Uje Lirbigmin &ilg PORTS DAY The calm befo ret storm At long last,Bue can repare he game might as well have never even happened. As soon as Michigan's game with Northern Michigan ended and the press confer- ence started, the questions began - questions about the Wolverines' 4-2 vic- tory, the naive sports fan would assume. Maybe some questions about 4 the multiple 9 Northern break- aways Michigan allowed in the second and third periods. Maybe CHRIS something about FARAH Michigan Farah'd e fe n s em an Faucet B u b b a Berenzweig's crucial two points on the evening, or how he's devel- oped into a solid two-way player and uck carrier. Maybe even a question about the scrappy, rough style of play the Wildcats used to harass the Wolverines into mak- ing sloppy passes for much of the night. It seems like it would actually make some kind of sense, right? Michigan's victory wasn't a foregone conclusion. The Wolverines made enough defensive mistakes to give the Wildcats a few good chances to test Marty Turco one-on-one. Fortunately for Michigan, Turco passed *e tests as he usually does - with fly- ing colors. But the game could have been close, a lot closer than the score of 4-2 makes it appear. And the Wolverines definitely looked sluggish after a hard-fought win See FARAH, Page 5B Icers'D Miami, V By Sharat RaJu ti Daily Sports Editor g In a weekend that featured a zam- W boni breakdown, brutal fans and a t conference foe that hasn't visited Yost Ice Arena in 14 years, the d Michigan hockey team showed the B poise of a first-place team. a After two strong victories against r the third- and fifth-place teams this past weekend, the Wolverines made a d statement that clearly said they h belonged atop the CCHNA. s "Our main emphasis is to really h play well each night and to maintain a our position in the standings by what we do on the ice," Michigan coach V Red Berenson said. "We know we have a tough schedule ahead, but V we've had a tough schedule behind t us." M At Yost Ice Arena, No. 5 Michigan m (19-4-1 CCHA, 25-6-1 overall) o defeated fifth-place Northern b Michigan (13-9-3, 15-11-4), 4-2, on Saturday. The Wolverines avenged b last month's series sweep at the hands c of No. 7 Miami (Ohio) by defeating q the RedHawks (13-7-4, 18-7-4), 3-1, t on Friday. Northern Michigan's first visit to r Yost in 14 years was one the Wildcats p would rather forget. On Saturday, the ti Wolverines appeared in control of the w game from the onset. With 13:57 gone in the first period, Michigan w right wing Dale Rominski shot the " puck past Northern Michigan goalie th Duane loey during a wild pile-up in wi front of the net. "It was the kind of game that fa could've went 4-1, 5-1 or 6-1 early in d the second period, but it didn't," M Berenson said. "That kind of kept g them in the game." g Although the Wildcats managed to stops Vildcats e the score in the first period on a oal by Tyson Holly at 16:25, the Wolverines' offensive attack proved o be too much for them. Michigan forward Josh Langfeld eflected a blast by teammate Bubba 3erenzweig into the net for the go- head score with just 40 seconds emaining in the opening frame. "With (Langfeld) on the ice, as a efensemen, you can always expect im to be in position," Berenzweig ;aid. "So when I shot the puck I knew e was going to be there. And he was, s he always is." From that point onward, the Wolverines never looked back. Saturday's victory over the Wildcats featured a remarkable goal- ending performance by Michigan's Marty Turco. The senior netminder nade saves on a variety of 2-on-I pportunities and Northern Michigan reakaways. "We put him in a tough spot and he ailed us out," Berenson said. "I an't remember giving up as many uality chances in a game as we did onight." Stopping breakaways is somewhat outine for the Michigan senior. In ractice, Turco often works on situa- ons resembling the ones he faced all xeekend long. "To be honest, those (breakaways) Nere just little mishaps," Turco said. I don't mind. That's my job to keep hem out of the net. I felt good this ,eekend." The biggest reason why Turco aced just 20 shots was the strong efense in front of him. While Michigan's defense played a solid ame on Saturday, Friday's Miami ame was perhaps the best defensive See ICERS, Page 58 PAUL TALANHAN/Daly Mark Kosick and the Michigan hockey team skated by Miami (Ohio), 34, on Friday. The Wolverines emerged unscathed from rounds one and two of this week's CCHA title fight. Next up are two big matchups with rival Michigan State. Jplue Tennis bounces back By Drew Beaver For the Daily EAST LANSING After their loss to No. 12 Tennessee on Thursday night, the No. 28 Michigan women's tennis team said it wanted to put the defeat nd it and move on. Michigan did just that. The Wolverines beat Syracuse on Saturday at home, 9-0. Then, they trav- eled to East Lansing to take on Big Ten rival Michigan State yesterday, where they earned anoth- er victory, this time 6-3. With its No. I and No. 2 players out of the line- up with the flu, Syracuse was at a disadvantage coming into the meet. Michigan (1-0 Big Ten, 4-1 overall) completely dominated the Orangemen, winning all six singles matches in straight sets. The dmination was especially apparent in the lower Tights. Erryn Weggenman beat Syracuse's Anna Khvalina at No. 4 singles 6-2, 6-2. At No. 5 and No.6 singles, Sora Moon and Jen Boylan both won 6-1, 6-1. Entering doubles play, the meet had already been decided, but Michigan swept the doubles anyway. At No. 3 doubles, Boylan and Tumeka Harris pitched a shutout, winning their match against 'M' women cap off weekend in OT DANA LINNANE/uaily Brooke Hart and the Michigan women's tennis team won two matches this weekend. Syracuse's Rachel Marcoccia and Rachel Kiley 8-0. Danielle Lund would not admit that a depleted Syracuse lineup was the reason for the Michigan victory, though. "I think overall, our level of play was higher than their's," she said. Michigan played its conference opener yesterday, when the Wolverines faced an unranked Michigan State team. The Spartans were not to be taken light- ly, however, as they gave Michigan everything it could handle. See TENNIS, Page 88 By Josh Kleinbaum Daily Sports Writer In a game that no one wanted to win, the Michigan women's basketball team grudgingly took the prize, beating Northwestern 70-64 in overtime at Crisler Arena yesterday. "Michigan wanted to give us the game," Northwestern coach Don Perrelli said, "and we didn't want to take it" The Wolverines beat Penn State on Friday, 67-59, in their first-ever win in Happy Valley. Yesterday's victory over Northwestern wasn't as important, from a historical perspective. Michigan (9-5 Big Ten, 17-7 overall) held the Wildcats (3-12, 9-19) to just two points in overtime, both on free throws, and Pollyanna Johns scored seven of her 21 points in the extra stan- za to give Michigan the victory. The Wolverines almost didn't need overtime. With 20 seconds left and the game tied at 62, Ann Lemire stole the ball from Northwestern's Amber DeWall. Lemire ran up the court for an open layup, but was fouled by Megan Chawansky with 16.4 seconds left. The referee called an intentional foul on Chawansky, giving Michigan two free throws and the ball. But Lemire - the Wolverines' best free-throw shooter at 73 percent - missed both shots from the charity stripe, then missed an open 3-pointer with three seconds left. Johns took the team on her shoulders in overtime, scoring all but one of Michigan's points - the only other point was an inconsequential free- throw with six seconds left. Johns hit five of seven free throws and sank a layup while being fouled - the only field goal either team scored in overtime. Johns "does a good job of going to the boards;" Guevara said. "She has a nose for the ball." See WILDCATS, Page 4B WARREN ZINN/Daily Anne Thorius and the women's hoopsters were all smiles on Friday after their first-ever victory in Happy Valley. The Wolverines also defeated Northwestern yesterday. *The misguzded Spirit Gophers drop Blue, 27-10 e scene is eerily reminiscent of my childhood nightmares. Up and down the concrete, pounding each step as if it was his last, the man in the full-body paint creates a ectacle of him- Af in front of thousands of observant patrons. MARK Waving green SNYDER and white porn Mark My nn-, with the 1J11rri their beloved Spartans. Unfortunately for this particular Michigan State dropout, his perception of excitement is vastly overrated. And yet, Spirit, who claims that his driver's license actually speaks to this legal name, continues to scream regu- larly in support of his team, reinforcing all we take pride in here in Ann Arbor. Primarily, that he has nothing to do with Michigan. For more than 100 years, the Wolverines have stood tall in the absence of an animal dressed in a furry costume (i.e. a mascot) and unnaralleledrBiTnsuice Tn schs ner- By Jordan Field Daily Sports Writer The No. 13 Michigan wrestling team jumped out to a 10-0 lead against No. 3 Minnesota, but dropped the final seven matches and lost the dual meet in Minneapolis 27-10. "We put ourselves in a position to win the match," Michigan coach Dale Bahr said. "Usually in that situation, up 10-0 and with our All-Americans left to go, we're going to win the match, but Minnesota has a very good team." Junior Chris Viola got the Wolverines on the board early with a commanding 16-2 major decision over Minnesota's Brett Lawrence at The Gophers swept the next seven weight classes, including big upsets over team cap- taihs Jeff Catrabone and Airron Richardson. "They have some very good wrestlers, and some of those losses were expected," Bahr said. "But to see Jeff and Airron lose, no one was expecting that." Catrabone, who is ranked fourth at 167 pounds, lost 2-1 to ninth-ranked Zac Taylor. And at heavyweight, second-ranked Richardson fell to seventh-ranked Shelton Benjamin. The loss to Benjamin was Richardson's first in dual-meet competition this season - he was 14-0 before traveling to Minnesota. I .IFk m . .