mxmwftmi)ft Scoreboard NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE BOSTON 4, Hartford 4 Toronto 5, NEW YORK 3 Philadelphia 4, TAMPA BAY 3 HOME TEAM IN CAPS Friday November 1, 1996 10 10 Offense showsup' for 'M' soccer By Josh Klenbaum Daily Sports Writer The Michigan women soccer team's offense has been inconsistent, often scoring three or more goals, but even more often being shutout. So, the ques- tion going into its game yesterday after- noon was this: Would the Michigan offense show up to play Detroit-Mercy at Michigan Soccer Field? The answer was obvious just 14 minutes into the game, when Mari Hoff started Michigan's offensive explosion by shooting a bullet into the center of the goal off of a corner kick. The Wolverines (3-3-1 Big Ten, 8-6-3 overall) went on to win, 4-2, bringing their undefeated streak to five games. In actuality, the defense was the key to this game. The Titans are led by three explosive players, but the Michigan defense shut them down until the last 20 minutes of the game. Forward Monica Kaltreider has 40 points on the season, more then dou- ble that of Michigan scoring leader Amber Berendowsky, but she couldn't muster a point yesterday. The Wolverines also shut down Leslie- Ann Graham, who has 25 points on the season. "We just marked them up tight and played good defense," Michigan coach Debbie Belkin said. The Wolverines, supported by a strong wind, had a great first half. Just three minutes after Hoff's goal, Debbie Flaharty scored from 10 yards in front of the net to increase Michigan's lead to 2-0. The Wolverines continued to domi- nate and almost scored another goal seven minutes later when a Marie Spaccarotella shot hit the crossbar. At the 31:26 mark, Spaccarotella completed a beautiful pass to Berendowsky, giving her a breakaway. Berendowsky then beat Titan goal- keeper Niki Thomas to give the Wolverines a 3-0 lead. The goal gave Berendowsky 17 points on the season, tying the Wolverines' all-time record. "(Berendowsky) has been doing a job this season," Belkin said. "She's a goal scorer, and she's coming through for us. We can look to a lot of people to get goals for us, and it takes the pressure of her." Five minutes after Berendowsky's goal, Spaccarotella took a rebound off of a Kristen Buckley shot and put it away for the Wolverines' final goal of the game. In the second half, the Michigan offense, now facing the strong wind, disappeared. Unlike the first half, where Michigan dominated the ball, they played poorly in the second half and Detroit (13-4-1) had several good scoring opportunities. For the last 15 minutes, the Michigan defense looked vulnerable, but managed to hold on for the win. The not-so-c vi war Michigan looks, for redemption By Nicholas J. Cotsonika Daily Sports Editor The celebration ended real quick. Just 45 minutes after Michigan mauled Minnesota, 44-10, last week in Minneapolis, the Wolverines exited the locker room to the coaxing of Michigan defensive coordinator Greg Mattison. "C'mon, let's w'n the Big One now!" Mattison yelled, clapping his hands. "C'mon, the Big One's next week!" The Big One, for the first time in a few years, is truly big. When No. 9 Michigan faces intrastate rival Michigan State tomorrow at high noon, the Michigan Stadium crowd will wit- ness more than a simple state-pride bat- tie. 0 This game is for a chance to win the Big Ten. Michigan is 3-! (6-1 over- all), and Michigan State is 4-1 (5-3). Both are still in the hunt for the Rose Bowl. This game is for state dominance. If it's true that a team can't conquer the nation until it conquers its own state, then Michigan seems to have a lot to lose. And Michigan State has quite a lot to gain. This game is for the coaches. Michigan's Lloyd Carr and Michigan State's Nick Saban both took over their programs two seasons ago. Carr was received with hesitation as Gary Moeller's replacement. Saban was hailed as a savior. A victory in this game is critical for both. This game is about last year. The Spartans surprised the Wolverines, 28- 25, in East Lansing, and Saban had his first victory over Michigan. Carr had his first loss to State. Neither will for- get, and neither wil! their teams. "Oh, we've been waiting a whole year for this one," Mattison said. "This one's important for a lot of reasons." Perhaps the most important reason for both teams is the perception 4at Michigan State is an up-and-coming team. Under Saban, the Spartans have bece relatively successful. The hope in East Lansing is that he will take the Spartans back to their glory years, the 1960s, when Michigan State dominated Michigan, won Big Ten titles, and fin- ished No. I and No. 2 in the polls. Although the Spartans haven't defeat- ed a ranked team this season, many feel they are ready to. The Spartans have won three straight, and their defense, ranked second in the Big Ten against the rush,) quite impressive. "They have an aggressive group of guys with excellent movement," Carr said. "Those are qualities any coach like in a defense. They don't make many mistakes. If you score points, you have to earn them. That's the mark of a good defense." On offense, quarterback Todd Schultz has been a pleasant surprise for the Spartans, taking over for Michigag killer Tony Banks. He completed 48 of 66 pass attempts in the Spartans' past three games for 730 yards and four touchdowns. "Since Todd has been at quarterback, we've played very efficiently on offense,' Saban said. "But I'm not sur- prised. I thought we would have an opportunity to be a good football team." Does that mean Michigan State is catching up to Michigan? "I never measure our standard: what we want to accomplish here on another program,' Saban said. "We respect Michigan's tradition and all the other Big Ten schools' traditions. But, of course, we want to build this pro- gram. We're making some progress, but we're certainly not there yet" MARK FRIEDMAN/Daily Running back Clarence Williams, shown here struggling for extra yardage against UCLA, is a key for the Wolverines tomorrow against Michigan State. The team that rushes for more yardage almost always wins the game in the Michigan-Michigan State rivalry. In fact, the only time this did not hold true in the past 27 years was last season. A year ago in East Lansing, the Spartans were outrushed by the Wolverines, 218-73, but still won, 28-25. Michigan State will be trying to make it three out of four over Michigan tomorrow. The Matchups: Forget last year: Running games to be key once again By Barry Sollenberger Daily Sports Editor Gosh darnit, Michigan State. You had to go and break with tradi- tion, didn't you. From 1969-1994, the team that won the rushing game, always won the Michigan-Michigan State rivalry. Always. And then came last season. The Spartans were outgained on the ground by the Wolverines, 218- 73, but won anyway, 28-25. So much for tradition. But if you still love a good ground war, you needn't worry. Because with Michigan and Michigan State each sporting two good backs, the team that rushes for the most yardage will likely win the bigger battle tomorrow. MICHIGAN RUSHING OFFENSE VS. MICHIGAN STATE RUSHING DEFENSE: The Michigan rushing attack awoke from an extended hibernation last weekend against Minnesota. After being ineffective in their previ- ous two games, the Wolverines' Clarence Williams and Chris Howard exploded for a combined 210 yards on the ground against the Golden Gophers. Whether Michigan's success was due to Williams' and Howard's tenac- ity or to a fall-down job by the Minnesota defense remains to be seen. The Spartans' defensive front will provide a stiff test. While Michigan is averaging almost 200 yards a game on the ground, Michigan State surrenders only 100 yards per game to opposing rushers. The Spartans have a weapon in linebacker Ike Reese, who leads his team with 76 tackles, 12 more than Michigan's high-tackle man, Jarrett Irons. But Michigan State middle linebacker Reggie Garnett, a three- year starter, has missed the past two games with a knee strain and is ques- tionable for tomorrow. The winner of this battle will like- ly depend on Michigan's offensive line. Will it open holes like it did last week against Minnesota? Or will it fall to its knees like it did against Northwestern and Indiana? Advantage: EVEN MICHIGAN PASSING OFFENSE VS. MICHIGAN STATE PASSING DEFENSE: Former Michigan quarterbacks Todd Collins and Elvis Grbac made livings throwing the ball deep down the field. Twenty-yard pass comple- tions were the norm. With l1 career games under his belt, Michigan quarterback Scott Dreisbach still hasn't shown that he can consistently make the big play. Most of his passing success against a porous Minnesota defense came on roll-outs and short dump-offs. Still, Dreisbach is just a sopho- more, and a successful won at that. His career record as a starter improved to 10-1 with the victory over the Gophers. When Dreisbach throws the ball tomorrow, he'll be challenged by a Michigan State secondary that allows a respectable 189 yards a game. Advantage: EVEN MICHIGAN STATE RU$HING OFFENSE VS. MICHIGAN RUSHING DEFENSE: Michigan State sports two backs, Sedrick Irvin and Duane Goulbourne, who both have a shot at eclipsing the 1,000-yard rushing mark for the sea- son. Through eight games, Irvin a Goulbourne have rushed for 734 aA 667 yards, respectively. Fortunately for the Wolverinesrthe strength of their team is the defensive front seven. 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