_ M
WOMEN'S NCAA
BASKETBALL
(4) N.C. State 60
(2) CONNECTICUT 52
(1) TENNESSEE 76
(2) N. Carolina 70
;43) Louisiana Tech 72,
4)-Purdue 65
PRO
BASKETBALL
Detroit 94,
PHILADELPHIA 79
CHICAGO 111,
Boston 88
DALLAS 91,
Minnesota 87
L.A. Lakers 107,
DENVER 86
Sacramento at
SEATTLE inc.
L.A. Clippers at
VANCOUVER inc.
PRO
HOCKEY
DETROIT 5,
Chicago 5 (OT)
Carolina 5,
FLORIDA 3
UJP Ld jgt 1TtS
Check out the Mic
when the Wolverin
NCAA West Regio
1,300 tickets left
Scrappy Apps
backs up 'D'
,ily Princetonian
'So many faceoffs occur in any given men's hockey game that
mnly in rare late-game situations does a single one affect the
outcome of the game.
But any hockey coach will tell you that over the course of a
game, the team that dominates the faceoff circle will usually
-&iminate the game.
l Often, the difference between a win and a loss can be the
outcome of that night's play in the circle.
' And when the game pivots on the referee's drop or the team
just needs to come up with the puck in its own end, Princeton
head coach Don Cahoon sends junior center Syl Apps into the
vircle to do battle for Princeton.
fWhile many centers and forwards will face off during the
.course of a contest, the Unionville, Ontario, native has emerged
.as the Tigers' top faceoff specialist. He takes virtually all the
faceoffs in the Princeton defensive zone and the most crucial
Stirops elsewhere. Indeed, Apps' ability in the circle often serves
;a momentum swing in favor of the Tigers.
TAKING CHARGE
"He wins it probably 80 percent of the time," junior center
- Brian Horst said. "It takes a big weight off of (the team's) shoul-
'ders. He makes it so much easier to be in control of the game."
"In winning faceoffs, more important than us gaining pos-
. Nssion of the puck is not letting the other team get possession,"
Cahoon said. "Faceoffs are a vital part of the game."
After Princeton's first 3-2 loss to Eastern College Athletic
Conference-leading Yale on Dec. 6, Cahoon cited Apps' gutsy
-work in the circle as one of the reasons the Tigers were able to
iemain in the game and take a late stab at the Bulldogs' lead in
.the.third period.
- With the possible exception of a clean breakaway, the faceoff
exists as the only situation in which the game becomes a one-
ion-one contest. Apps thrives on this unique facet.
. "The referee drops the puck, and it's you and the other cen-
terman," Apps said. "I kind of like that. It's a little game within
the game because you're going to be facing (the other tear's
,est center) a lot of times during the game. I like taking face-
offs. I enjoy the pressure of it."
Facing off is not simply a natural ability for Apps, though he
grew up playing hockey in Ontario, learning the tricks from a
iprofessional center - his father.
w In the Apps family, hockey is not just a game, it's a birthright.
Apps' father, Sylvanus Apps, played professionally in the NHL
%vith the New York Rangers, Pittsburgh Penguins and Los
;Angeles Kings before retiring in 1980.
See TIGERS, Page 12
'M' teams
chigan hockey team this weekend
ies play in the first round of the '
nals at Yost ice Arena. There are:
for the series, which begins Friday.
Tuesday
March 24, 199810
Peach
sidelined
for est
Re giona
By Sharat Raju
Daily Sports Editor
In the middle of Michigan's first
CCHA playoff game against Notre
Dame two weeks ago, defenseman
Sean Peach headed to the sidelines-He
couldn't finish the game, having sus-
tained a concussion.
This past weekend, Peach still wasn'
feeling well enough to play. And again,
Michigan coach Red Berenson didn't
suit up the defenseman.
Now, it looks as if Peach won't'play
at all for the rest of the season.
"We'll all be healthy except forSdan
Peach," Berenson said: "I don't think
Sean will be."
The sophomore blueliner expori-
enced headaches and some grogginess
during the past few weeks; Berenso
said. But now, Peach said he's feeling
slightly better.
"I still got a little bit of a headache
and stuff." Peach said. "It's easy t say
that I feel good.
"I feel like I can play right now, but I
don't want to rush it."
Peach, perhaps Michigan's best true
defensive defenseman, has reason to be
concerned. He has already suffoied
three mild concussions this seas6
Whether Peach returns depends on-how
long the Wolverines last in the NCAA
Tournament.
"I just talked to the trainer and I
should be able to ride the bike"next
Monday," Peach said. "You never know,
if we do make the final four I might be
able to play. I don't know.'
See PEACH, Page 12
me games*
11 times the teams have actually taken
the field.
The Wolverines last faced BallState
in 1990, three high-scoring affairsrBut
this will be the first time they square
off in Ann Arbor. +*
Michigan has not thrown the ball par-
ticularly well this season. Pitchers ha
allowed five or more runs in every
game.
But that is not unusual.
The season is still green, and with all
the game cancellations, it has bee dif-
ficult for the corps to throw many pitch-
es.
One thing that isn't missing, though,
is good hitting. The Wolverines -have
scored eight runs or more in each of
their past four games and plentyr
contributing.
Jason Alcaraz came down with an ear
infection and didn't make the tripto
Oklahoma, temporarily putting his 12-
game hitting streak and .370 batting
average on the shelf. But backupBob
Robeda stepped in and went 5-for.10
with four RBI in the two-game series.
The sophomore is currently hitting .455
this season.
But Michigan's most pleasant su
prise thus far has been second baseman
Scott Tousa. The freshman leads the
team with a .417 average and hasjx
multiple-hit games.
"Tousa has played very well fouu,"
Zahn said. "He's hitting and doing..a
great job in the field. Whenever you
have a freshman lead the team in hit-
ting, it's going to be a surprise.'
MVP awar
1st-ever for
Gentilee
from staff reports
Michigan catcher Melissa Gentili
utility infielder Sara Griffin and short-
stop Rebecca Tune all returned home
from the Boilermaker Classic in West
Lafayette this weekend with more tro-
phies for their shelves.
Gentile earned the Most Valuable
JOHN KRAF[/Oaily
The Michigan hockey team will no doubt miss the defensive services of sophomore blueliner Sean Peach this weekend when they face Princeton in
the first round of the NCAA West Regional at Yost Ice Arena.
Strong
Stenn1s
smashes
Buckeyes
Sy Mark Francescutti
JDaily Sports Writer
History repeats itself.
0 Last season, Michigan thumped
.Ohio State, 7-0, at the Varsity Tennis
.Center.
On Sunday, the Wolverines -
splaying their first Big Ten matchup
Hof the season - came out on fire,
again scorching the Buckeyes, 7-0,
'pn their home courts.
The change of scenery didn't stop
the slaughter that began with
Michigan (1-0 Big Ten, 6-3 overall)
winning a'l three of its doubles
matches. The only close match was
junior Jake Raiton and sophomore
Matt Wright's 9-8 victory over Ohio
State's top freshman Chris Porter
:and junior Pari Laxminarayan.
* Seniors Brook Blain and Arvid
,Swan as well as Wright and Raiton
Igained their 14th doubles win.
Junior Miki Pusztai joined
Sophomore John Long to win the
third match.
With the doubles wins, Michigan
T
a
Ii
Y
s
Baseball warming to ho
By Jacob R. Wheeler
Daily Sports Witer
Apparently, mother nature is not a
Michigan baseball fan. If she was, she'd
realize how important it is for pitchers
to work plenty of innings early in the
spring.
But mother nature has either rained
or snowed out the Wolverines' last seven
games, including what should have
been the season home-
opener last weekend ~~~~~-~~-~
~~
against Iowa. Tomorrow's
scheduled matchup with
Ball State is also in ques-
tion because Fisher
Stadium is currently cov-
ered with snow.
"We need to play'
Michigan coach Geoff
Zahn said. "There's no
question about that. We
haven't played in a week,
and that hurts because
we're used to playing
more often.'
Tomorrow'st
Who: Michigan 1
against Ball State
Where: Fisher Fi
When:3p.m.
Notables: )Aeathei
ths wdl be the fir
of the olverines
Ganes scheduled
weekend against]1
rained out.'Teyh
rescheduled for la
season.
FILE PHOTO
it only took Michigan senior Dave Paradzik two sets to defeat Ohio State's Chris
Porter. His victory set the tone as the Wolverines won all of their matches Sunday.
earned the crucial doubles point,
meaning they only had to win three
of the six singles matches in order to
win the contest.
But instead they won all six in
straight sets.
Senior Dave Paradzik continued
his strong play at No. I singles with
a win over top freshman Chris
Porter, 7-5, 6-4. At No. 2 and 3 sin-
gles, Wright defeated Scott Wiles, 6-
2, 6-1, and Swan defeated
Laxminarayan, 6-1, 6-2.
Junior Will Farah, Raiton and
Long finished out the bottom three
singles with straight-set victories as
well.
"We didn't have any weak spots,
especially at No. 2 and No. 3 sin-
gles," Michigan assistant coach Dan
Goldberg said. "Dave Paradzik also
had a good win against Chris Porter,
a very good freshman."
See BUCKEYES, Page 12
After a rough season-opening tour of
top-notch competition in Texas and
Oklahoma, the Wolverines (5-9-1)
would like to get back on track against
the Cardinals before opening the Big
Ten season at Illinois this weekend and
at Ohio State the following one.
Zahn is saving his best starting pitch-
ers for the upcoming conference
matchups, in which Michigan will face
two of the Big Ten's best teams. The
Illini and the Buckeyes each made it to
last year's conference tournament,
which Ohio State eventually won.
"We'll have to pitch the staff against
Ball State because our big guys have to
be ready for the weekend," Zahn said.
The third-year coach hinted that right
handers Mike Hribernik, Ryan Kelley
and Tyler Steketee and southpaw Nick
Alexander might see action tomorrow.
Steketee is Michigan's closer.
Although Zahn is saving his best for
the weekend, Ball State is
_----~~~-~- a good swinging baseball
team. The Cardinals (9-4)
Game are hitting a lofty .305 this
basehall team season and have outscored
opponents 72-51 thus far.
eld Ball State's pitchers have
posted a near-respectable
Sp amntting, 4.34 earned run average
1998 season. and opposing hitters are
for this past batting only .232 against
[owa wer them.
have been Outfielder Justin Love
ter in the is the Cardinals' most dan-
gerous hitter. Love is hit-
ting .381 with three home-
runs. But the senior wreaks havoc on
the basepaths as well. Love led the Mid-
American Conference with 44 stolen
bases last season.
"They're going to be very competi-
tive;' Zahn said. "Ball State is one of the
best teams in the MAC."
If bad weather shuts out tomorrow's
game, it will be a case of deji vu all over
again. Michigan was supposed to host
the Cardinals on the same day last year,
but rain put a hold on the Wolverines'
winning-streak. Michigan has won all
Michigan's Sara
Griffin was
named to the all-
tournament team
at this weekend's
Boilermaker
Classic. Griffin
pitches and also
plays third base
for the
Wolverines-
.. . .. . . .. . .