12- The Michigan Daily - Friday, September 30, 1994
Stickers fine-tune offense for weekend matches
By RAVI GOPAL
Daily Sports Writer
Recovery and readjustment de-
scribe what the Michigan field hockey
team has been going through this past
week, as itprepares for two home games
this weekend against No. 7 Ohio State
(0-1 Big Ten, 6-1 overall) and No. 6
Penn State (1-0, 5-2-1).
Last week, the Wolverines (0-2,4-
5) lost tough contests to No. 5 North-
western and No. 15 Iowa. Against the
Wildcats, Michigan found itself in a
dogfight. Northwestern took the game,
1-0, on a penalty corner with only five
minutes remaining. The Wolverines
encountered similar problems getting
the ball into the net against Iowa.
"We were tired and ready to re-
group," Michigan coach Patti Smith
said.
And regroup Michigan has, prac-
ticing maintaining possession of the
ball and fine-tuning its passing game.
The past two games, the Wolverines
did not utilize each other fully in their
passing attack. However, this aspectof
their game should improve this week-
end.
"We've been trying to see each
other better by using spacing," junior
forward Jennifer Lupinski said.
If Michigan's passing game doesn't
sharpen up, the Wolverines could get
swamped, because its opponents are
loaded offensively.
The Buckeyes feature three Dutch
seniors who figure prominently in their
game plan. Midfielders Nienke Blans
and Emelie Leewens and attacker
Wietske Swart are the center of the
Ohio State attack. The triumvirate
form a triangle on offense; and their
teammates feed them the ball for scor-
ing opportunities.
"(The three of them) have really
good ball control," Smith said. "We
can't let them gain any ground and
must stop them from penetrating."
Aside from the Dutch trio, junior
attacker Dawn Pederson is a threat. A
member of last year's All-Big Ten sec-
ond team, Pederson scored six goals
and tallied three assists in 1993.
In net, Stefanie Everkaufer anchors
the defense. Last year, she led the Big
Ten with an .897 save percentage. To
get good shots at her, Michigan must
pick apart the Ohio State defensive
corps. Yet this task doesn't look to be
as difficult as stopping their offense.
"Once we get through their
midfielders, their backs are weak,"
Smith said.
Weak spots are hard to find on Penn
State, the Wolverines' opponent Sun-
day. Its twelve straight appearances in
the NCAA tournament is tops among
Division I schools: The Nittany Lions
return three All-Big Ten first-team
members, last year's conference
Freshman of the Year and their top
goalie from a year ago.
Regardless of the threat Penn State
poses, Smith isn't looking past today's
encounter with Ohio State.
"We will prepare for Penn State,
during tomorrow's practice," Smith
said. "We're just taking things one
game at a time."
Junior forward Gia Biagi echoed
Smith's sentiments.
"We're more concerned with our-
selves than our opponent," Biagi said.
Home-course advantage becomes reality for Blue
By JED ROSENTHAL
For the Daily
Coming off a surprising seventh-
place showing in last week's Spartan
Invitational, the Michigan women's
golf team enters this weekend on a
high note.
The Wolverines host the Lady
Northern Intercollegiate Tourna-
ment today through Sunday at the
University Golf Course. With 18
other schools competing, including
the entire Big Ten, Michigan has its
hands full.
"This is a big tournament for us,
especially since this is the first time the
ACCOUNT
EXECUTDVE
THE
WEEK
H A N
Lady Northern will be held here in 10
years," coach Kathy Teichert said.
"This will be a good preview to how
we stack up against the Big Ten."
Four schools which reached the
Mideastern Regional last season will
participate this weekend, including In-
diana, one of the18participantsin last
season's NCAA Championships.
Besides the tough competition,
Teichert and the team fear the elements.
Rainy weather earlier this week satu-
rated the golf course, which will make
itplay longerthan underdry conditions.
"Longer hitters will have the ad-
vantage this weekend," Teichert said.
"The course should play to the likings
of Wendy (Westfall) and Shannon
(McDonald)."
Westfall and McDonald, the two
biggest hitters on a relatively young
team, must play well for Michigan to
have a good showing. But McDonald
knows the Wolverines have one thing
the other teams lack.
"We will have the home-course
advantage, and that will make a con-
siderable difference," she said.
Sophomore Molly Vandenbark,
playing in her first tournament of the
season last week, displayed her tal-
ents by carding an average score of
78, leading the Wolverines to their
strong finish.
Vandenbark's success is just one
of the several reasons the team is
averaging six fewer strokes per round
than last year. But the improvement
needs to continue for Michigan to
knock off the stronger teams.
"Hopefully, everyone will con-
tribute more this weekend so we can
beat some of the Big Ten schools and
Notre Dame."
The Fighting Irish finished ahead
of Michigan by only four strokes last
week, and the Wolverines seek some
retribution.
"We all want to improve every time
out," said Tiffany McCorkel, a fifth-
year senior. "We set agoal to shoot 320
as a team. This is one of the toughest
courses in the Big Ten; it is longer, in
better shape and has faster greens."
Milchigan crew begins fall campaign
against tough foes at the Head of Ohio
By SARAH DeMAR
For the Daily
After weeks of anticipation, the
men's crew team finally gets to see
some real river action tomorrow when
Michigan competes in the Head of the
Ohio. Twenty-nine other teams will
join the Wolverines in what will be the
seasonal debut for each of the teams
entered.
Because this is the inaugural race
of the year, Michigan may not have its
sea legs back yet after the offseason.
"I was a little disappointed with
our initial testing scores, but we still
might be good enough to knock off one
of the big Ivy League schools this Sat-
urday," Michigan coach Greg Hartsuff
said.
When faced with the fact that
Brown, Cornell and MIT finished first,
second and third, respectively, in last
year's meet, his goal may appear to be
challenging. But when Michigan's
fourth-placefinishistaken intoconsid-
eration, high expectations aren't un-
reasonable.
"Last year we were fairly close to
MIT and we are even faster this year,"
Michigan crew team member Matt
Beelen said. "Beating them, or Cornell,
is not at all out of the question. The
momentum is still rolling and we are
going to see how far we can go."
MIT coach Stu Schmill said his
team is definitely ready to get its feet
wet tomorrow.
"We have a pretty good boat,"
Schmill said. "I expect us to be a little
faster this season, especially since we
have so many returning and experi-
enced rowers."
MIT lost only two members off its
first varsity eight, notably coxswain
Peter Yao, who won a bronze medal
during his freshman year in the Inter-
collegiate Rowing Competition (IRC).
He accomplished that feat along with
current members and captains, Jeff
Tomasi and Nate Crosswhite.
Michigan has some returning
standout rowers of its own. Cox-
swain Bill Finn leads'the attack from
the stern, while Beelen, Chris
Booms, Chris Higgins and Jay Steele
handle the oars.
"We're gradually raising our ex-
pectations and standards. They should
lead to a higher rate of success,"
Hartsuff said.
Notre Dame, Ohio State, Pittsburgh
and Cincinnati are some other notables
scheduled to compete tomorrow.
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