Her mind is focused a little better." Because of the Wolverines early performance, Michigan's golfers were paired with Big Ten powers Ohio State and Indiana in the final round. LeClair thought this played a factor in her team's bloated Sunday scores. "I think we were intimidated playing with Ohio State and Indiana for the first time," LeClair said. Despite Michigan's inconsis- tency, LeClair is still convinced that her team can compete against the class of the Big Ten. "They definitely have the ability to play at their (Indiana and Ohio State's) level," LeClair said. "They just have to think they can." Lyle's third-place sparks men at NIT by Paul Barger What a difference two days make. After one round of play at the Northern Intercollegiate Tournament, the Michigan men's golf team was a disappointing 12th out of 20 teams, and sophomore Bill Lyle was 18th, sitting five strokes behind the leader. The Wolverines, however, took a turn for the better on Saturday and Sunday. Michigan managed to make up six spots to finish in sixth place, and Lyle closed with a strong per- formance to finish third individually, two strokes off the pace. Michigan coach Jim Carras hopes that this comeback will lead to suc- cess for the rest of the season. "We started off very poorly and I don't think it was reflective of our team," Carras said. "The conclusion I was satisfied with. Coming back is a credit to the kids." All eleven Big Ten schools (including Penn State) participated in the event. Only three of those schools managed to finish ahead of the Wolverines. The real story of the weekend, however, was not the play of the. team, but of Lyle. Michigan's No. 2 golfer shot rounds of 74, 71 and 73, for a 218 total. "Billy Lyle I was very, very pleased and impressed with," Carras said. "He played like a veteran senior and he is only a sophomore. He cer- tainly played well enough to win this tournament, and it was a very solid field." In addition to Lyle's strong showing, senior co-captain Anthony Dietz (77-74-77-225) regained his composure after a rough first round and fought his way to 27th place. This Saturday the team will try to keep the momentum going at the Buckeye Invitational in Columbus. "For the first tournament I am not unhappy at all. It was a good, solid field," Carras said. "I expect improvement next week and I really think that we can be competitive in the conference." Michigan forwards Mark Ouimet (forefront) and David Roberts celebrate a goal last season. Official practice began yesterday for the squad. ice for the first session. This year, only one has come out to show his skills - Chris Wakabayashi, who's father Mel played for Michigan from 1964-66. The lack of extras gives Berenson help in deciding on positions. "It's good that were not evaluating a lot of unknowns," Berenson said. "We've got enough inner competition here. The first practice is an indication of what kind of summer (the players had). Obviously, the players who worked real hard this summer in dry-land training look better on the ice and are in better shape, but you can do a lot of running and weightlifting but it is not the same as being on the ice." Ward is one of those players who's off-season training has been a benefit. "I'm in better shape this year, considering the past," he said. "Practice is a lot different than a game. (Practice) is non-stop. The drills are continuous. If you are not feeling bad after practice, then you haven't worked out hard. Coach ran us pretty hard today. " Over the next several days, be- sides practice, Berenson has some extra planning to do. "We have to get setup working on systems and things we expect our team to do. We don't have a long time." In fact the Wolverines' first game is this Friday night at 7:00 p.m. when the annual Blue- White Intrasquad game takes place at Yost. Tickets are $2.00. 'M' water by Erin Himstedt Thirty-one and five is a record to beat at the collegiate but the Michigan water polo t on its way to doing just that th son. Michigan defeated Northw Wisconsin, and a Milwauke collegiate team Saturday{ round-robin play at the F Invitational, and went on t Milwaukee once again in Su final, 14-9. The reigning Big Ten char currently 8-1 overall and und in the conference. This wee play at Wisconsin lengthen winning streak to seven match Of the six starting field1 poio continues winning ways two are first-year students and two tain that. You try to channel that in a tough are sophomores. Michigan coach productive way." e level, Scott Russell sees this youth as a Russell feels confident in his team is challenge his team has to overcome. "youngsters" and has high expecta- is sea- "We have a very young team," tions for the rest of the season. Russell said. "We graduated nine of "Our primary goal every season vestern, fifteen players from last year's is to win the Big Ten champi- e non- championship team, including the onship," Russell commented. during Big Ten MVP... the fact that only "That's our No. 1 priority." Badger one starter has started for us in the From their early record, it ap- o beat past is a weakness." pears that the Wolverines are head- inday's However, while these players ing- towards their objective, having may lack experience in playing to- already defeated each of the other nps are gether, youth also has positive ef- schools who finished in the top five efeated fects on the team. of the Big Ten last year. kend's "Youth on the team has really Michigan's next conference ned its been a strength for us; the enthusi- matches will be this weekend when hes. asm on the team is really strong," the Wolverines play in a two-day players, Russell said. "You don't try to con- event at Evanston. 9 1 r--., _, ......,., ., .- .. . ...,. . .. r- J . . I BUSINESS AND TECHNICAL CAREERS i CLOSE YOUR BOOKS FOR 1 HOUR. IT COULD REALLY PAY OFF. GTE invites you to take some time out when we visit campus. Well be recruiting aggressive, energetic students with varied backgrounds and degrees. Naturally, we look for a good academic record, too -but most of all, we're looking for people with a serious interest in learning about GTE. While were here, come and join us. Ask questions to find out about the challenging opportunities GTE has to offer in telecommunications. ALL STUDENTS WELCOME! On-Campus Information Session/Reception 0 Technical Careers DATE: October 13th TIME: 4PM-5PM PLACE: Room 1005 EECS Building Business Careers DATE: October 13th TIME: 6PM-7PM PLACE: Room 1220, College of Business Administration 0 0 a mr- ----J. .j --m 1