September 21, 1998 - SportsMonday - The Michigan Daily --,B

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soccer drops first two in

By Mark Francescutti
and Stephanie Offen
Daily Sports Writers
After an impressive 2-0 weekend
at home and a five-game winning
streak, things were looking up for the
'~higan soccer team.
b ut the Wolverines, ranked No. 10
in the nation, looked away for a split
second - and all of a sudden Big
Ten rivals Wisconsin and
Northwestern brought Michigan's
streak, and hopes of Big Ten
supremacy, to a grinding halt.
Yesterday, Northwestern gave
Michigan a different streak - a los-
ing one, blasting the Wolverines 4-2
in Evanston. This followed a 1-0 dou-
overtime loss to Wisconsin on
ay night.
Michigan (5-2 overall, 0-2 Big
Ten) came into Northwestern looking
to stop the Wildcats' undefeated
streak.
But instead, a tired Michigan
defense couldn't stop the Wildcats,
leaving the offense little chance to

catch up.
The Wildcats struck first, with the
Wolverines scoring soon after.
But eventually, Northwestern dealt
too many blows and Michigan found
itself on the losing end of a 4-2
score.
"Basically we have to do a few
things team-wise defensively,"
Michigan coach Debbie Belkin said.
"We need to work on marking up in
the 18-yard box."
Besides fatigue, what could have
caused such a drastic change in
defensive play'?
Maybe the Wolverines lost confi-
dence after a grueling Friday night
loss to Wisconsin.
In a hard-fought game the whole
way through, neither team ever really
owned any advantage. Wisconsin
controlled Michigan's high-powered
offense, but had no offense of its
own.
So when the score read 0-0 at the
end of 90 minutes, Michigan looked
in good shape to outlast the Badgers,

as they did the previous weekend
against Detroit and Massachusetts.
But Wisconsin's defense held, and
that didn't happen this time around.
And in the second overtime,
Michigan's defense ran out of steam,
which led to Wisconsin's Mara
Miller's game-winning goal.
Wisconsin found a bright spot for
itself after three losses, while the
Wolverines left befuddled with a 1-0
loss and an 0-1 record in the Big Ten.
Miller's goal came approximately
10 minutes into the second overtime.
The Wisconsin midfielder crossed
over from the outside, unmarked,
took a pass from midfielder Jen
Wright and caught the Wolverines off
guard. She then beat Michigan goal-
keeper Carissa Stewart and slammed
the Wolverines with their first loss of
the season.
"We just had a brief mental lapse,"
Belkin said. "We had been solid
defensively all game."
The Wolverines, who kept the
Badgers scoreless through two

Big Ten
halves and one overtime, may have
had their defense in gear, but their
offense was almost nonexistent. The
Badgers outshot them 13-10.
As for the big mistake, Belkin
says, it's curable.
"The mistake we made (against
Wisconsin) is easily fixable," Belkin
said.
Michigan entered the weekend
after an overtime victory against
Eastern Michigan last Tuesday, with
a goal scored by Jessica Limauro five
minutes into the first extra stanza.
This time, however, the Wolverines
were on the other side of the win/loss
column, and Belkin said the team did
not like that feeling at all.
"We're all disappointed when you
start the first two games like this,"
Belkin said. "The Big Ten is always a
battle."
Belkin also thought that the two
rivals were easily beatable.
"Our performance was really dis-
appointing," Belkin said. Both
teams came out pretty 'blah."'

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JOSH KLEINCAUM/pa iy
Amber Berendowsky and the Michigan soccer team dribbled into a wall this webk-
end, as they dropped games to Wisconsin and Northwestern.

If

Outshootin ''em
The Michigan soccer team cruised to a 5-0 record before its hopes
of Big Ten dominance came to halt in its first two conference match-
es. What happened? In four of the five Michigan victories, the
Wolverines have outshot their opponents handily.

Opponent
Dayton
Butler
Massachusetts
Detroit
Eastern Michigan
Wisconsin
Northwestern

Shots, Leader
6-3, Michigan
13-9, Butler
17-7, Michigan
26-6, Michigan
17-11, Michigan
13-10, Wisconsin
12-11, Michigan

Result
W, 3-1
W, 2-1
W, 5-1
W, 3-1
W, 2-1 (OT)
L, 1-0 (20T)
L, 4-2

I '7

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Do you love basketball?
Do you miss playing?
We need basketball play-
ers! Wanted 3-5 Men to
Practice & Scrimmage
with the U of M Women's
Basketball Team. High
school experience is best,
and you must be enrolled
at U of M. If interested
call Eileen @ 763-1443.

DANA LINNANE/Daily
The Michigan soccer team will have to fight its way out of an 0-2 hole in the Big Ten
race after losing conference matches this weekend.

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