Field Hockey
vs. Central Michigan
Tonight, 7:30 p..
Oosterbaan Fleldhouse
Football
vs. Illinois
Saturday, 3:30 p.m., (ABC)
Michigan Stadium
r
Freshmen
*golfers key
team to
solid finish
By JOSH KARP
FOR THE DAILY
Prior to the Lady Badger Invita-
tional, if you gave, the women's golf
team achoice to go swing its golf clubs
or to end its season early and catch up
on its studies, the Wolverines may have
chosen the latter. However after
finsishing fourth out of nine in the fall
season's final meet, the squad can't
wait for the spring season to begin.
"We just played extremely well,"
Michigan coach Kathy Teichert said.
"I was very excited, very happy and
very proud of those girls.What a thrill
to end on such a fantastic note.'
After playing three tournaments in
which the Wolverines finished no
higher than eighth, their fourth place
score of 948 is just what the doctor
ordered. Just ask freshman Ashley
Williams,whotiedfor18thplacecard-
ing a 239.
"We are a lot more confident going
*into the spring season," Williams said.
"We all practiced really hard and just
went out there with a positive attitude.
Williams said that Teichert had
confidence in what the team could ac-
complish if it played up to its capabil-
ity.
"She told us to go out there and
think positive," Williams said. "She
said she had alotof faith in us and she
*lnew we could do it. We proved her
right that we could."
Freshman Wendy Westfall, who
paced the group with a236and tied for
12th place overall, said the teamhad to
play better.
'The only thing we could have done
was to improve and we went out there
with nothing to lose," Westfall said. "I
think ittook some of the pressure offof
us. It was the first time that we felt as a
team that we didn't let coach down."
Teichert couldn't have been more
pleased with the outing of her fresh-
men.
"They both did excellent jobs,"
Teichert said. "You can't ask for more
outof those two freshmen." Teichert is
looking forward to the spring season
with a feeling that the team could stir
up some major noise in the conference.
"We have the potential and ability
tocompete with these Big Ten schools,"
Teichert said.
Wisconsinled the slatewitha921
followed by Michigan State's 922.
Minnesotaendedatthird with a935,13
strokes ahead of Michigan.
"I think we can be atleastin the top
five in every tournament if we play
well together as a team," Westfall said.
"This is the first time that we did this."
0 Hopefully for Wolverine fans, it
won't be the last.
Moelier h
By ANDY DE KORTE
DAILY FOOTBALL WRITER
Monday morning quarterbacking +
is not nearly as much fun following a
winning weekend - except for Gary
Moeller.r
Fans have little to complain about
and fewer "what ifs?" to debate. Simi-
larly, Moeller faced fewer criticisms
and had the opportunity to respond to;
his personal critics and the team's
naysayers after Michigan beat Penn '
State, 21-13.l
Moeller had come under fire for;
his team's sluggish performance in +
big games. The Nittany Lions were1
the first top 10 team the Wolverines
had beaten since Notre Dame in his
second season as coach in 1991. +
Despite overcoming a superior foe,
Moeller's refusal to crow spoke vol-;
umes about what the victory meant
for his team.
as bright
"We needed to prove to ourselves,
as well as everybody else, that we
could still play football," Moeller said.
"We're not out of the woods at all yet.
If we had lost, then we'd be way back
there somewhere. But we're going to
see some good teams the rest of the
way."
The offensive line has been tar-
geted all year. Its play against Penn
State was encouraging for Moeller.
The ball control exhibited in the second
half helped keep the defense fresh. In
spite of improvement, Moeller fully
expects the line to continue to be even
better.
"The line was playing well before
the Iowa game, and then they levelled
off," Moeller said. "I thought that we
dipped against Michigan State. We're
getting better now. And we'll keep
getting better, but it's hard."
The return of Marc Milia at center
Monday
helped calm the line. In addition, tackle
Trezelle Jenkins played one of his best
games of the season, coming against
Tyoka Jackson, one of Penn State's
most ferocious rushers.
The line's blcoking helped
Tyrone Wheatley add to his legacy.
With his 192 rushing yards Saturday
the junior tailback shared Big 10 co-
offensive player of the week honors
with Ohio State's Joey Galloway.
INJURY UPDAE: The prognosis for
Michigan's linebacking corps did the
unthinkable Saturday -it worsened.
Bobby Powers, Steve Morrison's re-
placement atinside linebacker is doubt-
ful for Saturday's game against Illi-
nois with an internal stomach injury.
Morrison is still questionable for
areturn to the physical rigors his posi-
tion entails. True freshman Mike
VanderBeek may have an opportunity
to start against the Illini.
DOUGLAS KANTER/Da
Linebacker Shawn Collins will be under extra pressure next week as fellow
linebacker Bobby Powers will be sidelined with a stomach injury.
'M' stickers try to find way back on to winning track
By BRENT McINTOSH
DAILY SPORTS WRITER
On a collision course - but with
very different outlooks.
That's where Patti Smith andCristy
Freese are. Smith, Michigan's field
hockey coach, is looking to restore one
of the nation's top programs to victory
road. Freese, her counterpart at Central
Michigan, is simply looking to keep
her team out of the street so it isn't run
over by the Wolverines.
Atrdropping two disappointing
Big Ten contests this weekend, Ohio
State, 2-1 (OT) and Iowa, 3-0, the
Wolverines(8-4,1-4Big Ten)arelook-
ing to return to their winning ways and
move up the national rankings by de-
feating the Chippewas at 7:30 tonight
in Oosterbaan Fieldhouse. Ranked No.
13 before its weekend losses, Michi-
gan must vault into the top twelve
teams in the nation to qualify for post-
season play."
If the Wolverines can't top Central
(2-11, 0-8 MAC), there is little chance
that the Wolverines willbe among those
top twelve squads.'The Chippewas have
only scored six goals this season, have
losttenstraightandhavebeenoutscored
11-0 in their last six contests.
Rather, Freese has not prepared her
team for tonight's match with the task
of beating Michigan in mind; rather,
she is looking to play a team game and
learn from the contest.
"We've not had a very successful
season," Freese said. "We're not con-
cerned with Michigan. Our focus needs
tobeon how weplay, and wewantto
get some young players time."
Central's roster sports eight fresh-
men, and Freese said that was the sign
ofarebuilding year,especially with the
weaknesses among the Chippewa's
seniors.
"Our seniors need to step forward,"
she said. "We have three seniors that
start-JenLitchfield, Kris Helwerand
Marti Winkler - and they need to be
scoring, and they're not."
While she's specifically aiming for
Michigan, Freese has a pretty good
conceptof what her team will be facing
tonight.
"Michigan puts a lot of people into
their offense," she said. "It's not ateam
that you can focus on just one player."
And while that's true, she did say
Central would put some emphasis on
stopping "those twins," referring to
Wolverine seniors Kalli and LeliHose.
The Wolverine offense, despite
earning so much respect from Freese,
is a major concern of Smith. That of-
fensemanagedonly one goal thisweek-
end, and that came on a penalty stroke.
The offense barely had a chance to
gain any momentum in the two con-
tests, because the team spentmostof its
time on the defensive end of the field.
However, Smith said that the
Chippewas will present the opportu-
nity for the Wolverines to get their
offense up and running again.
"We want to get back on the win-
ning track," she said."We need towork
on improving with Central -we need
to be offensive."
The Chip offense has a tendency to
"clumparoundthe ball,"Smith said, so
the focus for the Wolverines will be on
quick passing to circumvent the CMU
defensive clutter.
But while they may be passing
around the Chippewas, the Wolverines
will also be looking to run them over.
FIELD HOCKEY NOTEBOOK
By RYAN WHITE and BRENT
McINTOSH
DAILY SPORTS WRITERS
Kristy Gleason is on fire.
Not literally, but the Iowa senior is
hot and other teams just can't stop her.
As last year's Big Ten Player of the
Year, Gleason comes into games as a
marked woman. She comes away from
games, though, as the hated conquerer.
Entering last weekend, Gleasonwas
averaging 4.08 points pergame, amark
that makes even her 1992 Big Ten-
leading 2.11 ppg look paltry. Contrast
that number with the fact that Gleason
has scored 38 more points herself than
Michigan's next opponent, Central
Michigan. Sherene Smith isMichigan's
leading scorer with nine points - a
very respectable .75 points per game.
Players are awarded two points for a
goal and one for an assist.
So opponents devote one or two, or
sometimes even three, of their players
to the task of stopping Gleason. It's not
even close to easy - she scored once
on Michigan, with a nifty flip over
goalie Nicole Hoover. That lone score
was more than two points below her
season average though.
Senior Kalli Hose was the Wolver-
ine assigned to Gleason, and despite
the goal, assistantcoach MeriDembrow
was pleased with Hose's performance.
"The last couple games Kalli has
totally neutralized her,"Dembrow said.
"Now Kalli's trying to defend her and
also play offense."
And how does Gleason feel about
Hose and other opponents covering her
constantly?
"They had a girl marking me the
whole game, and so a lot of the game I
was just moving without the ball,"
Gleason said. "My job is to distribute
the ball, but I can't do that if I don't
have it.
"That's very frustrating, but you
learn to deal with it - with four years
here, I'm the old lady on the block, so
the opponents see my tape and know
Iowa's Gleason lights up
conference opponents
my style. I have to try to change my while Harris was in for Hoover.
habits during each week." DIVING EFFORT: There were times
IN-STATERS?: Of the 17 players on last weekend when Oosterbaan
the Hawkeye roster, not one is from Fieldhouse resembled Canham Nata-
Iowa and only two are even from the torium, as Michigan players were div-
state's side of the Mississippi. ing all over the field after loose balls on
Michigan's roster touts one local, Ann both ends of the field. "It was a really
Arbor'sown ShereneSmith; Ohio State good team effort," forward Sherene
has three in-staters. Central Michigan, Smith said.
tonight's opponent has two locals, in- INJURIES: Goaltender Rachael
cluding Ann Arbor native Kim Fuller. Geistardt was lost for the season last
POWER PLAY: With 4:15 left in the weekwhenshehyperextendedherknee
Ohio State game and the Wolverines in practice. The injury will require re-
down 1-0,headcoachPattiSmithcalled constructive surgery on her anterior
Michigan's version of a power play. In cruciate ligament as soon as the knee is
a move similar to ice hockey, Smith strong enough.
I pulled goaltender Nicole Hoover and Forward Jennifer Lupinski, who
replaced herwith defender SelenaHar- broke her leg against St. Louis, will be
ris. Though Harris wasn't in on the in a cast another week before she be-
play, Michigan's lone goal was scored gins rehabilitation.
Men 's soccer gains strength from defeat
Men's water polo conquers home waters
By ANA FERNANDEZ
FOR THE DAILY
Last weekend Michigan hosted the
Invitational Water Polo Tournament,
*proving to be as predatory as sharks.
The Wolverines devoured the compe-
tition, besting all five of their oppo-
nents - Michigan State (7-5), Notre
Dame (13-1), Ohio State (9-5), North-
western (9-7) and Eastern Michigan
(10-8).
"It was great for the team to have a
tournament at home in mid-season,"
coach Scott Russell said. "It was a nice
.break."!
Sophomore Jason Cunningham
thought this tournament was very im-
portant, especially the fact that the Wol-
verines conquered three of their Big
Ten rivals.
"We got to play very competitive
teams and three out of the five games
we played were very close,"
Cunningham said. "It was good to see
thatinaclose game weareable tocome
from behind and win it."
This was a great weekend for
Cunningham. He and co-captain Drew
Hansz scored seven goals each. Hansz
was also the leader in assists with 10.
Freshman Lewis Lambert had a good
weekend as well, leading all scorers
with 14 goals. Despite the scoring
standouts, there is nodoubtin Russell's
mind that the star of the tournament
was goalie Michael Roeder and his 39
blocks in 4 games.
"Michael was just amazing,"
Russell said. "It is very hard to show
the achievements of a goalie on a stat
sheet, but there was no doubt that
MichaelRoeder was themostoutstand-
ing player this weekend."
This tournament gave the Wolver-
ines the opportunity to get revenge on
Ohio State afterhaving lostto the Buck-
eyeslast weekendinColumbus. Russell
felt the pool size was definitely an
advantage during this game.
"We had total control over them
because our pool is larger," Russell
said.
Michigan is currently the top Big
Ten team and is ranked third among
club teams in the nation after Yale
and Cornell. The team is now look-
ing forward to the National Colle-
giate Club Championships that will
take place in early November in
Buffalo, New York. There the Wol-
verines will have the opportunity to
play against these teams and other
top teams from the East. Also in
November, Michigan will host the
Big Ten Championship.
"We are very optimistic about the
Big Ten Championship," Russell said.
"'This weekend was great because I got
to see what players can handle the 30
meter pool in both our team and in the
others."
By SCOTT BURTON
DAILY SPORTS WRITER
A moral victory doesn't showup in
the standings but it can be more posi-
tive to a team than an actual win.
Such is the case with the Michigan
men's soccer team's 3-0 loss to Divi-
sion II powerhouse Oakland Univer-
sity Saturday. Although the defeat
dropped the Wolverines record to 54-
4, the game served to reinforce the
notion that Michigan is getting closer
to its peak level.
"After the game we talked and ev-
eryone is real positive with what's go-
ing on," Wolverine coach Steve Burns
said. "This is kind of a benchmark for
us in gauging where we arein terms of
our play. I was real pleased with our
effort. We matched their style and in-
tensity."
In contrast to previous games
againstOakland, Michiganplayed com-
petitively for the whole game without
going to pieces.
"It always seems like we play one
good half against them and then the
other half there is a mental breakdown
and we fall apart," Burns said. "This
game we put two halves together of
good soccer and we had a definite
presence out there on the field. I think
we did a good job ofrepresenting Michi-
gan soccer in the game."
Oakland is known for its aggres-
siveness and intensity, and indeed the
game was marked by extremely physi-
cal play. But the Wolverines were well
prepared for what Oakland was dish-
ing out.
"(In practice) Iflet the guys run hard
and foul each other and hack each other
and pull jerseys and throw elbows,"
Burns said. "This was what we had to
be used to to play Oakland. It's some-
thing that makes us a little tougher as
individuals on the team. I think for the
most part we matched them."
Michigan wasn't able to match
Oakland's ability to capitalize on
scoring opportunities. In the first
half, Oakland knocked in several
"ugly goals" by striking balls within
the 18-yard zone. However, Michi-
gan, notwithstanding a second-half
goal nullified by an offsides viola-
tion, did not have such luck.
"The 18-yard box is a real criti-
cal area in soccer," Burns said.
"Your team has to be the kind that
gets down and dirty and somehow
gets the ball in the net. Oakland is
the kind of team that does that. Those
are the kind of teams that win. We're
getting real close to doing that."
But Michigan did come up big in
another aspect of the game. Goalie
Piercarlo Romano's save of a direct
penalty shot in the second half kept
Oakland from getting too far ahead.
"A good 75 to 80 percent of the
time a shooter should make those
kicks," Burns said. "But Piercarlo
made a great save on a real good
shot."
Lacrosse opens fall season with win over Spartans,,17-9
By DOUG STEVENS
FOR THE DAILY
The Michigan men's lacrosse team
opened its fall season on the right foot
with a 17-9 triumph over rival Michi-
gan State in a muddy affair Saturday at
Mitchell Field.
The first half of the game was rather
slow for the Wolverines as they clung
to an 8-7 lead over a Spartan squad
which showedup with only 12players.
However, afterhalftime, Michigan was
able to wear down its tiring opponents
and cruise to the eight goal victory.
"In the firsthalf, we weren't doing
the fundamentals well," midfielder
Paul Dreyer said. "But in the second
half, we did the little things well, which
put us over the top."
Traditionally, the fall season in
lacrosse is simply used to prepare for
the spring season, when the bulk of the
games are played. This year is no
different for the Wolverines.
"We feel less concerned aboutwin-
ning and more about developing and
keeping our skills sharp for the spring,"
midfielder John Kolakowski ex-
plained.
However, as attackman Steve
Simich added, "It's always good to
beat State."
On an individual basis, many Michi-
gan players put on impressive perfor-
mances. The offensive attack was
spurred by the fine play of Simich who
had 7 points (4 goals-3 assists) along
with Dreyer (2-3), Tony DiGiovanni
(4 -2) and Kolakowski (2 goals).
On defense, Ben Hohmuth provided
the Wolverines with solid play. "He
put the defense together really well,"
Kolakowski added.
This Sunday, thelacrosse team will
play their first ever intrasquad alumni
game at 2:00 on Palmer Field before
preparing for a competitive, 16 team
tournament in West Virginia the fol-
lowing weekend.
I
I
nn ei I fln i..r.nr San rarI..
I