Women's Gymnastics Valentine Invitational Tonight, 7 p.m. Keen Arena SPORTS Ice Hockey at Bowling Green Tomorrow, 7 p.m. Bowling Green Blue looks to down Falcons Ices need to stay alive, dance over BGs on Satwrday night r. by Brett Forrest Daily Hockey Writer For the Michigan hockey team, the question obviously is, how do coach Red Berenson and his players rebound from their 4-3 overtime loss to Miami Saturday in Oxford? Well, the Wolverines (17-2-3 CCHA, 20-5-3 overall) are fated to make a return trip to Ohio to play the Bowling Green Falcons (8-14, 13-17) Saturday. Perhaps while at the BGSU Ice Arena, Michigan can regain the form that helped it outscore its op- ponents 45-5 in the six games prior to the contest against the Redskins. Because there is just one game this weekend, Michigan has shuf- fled its practice schedule to utilize the extra off-day. The Wolverines did not skate Monday and were on the ice for under an hour Tuesday. Coach Red Berenson is trying to keep his players fresh and enthusi- astic in the late stages of the season. "Coach wants to keep a high level of intensity," defenseman Pat Neaton said. "It boils down to fo- cus. We have to have every guy ready to go. We have to start build- ing for the weekend." The Falcons and Wolverines met one other time this season, a 4- 0 Michigan victory at Yost Ice Arena Jan. 16. The shutout was Steve Shields' second of the season, but the game was a close one. The Wolverines had just a 1-0 lead until senior Mark Ouimet scored with five seconds remaining in the sec- ond period. "It's going to be a close game," senior right wing Dan Stiver said of Saturday's tilt. "They always play us close, tight games. There are two ways to go about (recovering from the Miami loss). You can lose con- fidence and give up. Or you can put your nose to the grindstone." Sophomore center Brian Hol- zinger, who was successfully neu- 'Coach wants to keep a high level of intensity ... We have to have every guy ready to go.' - Pat Neaton Michigan defenseman tralized in the earlier Michigan game, leads the Falcons in scoring with 42 points (23 goals, 19 as- sists). He is tied for fourth overall in league scoring with Michigan left wing Dave Roberts. Junior center Sean Pronger is second on the team in scoring with 38 points (20, 18). Freshman goal- tender Aaron Ellis (9-8) and sopho- more netminder Will Clarke (4-8) split time between the pipes for the Falcons. They both sport goals- against-averages above 3.50 and have seen much rubber this season. This contest at Bowling Green's 5,000-seat arena could be a pivotal one for the Wolverines, who were playing their best hockey of the sea- son heading into the Miami loss. The defeat was costly, but Michi- gan still has seven games remaining on its CCHA schedule. "We had a lot of games going into (the Miami game). We have to get back to playing better hockey," Berenson said. "The season doesn't stop if we win or lose a big game. We try not to get too high or too low. "We want to play well and es- tablish a presence on the road. It's in a tough building, against a tough team. We have to play better defen- sively and offensively." Stiver, who was knocked out of action in the second period of Satur- day's game, should play against the Falcons. Stiver's hand was skated over during a melee in front of the Miami net. He now wears a thin, protective leather glove over the gash while skating. "It was a scramble in front of the net and I was hit from behind," Stiver said. "My glove popped off and I looked at it and saw the cut. It just needs to heal a little bit more. The knuckles are bruised too from the skate stepping on it. It's no big deal - it could be a lot worse." ' f EVAN PETRIE/Daily Michigan defenseman Aaron Ward passes the puck off last Friday at Ohio State. Ward and his teammates will try to rebound from a one-goal loss to Miami when they visit the Bowling Green Falcons tomorrow. IN. , -1 Men's track searches for momentum at MSU by Jesse Brouhard Daily Sports Writer Many times the key to a success- ful season is not how well you do in the midst of it, but at what time you happen to peak. Coming into this weekend, the men's indoor track and field team hopes to find Mt. Everest, or at least a small mountain range just around the bend. The Wolverines will compete in the Central Collegiate Champion- ships (CCC) this Saturday in East Lansing. This is the squad's second trip to Spartan country in the last two weeks. "This is a good meet for us," men's track coach Jack Harvey said. "This will be a tester to see if we are where we want to be at this point in the season." The Wolverines have lost steam after their early season successes but are beginning to gain strength again. "We ran really well early in the event. The CCC is composed of 22 college teams, highlighted by Eastern Michigan and Purdue. It is a scored meet, giving out points from first to eighth place in each event. In addition to the team title awarded to the squad amassing the most points in all events, there is also an individ- ual crown for each event. The Wolverines faced Eastern Michigan earlier in an unscored preseason event, but the level of competition has risen since that point, according to Harvey. "The favorite is certainly Eas- tern Michigan. Purdue is also not bad," Harvey said. "After that it is up for grabs between us, State and the other teams." Dan Reddan, in the high jump, and Toby Van Pelt, in the pole vault, lead the Wolverines into the meet. Both have come up with strong per- formances in recent meets. "We need senior leadership from paced Michigan by placing in the top three in numerous events this season. MacDonald did not participate last week in order to rest. The football duo of Felman Malveaux and Tyrone Wheatley have both begun to get up to speed, which should strengthen the sprint corps. Earlier in the season, the lack of depth in the sprints hurt the squad's point total. Although the Big Tens in Madison are still three weeks away, the squad knows it is time to begin building the momentum it will need going into the championships. "The veterans need to come through now, and the underclassmen just need to show continued steady improvement," Harvey said. Women runners host competitors, festivities 'The favorite is certainly Eastern Michigan. Purdue is also not bad. After that it is up for grabs between us, State and the other teams. We need senior leadership from Dan Reddan and Toby Van Pelt coming into this part of the season - Jack Harvey by Tom Bausano Daily Sports Writer There will be a Big Ten show- down tomorrow when the Michigan women's track team hosts Michigan State, Ohio State and Penn State. This meet, besides involving Big Ten competition, will also be Com- munity Day and Parents' Weekend for the Wolverines. The first 250 spectators will re- ceive a free Michigan water bottle. There will also be chances to win free Subway sandwiches, gift certifi- cates to local restaurants and a grand prize of two tickets for a men's bas- ketball game. The meet begins at 11:30 am. The women completed a suc- cessful two week road trip, including several career-best performances, last week at Notre Dame. This weekend will provide the team the season, but now we have hit a lull," Harvey said. The CCC provides an excellent opportunity to excel, considering the number of teams participating in the Dan Reddan and Toby Van Pelt coming into this part of the season," Harvey said. The distance runners are led by freshman Scott MacDonald, who has chance to measure its improvements against the rest of the conference. "This is really a mini Big Ten Championship," Michigan coach James Henry said. "The throws, jumps and distance events are our strengths, but there are areas we are not as strong in so we will have to see if people step up. The confidence is improving, but the challenge will be on how the short sprints and hur- dles improve." Henry feels that this year's sprint and hurdle personnel are vastly im- proved over last year's, but that the conference as a whole has improved in these areas at a faster pace. Echoing the sentiments of her coach, Molly McClimon thinks this meet will be a true test for the Wolverines. "Team-wise this is the best com- petition for the year," McClimon said. "Penn State is going to be re- ally tough in the distance area. Michigan State and Ohio State will have people here and there in the throws and sprints" McClimon and Karen Harvey will be the work horses for the dis- tance crew, doubling in the mile and half-mile races. McClimon is also going to be the alternate for the 4x400 relay. Laura Jerman, Tonya Clay, Jessica Kluge and Richelle Webb will run the 4x400 relay. Last year, the women placed second at the Big Ten meet; this time, they have the personnel to better their time. CAGERS Continued from page 1 especially to the first-place Hoosiers - would all but end Michigan's title hopes, something that has not been lost on the players. "Any time you're in second place, you've got to worry about the team that's in front of you, because that's where you want to be," Michigan point guard Jalen Rose said. In the same way that the Wolverines might have been looking past the Badgers, Indiana did its best to add some life to the conference race when it traveled to Penn State last Tuesday. After defeating the Nittany Lions by 48 points earlier in the season, the Hoosiers were forced to go into double overtime before pulling out a controversial 88-84 victory. And no one was rooting harder for the conference newcomer than the Wolverines. ."I felt like I lost the game," Webber said. "I haven't cheered for another team besides us like that for a long time. If that's the game that costs us the championship by us winning Sunday, that's terrible." Despite the less-than-stellar play by both teams during the past week, Michigan coach Steve Fisher has no doubt that the two opponents will come to play Sunday. "We'll be ready, as I'm sure Indiana will," Fisher said. "Last I heard, they had the nation's longest home-court win streak (actually second to UNLV). We don't have to talk about being ready. We'll be ready. I just want to make sure we're not too anxious." In the first clash this season,- sophomore forward Alan Henderson's play hurt Michigan a great deal, as he tallied a game-high 22 points, eight rebounds and five,,@ blocked shots. His 10-for-1. shooting helped the Hoosiers make 55 percent from the floor. "We knew Henderson was a guy who would step out and hit the 15- footer," Fisher said. "I didn't think he would hit as many as he did." Senior All-American Calbert. Cheaney poses the other obvious scoring threat. Cheaney averages 22.3 points per game and scored 20.@ previously against Michigan. But Indiana's specialty comes into play when it is without the ball The Hoosiers' defense has held op- ponents to only 42 percent shooting from the field and held nine teams to less than 40 percent. The result has been one of the best starts in Hoosier history. Indiana's 21-2 mark is its best record. since 1987, when it went on to win the NCAA championship. Likewise, their 10-0 conference mark makes the Hoosiers the only team to be undefeated at the halfway point ofx the conference season since the 1976 Indiana squad. If the Hoosiers have a weakness,,. it is be a lack of height. Senior Matt Nover, at 6-foot-8, is the Hoosiers' starting center. Indiana will have to prevent the tandem of Webber an,- Howard from getting easy shots in the paint if it's to repeat its previous success. Tonight.t 1 American Pictures American Pictures is a professional audio/video slide show depicting racism and poverty in America. American Pictures aims to show not just the symptoms of social injustice but the cause as well. Following the program, there will be an in-depth discussion of the themes of this work. ......:.....I. .... THE ST. VALENTINE'S DAY MASSACRE! I ~1. 1 Sii I