The Michigan Daily - Tuesday, April 23, 1996 - 5B
Badger laxers
top Blue in Big
Ten tourney
By Pranay Reddy
Daily Sports Writer
The Michigan men's lacrosse club
learned a very important lesson this past
weekend in Madison.
All good things must come to an end.
R The Wolverines (4-2 Big Ten, 15-5
overall) fell short in their attempt to win
an unprecedented seventh straight Big
Ten championship by losing to Wiscon-
sin, 12-7. The Badgers defeated Michi-
gan in the semifinals of the champion-
ships on their way to winning the title
over Illinois.
The title was Wisconsin's first since
the Big Ten lacrosse brackets were re-
vamped. Under the restructured format,
t Wolverines had won seven of eight
In fact, the Badgers won in a year that
was quite unusual for the Big Ten - a
team other than Michigan was consid-
ered the favorite heading into the cham-
pionships.
"(The Badgers) were at home, they
were loaded, and they hadn't played
(prior to the semifinal match)," Michi-
gan coach Bob DiGiovanni said. "They
were the obvious favorites."
The latter two factors were most cru-
cial in Wisconsin's win over the Wol-
verines. In the quarterfinals, Michigan
manhandled Iowa, 16-1, setting up a
matchup between the Wolverines and
the winner of the Wisconsin-Michigan
State game. Rather than defeating the
Spartans, the Badgers were handed the
victory by forfeit. Instead of playing a
game, Wisconsin saved its legs and pre-
pared for the Wolverines.
SMichigan, though dominating the
awkeyes, still wore itselfout playing in
a very undesirable setting.
"The weather was cold, wet and windy,
which made the field very muddy,"
DiGiovanni said. "The mud took the
energy out of us."
That's not all that did.
Not only did the Wolverines face a
well-rested team just hours after their
ie; they also faced a more experi-
ced team.
"Wisconsin, a university lacrosse
club, looked more like the city ofMadi-
son Lacrosse Club. A city team usu-
ally consists of former college players,
and the Badger squad was no different.
The team featured a number of older
players.
This difference in experience is what
hurt Michigan during the game. Of the
seven goals scored by the Wolverines,
were tallied by the older members
ol the team, including captain Brian
Molitor and senior Dave Reichel.
Younger players like Fred Yun and
Eric Olson didn't contribute like they
usually do.
"The younger guys weren't able to
step up," DiGiovanni said. "But they
couldn't do anything about it."
Nevertheless, in the eyes of many, the
season will be looked at as a failure.
Wwever, as a head coach, DiGiovanni
understands the importance of perspec-
tive in these situations.
"In terms of (the outcome) I'm disap-
pointed," DiGiovanni said. "But I'm very
proud of what (we) did (this season)."
And proud he should be, considering
the, level of competition that Michigan
faced this year. In their five losses, the
Wolverines faced top-notch opponents,
including the Motor City Lacrosse Club
E d Virginia Tech - one of the best
crosse clubs in the country.
TITLE RUN
Continued from Page 16
and sophomore Heather Kabnick have
competed at nationals. The other Wolver-
ine regulars are sophomore Lauren La
Branche and freshmen Beth Amelkovich,
thy Burke, Nikki Petersand LisaSimes.
Ithough some of the athletes are new
to the national meet, the team is familiar
with four of the five teams that they will
face Thursday afternoon, having com-
peted against all but UCLA.
The Wolverines have already defeated
Penn State three times this season. The
No. 12 Lady Lions are clearly the weakest
team in the field and shouldn't be a threat.
Michigan scored a season-high 197 points
in a win over Brigham Young on March
A the Wolverines' last home meet of the
season.
Michigan's loss in late February at
Nebraska can mostly be blamed on inju-
ries. A healthy Wolverine team should
score higher than the Huskers.
Georgia ended Michigan's 47-meet
home-winning streak by a very slim mar-
gin over spring break. The Lady Dogs
will be tough as always, but the Wolver-
jI es don't have to beat them on Thursday.
Wiey just have to be among the top three.
Assuming Michigan advances to the
Super Six on Friday, it will likely have to
contend with Alabama and Utah, two
more familiar foes. The Wolverines' sec-
ond-best performance of the season came
in a victory over the Utes at home Febru-
InCOnsIstent Michigar
By John Friedberg
Daily Sports Writer
The Michigan men's golf team has
had moments of brilliance, but it has
also been plagued by inconsistent play
throughout the season. This was never
as evident as it was last weekend at
the Kepler Invitational in Columbus.
The Wolverines started slowly with
two below-average rounds but fin-
ished with the best team round of the
day Sunday. The final round was not
enough to place Michigan higher than
14th place, but there were some prom-
ising signs.
Chris Brockway went a long way
toward regaining the form that made
him the best on the team last year. The
senior captain has been in a slump
this year, but he fired the best round
of the day Sunday. His 71 sparked the
Wolverines to a good finish.
Brockway's steady play in the final
round may lead to a strong finish to a
stellar career. If Brockway can pro-
vide the solid play that he did last
year, Michigan may start finishing
higher.
As far as the other Wolverines, there
is still a lot of potential for good
rounds.
This season, four different players
who have led Michigan in scoring.
Brockway, juniors Kyle Dobbs and
David Jasper and sophomore Keith
Hinton have all taken their turns as
the Wolverines' top finisher.
Dobbs has been the most consistent
player on the squad this year. His
average has been at or near the top of
imens gol
the team for the majority of the year.7
He also has the two top individual
finishes for the team, finishing in a ties
for second in both the Legends of
Indiana tournament and the Northern
Intercollegiate in the fall.
Jasper finished the Dr. Pepper In-
tercollegiate with a 16th-place finish.
His 226 was his best three-round total1
of the year. He battled back from an
illness that kept him out of the
Marshall Invitational. Jasper hopes to
build on his 30th-place showing at the
Kepler Invitational over the week-{
end. His 75 is a step in the right
direction for the remainder of the sea-1
son.
Hinton has been inconsistent thisI
spring. He had his best weekend at thea
Marshall Invitational with a three-
looks to summer
round score of 220 that was the best of
the year for Michigan and good
enough for a seventh-place tie over-
all. Hinton has also struggled this
season, though, as evidenced by his
weekend at the Kepler Invitational.
The sophomore finished with a 249.
Again, however, he shot a solid 78 in
the final round.
Isaac Hinkle has seen considerable
action for the Wolverines, as the fresh-
man has competed in every tourna-
ment. He too has been susceptible to
erratic play.
While he was never a low scorer
this spring, he was the top finisher for
Michigan in the first tournament of
the year. His 226 was good enough to
tie him with Brockway in the Reliastar
Collegiate in the fall.
Mike Emanuel and Brent Idalski
have both seen action as well this
spring. Both of them may challenge
for spots in the last few tournaments
of the year.
The Wolverines are off during fi-
nals and do not compete again until
the Spartan Invitational on May 4-5
against another strong field. The com-
petition features many top teams, in-
cluding most of the Big Ten.
After the invitational, the Wolver-
ines will compete in the Big Ten cham-
pionships on May 10-12. The confer-
ence tournament will be tough for
Michigan, as many of the top teams in
the regional are in the Big Ten. Ohio
State, Northwestern and Minnesota
are ranked as the top three teams in
the district.
N 1111 W ll ~ I IIII I I i I Ci 1 1 III1 I.S'I I