10- The Michigan Daily - Tuesday, October 14, 1997 1M iers grew up against Gophers Y i V By Chris Farah Daily Sports Writer The Wolverines had heard it all before. From the media, from the fans and probably from within themselves. The questions. The uncertainty. The anticipation. The fear. How good would the Michigan hock- ey team be without Morrison, without Botterill - without the backbone upon which it had relied for four years? The Wolverines were young; they werel inexperienced; they didn't know the system yet, and it would ~ probably take time for them to develop a win-! ning chemistry. How much time, nobody really knew. But most people thought it would take longer than two weeks of practice and one intra-squad scrimmage. Most people thought the ninth-ranked Wolverines wouldn't be ready to face No. 4 Minnesota last Friday. And for the first 15 minutes of the game against the Golden Gophers, it seemed the Wolverines didn't think they were ready. It seemed they had heard all the talk and all the questions and had started to believe it themselves. The Wolverines looked nervous and disorganized, like they hadn't practiced a day together. They had problems clear- ing the puck, were missing passes and weren't getting back on defense. They looked scared -like they didn't deserve to be on the same ice as M innesota. The result? The Gophers took a quick 2-0 lead over a disheveled Michigan squad, and the Minnesota crowd responded. They responded to the confidence shown by the Gophers and the lack of confidence shown by the Wolverines. They could smell the fear, and they cheered, thinking that their team would finally triumph over Michigan. But then something happened. Michigan scored. The goal came on a great play from Justin Clark at 16:31 in the first period, but who scored the goal wasn't as important as the goal itself. In an instant, it took the crowd out of the game. In an instant, it proved that Michigan deserved to be on the same ice as Minnesota - that it could play with Minnesota and even succeed. In an instant, Michigan went from being a group of freshmen who didn't know what they were doing and a bunch of seniors who weren't quite sure they could lead, to being Michigan. To know- ing that they were Michigan, and not just some impersonators trying to fill the impossibly large shoes of last year's senior class. "I think when we scored our first goal, that really helped," Michigan coach Red Berenson said. "We're down, 2-0, and our team, I felt, still played with a lot of poise. And then when we scored the first goal, that was the hardest goal." It's true; Michigan did show a lot of poise. The Wolverines had been playing scared, but they kept playing - kept fighting to overcome that initial ner- vousness and apprehension. Most teams would have never recovered. For the first 15 minutes, the JOHN KRAFT/Daily Josh Langfd, Justin Clark and the young Michigan hockey team silenced its critics over the weekend by knocking off Minnesota, 3.2, on Friday night and Toronto, 9-2, on Sunday afternoon. The University of Michigan BASKET BALL BAND ITI S Auditions will consist of scales and sight-reading. Rehearsals for the Men's and Women's Basketball Bands will be on Tuesday evenings. Positions open for: Drum Set Piccolo Clarinet Alto Saxophone Tenor Saxophone Trumpet Horn Trombone Euphonium Tuba Electric BaSS PLAYING AUDITIONS WILL BE HELD OCTOBER 14-16, 1997 Sign up at Revelli Hall anytime between 2 and 6 pm. For more information call 764-0582 after 1 pm. **Those selected for Women's Basketball Band will receive an honorarium** Wolverines may have allowed Minnesota and the tempo of the game to control them, but the Wolverines fought their way out of the funk. They played until they forgot that they were supposed to be young and inexperienced and just played the way they knew -deep down - they could play. Even in the third period, when the Gophers threatened to tie the game, hit- ting goaltender Marty Turco with a bar* rage of shots in a span of four minutes, Michigan refused to revert to the chaos indicative of most of the first period. The Wolverines may not have been playing extremely good defense during that time in the third period, but they did- n't play scared. They were calm, and they played with the mentality of winners. They took control of the game, of Minnesota and - as corny as it sounds - their destiny. 9 Even the crowd could sense it. They got back into the game, but the Minnesota fans never really exuded that confidence again. They knew they were playing Michigan - the real Michigan. No, even when Michigan wasn't play- ing perfectly, after its first goal, it no longer played afraid. The Wolverines had the confidence. It may have only been one game. I may have only been an exhibition game9 But now Michigan knows it's Michigan. It knows it can win, and it knows it should win. A lot of the ques- tions may remain, but now the Wolverines know they have the answers. And no matter what their talent level and no matter what their organization and experience, a mentality like that can only make the Wolverines winners for the rest of the season. for stickers "Our defense is solid and very experi- enced," she said. "We gave up four goals to Penn State, but they're the No. 4 team in the nation. They're no pushover." Another factor that may play into the Wolverines' favor is their home-field advantage. The team is 6-1 at Ocker Field and finishes the season with thre* home games. If it can grab one victo out of the two road games this weekend, Michigan will be in good shape. But, that's easier said than done. The Wolverines beat Northwestern and Iowa earlier in the season, but only by a single goal each time. "They're going to be out for us," junior Lindsay Babbitt said of the upcoming opponents. "But our team has a lot of confidence against those tw teams. We know lot about them, an we've beaten them. I think that's a men- tal edge we have" Tough opponents ahead By Evan Braunstein Daily Sports Writer Before the weekend of Oct. 4, the Michigan field hockey team was sitting pretty. The Wolverines were 9-2, unde- feated in conference play and in first place in the Big Ten. One week later, a lot has changed. Three straight losses to conference opponents will do that. On the road, the Wolverines dropped games to Michigan State, Ohio State and Penn State. Now, the Wolverines (2-3 Big Ten, 10- 5 overall) have five straight games against Big Ten opponents. They travel to Northwestern and Iowa this weekend before returning home to finish up the season against Penn State, Ohio State and Michigan State. "Going into the Big Ten season, we knew it was going to be a battle every game, Michigan coach Marcia Pankratz said. In the three losses, the Wolverines' solid defense has faltered slightly. The team gave up an average of three goals per game in those losses, compared to only one in its previous Big Ten matches. Still, Pankratz is not worried. WHY SETTLE FOR ONE CAREER WHEN You CAN HAVE THEM ALL?. EMRMMEEUSI At first glance, we look like a $2.5 billion credit card company. But our real business is using high-tech marketing to innovate thousands of new products in credir crdA- f'ngncial cervices. relecommiinriin~m vnA. .'L. J.L4.LL4L V LL~S'JAk&4..LL.LJand beo..' I S _ _ _ _ IV. where you come in. We need innovative business builders. And we ha incredible track record of showing the world what stars like you can do. If you have superior analytical problem-solving skills, a passio T innovation, and the desire to become a business leader, you'l W Ewhat we have to offer. After all, it earned us a spot on the Wall , Journal's list of the 25 Best Companies for New Grads. Please join Matt Cooper, Princeton '88, Senior Vice President and rec Michigan alumni for a Presentation and Reception. That's ve an n for I love Street :ent v GTT -NERAL IAGEMENT Tuesday, October 14, 1997 7:00 - 9:00 pm Campus Inn Refreshments will be served. Dress is Business Casual. ll,/IZI X !1- ' ~41