6B - The Michigan Daily - SPORTSMonday - October 27, 1997 Don't panic: Michigan's seaso JOHN KRAFT/Daily Greg Crozier and the rest of the Wolverines will have to improve their defense and special teams if they are to compete with elite teams like Michigan State. By Fred Link Daily Sports Wnter After the season's first official hockey practice, Michigan captain Matt Herr had a message for those t expecting the Wolverines to pick up exactly where they left off last year.t "I'd rather lose 10 games att the beginning of the year ...- and win a national champi- onship, than go 30-0 and lose the last two games," Herr said. The next day, Herr was sit- - ting in class waiting for the professor to begin. Next to him was a student reading Herr's; comments in The Daily. Not 1 recognizing Herr, the student turned to his friend and commented "They'd better not lose 10 games. We'll be really mad if they do." Considering Michigan's recent performance - the Wolverines have lost two of their last three - fans like the one in Herr's class probably are mad. And scared. But with no good reason? Despite their feelings, Herr was right. The key to the season is how the Wolverines play at the end. In Saturday night's loss, there was one thing separat- ing the Spartans and the Wolverines - experience. EMU Classic acts as Blue showdowi By Nita Srivastava Daily Sports Writer Competition between players of the same team tends 1 avoided as much as possible. It can cause conflict and turbance for everyone on the team. But what happens when there is only one spot left, two people can easily fill the position? The competitio there and cannot be avoided. Senior Tiffin Goodman and junior Allison Noe 01 Michigan women's cross country team are both in conten for the final spot on the roster, when the Wolverines corr in the Big Ten championships next weekend. Last Fri they both made a bid for the last spot, competing ir Eastern Michigan Classic with two other Wolverines, sol more Adrienne Hunter and freshman Lena VanHaren. Michigan coach Mike McGuire will make a decisior week whether he will send Goodman or Noe to join e other Wolverines at Big.Tens. Throughout the meet, Noe and Goodman illustratedt competition with one another. In the beginning of ther they were running together. Goodman moved ahead after first kilometer, but Noe caught up with a kilometer to g, Noe, who is coming off of an injury to her Achilles don, finished the meet in second place with a time of 19 It was her first competition since last April. "She competed well," McGuire said. "We miss Allis presence in our lineup, but it will still take her additi races to get back to her level." Goodman was also coming off a foot injury. She did train for nine days before the competition but still man, to place fourth with a time of 19:10. Because the two runners are so even, despite Noe's lac experience this season, the decision will be harder McGuire to make. In only their fifth game of the year, Michigan is still learning to play together, still searching for a way to replace the nine seniors who formed the nucleus of the team the last four seasons. The Spartans, on the other hand, returned most of their key players from last season and haven't gone through the same adjustment period as Michigan. On Saturday night, that made all the difference. The young Wolverines made numerous mistakes defensively, leading to several scoring opportunities and four Michigan State goals. "We had a couple of letdowns defensively, and they took advantage of that;' Michigan forward Bobby Hayes said. "That was pretty much the difference in the game." On special teams, the Wolverines' inexperience showed. Michigan went 0-for-8 on the power play while giving up two power play goals to Michigan State. With three freshmen on the top power play unit, the Wolverines' power play has been inconsistent. After scoring four power play goals in last Saturday's 6-4 vic- tory over Colgate, the power play was ineffective against Michigan State this weekend. The Spartans' defense certainly deserves some credit for the Wolverines' offensive difficulties. But more than anything, Michigan's inconsistency on the power play was simply the result of its inexperience. a is still young As the season progresses and the team plays tog- er more, many of the problems should be corrected and the frequency of the mistakes should decrease. "Our team will be a different team after Christmas," Michigan coach Red Berenson said. "I'm not totally disappointed in our team and how we played. We just have to eliminate the mistakes." In the next three weeks, the Wolverines play two games each against Alaska-Fairbanks, Northern Michigan and Ferris State - the three teams ranked at the bottom of the preseason CCHA coaches poll. W Michigan probably won't dominate these teams as it has in the past, these are games that it should win. During this relatively weak stretch in their schedule, the Wolverines must concentrate on improving their special teams play, eliminating mistakes and playing disciplined hockey. While they may be able to get away with sloppy play in the next three weeks, Saturday night's game proved that they have to play better if they want to compete with the best teams in the nation. If the Wolverines are to be an elite team at the end of the year, in a position to compete for a CCHA and 0 NCAA championship, they'll have to improve their play. Fortunately, it's only the fifth game of the year, so as Herr pointed out, there is time to correct their-mistakes. Don't panic, yet. After all, championships aren't won in October. 41wNI Un ayUNv. 8,... Pease Auditorium tickets on sale Wednesday, Oct. 22 EMU students: $10 non-students: $16 Tickets are available at the EMU Box Office, 313/487-1221 Monday-Friday, noon-5:30 p.m. Fax orders to 313/487-3443 For morc information contact Campus Life Programs at 487-3045 LOUIS BROWN/Daily Julie Froud, Katie McGregor, Elizabeth Kampfe will be com- peting in the Big Tens next week, but others are still trying to earn a spot at the meet. "It's hard to say who Mike will choose," Goodman said. "Allison beat me, but then he might elect to train her for a couple of weeks before another competition. You never know." The meet was unscored, providing a low-key environment for the runners. It gave Michigan an opportunity to send young and injured runners to gain experience competing in meets, while also helping McGuire to make a choice about whom to send to Big Tens. "I liked the fact that there was no scoring because the fact that I didn't do well didn't take away from the team," Hunter said. She finished with a time of 20:33, behind VanHaren, who finished with a 19:38. SPARTANS Continued from Page 1B with Hayes being credited for the unassisted goal. With the score knotted at one, Michigan's home crowd was revital- ized, and it seemed the Wolverines were also gaining momentum. But even with the huge momentum shift, the Wolverines failed to capital- ize, again having problems on their power play. Michigan mustered only one shot off its four power-play opportunities in the period, including a span of minute during which the Wolveri ' had a two-man advantage. While the Wolverines squandered their opportunities in the second peri- od, the Spartans feasted on theirs, proving to be the difference in the game. A turnover on Michigan's end of the ice led to the go-ahead goal for Michigan State by center Shawn Horcoff. And with the Wolveriti reeling, the Spartans added a pow play goal to make the score 3-1. Michigan State center Sean Berens skated in from the slot, deked Michigan goaltender Marty Turco and poked in the puck for the two-goal advantage. It was the Spartans' second power play goal of the game. "We watched a lot of tape for spe- cial teams tonight," Berens said. 'We were well coached and well dis plined also, and that's the kind game you have to play when you come in to face the University of Michigan." Michigan State's Rustyn Dolyny added an unassisted goal in the third to make the score 4-1, before Michigan finally answered back. Right wing Dale Rominski beat Alban for Michigan's second goal, but it was too little too late for the Wolverines, who didn't make another serious threat in the game. r - i I SARA DRAPER ADMISSIONS COUNSELOR FROM THE NATIONAL COLLEGE OF CHIROPRACTIC WILL BE ATTENDING TIlE University of Michigan Graduate School Information Fair Thursday October 30, 1997 12 - 4 p.m. Stop by to learn more about chiropractic and NCC! FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION CALL: 1-800-826-NATL Mnchigan St. 4, mlch gan Michigan State 1 2 1 -4 Michigan 0 1 1 -.2 First period - 1. MSU, York 1(Bogas, Adams), 10:31 (pp). Penalties - MSU, Kruzich (interference).1:33; UM, Berenzweig (roughing), 3:02; MSU, York (elbow- ing). 7:57: UM, Muckalt (tripping), 9:29; UM Befernzweig (interference). 11:24; UM, Crozier.(trip. ping), 14:40._- Second period - 1. UM, Hayes 1. 1:10; 2. MSU, Horcoff 1 (Harlton), 13:53; 3. MSU, Berens (Adams, Bogas) 19:16 (pp). Penalties - MSU, Kruzich (tip- ping), 2:33; MSU, Weaver, (tripping), 3:40; tIASU, Loeding (charging), 11:36; UM, Rominski (roughing),, 14:32: MSU, York (roughing), 14:32; MSU, Bogas (roughing), 14:32; UM Magnuson (high-sticking), 18:30; UM, Muckalt (high-sticking), 19:58; Loeding (high-sticking), 19:58. Third period- 4. MSU, Dolyny 1, 3:01:2. UM, Rominski 1 (Trainor, Van Ryn), 3:11. Penalties - MSU, Loeding (high-sticking), 6:42; UM, Langfeld (interference), 8:22; UM, Van Ryn (roughing),.11:00; MSU, Bogas (hooking), 17:47. Shots on goal- MSU 9-4-6 - 19; UM 3-8-9 - 20. Power Plays - MSU, 2 of 7,UM, 0of8. Saves - MSU, Alban 3-7.8 - 18; UM, Turco 82-5 - 15. Referee - Matt Shegos. Unesmen - John Dobrzelewski, Larry Lulich. 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