The Michigan Daily - Thursday, October 8, 1998 -13A
Home sweet home? Time will tell
No. 11 field hockey team hosts two Big Ten rivals in pivotal weekend
By Stephanie Offen
D~tly Sports Writer
The Michigan field hockey team is approaching
toughest weekend yet, and it seems to be ready for
challenge.
The Wolverines (3-0 Big Ten, 10-2 overall) will
spend their first home weekend of the Big Ten season
playing the top two teams in the conference. No. 8
Ohio State comes into town tomorrow at 3 p.m., fol-
lowed by No. 6 Penn State on Sunday at 1 p.m.
But Michigan, ranked No. 11 in the nation, is
familiar with playing top competition.
"We've already played No. 4 Maryland and high-
ly ranked Boston College," Michigan coach Marcia
Pankratz said. "So we are not new to top 10 teams.
e certainly have a chance."
Last weekend, in an upset, then-No. 13 Ohio State
beat the Nittany Lions in a 1-0 shutout. Ohio State
goaltender Anna Schwartz recorded her fifth shutout
of the season with 17 saves, a career high, against
their goalie, but we can't worry about it," Pankratz
said. "We only control how we perform. Schwartz is
really tall and aggressive. We will just have to do the
best we can."
But the Michigan offense came on strong last
weekend, led by Big Ten offensive player of the week
Kelli Gannon. Gannon scored both of the Wolverines'
goals against Iowa and added a goal and two assists
against Northwestern. Gannon looks to continue that
kind of performance this weekend.
"Kelli really had an outstanding weekend,"
Pankratz said. "A different team member has stepped
up each game. Sometimes some players shine more
then others."'
The Wolverines will definitely be looking for
leadership in each game, both offensively and defen-
sively.
Sunday, against Penn State, Michigan will be
looking for its defense to step up against Nittany Lion
Dawn Lammey. Lammey leads all Penn State scorers
with 14 goals, and is the Nittany Lions' leader in
assists with 52.
But Michigan is out to get revenge. Not only do
the Nittany Lions lead the series, 12-2, but they kept
the Big Ten champion Wolverines out of the NCAA
regionals last year. Penn State beat Michigan, 2-1, in
the finals of the Big Ten tournament.
"Penn State is always a Big Ten champion con-
tender," Pankratz said. "It's early in the season, but
this game will still be really important."
But Michigan isn't the only team worried about
the outcome of this weekend.
"We know that Michigan is a strong team," Ohio
State coach Anne Wilkinson said. "We just need to
focus on what we work on as a team. So far we've
developed each game."
In order to win both of these games, the
Wolverines are focusing on teamwork as well.
"We are very team-oriented," Pankratz said. "The
production has been spread out between all the play-
ers."
With teamwork and aggressive play, the
Wolverines could come out of this weekend on top of
the conference.
PILE PHTOJ
The Michigan field hockey team has a big weekend ahead of it, hosting Ohio State
tomorrow and Penn State on Sunday.
Penn State.
"That game was a great confidence1
booster for
M' Tennis prepares for ITA Grand Slam
I
1Stephanie Often
Daily Sports Writer
The freshmen have already put on a
good performance. Now its time for the
rest of the team to follow their lead.
Last weekend, the Michigan men's
tennis team sent three freshmen, Henry
Beam, Dan McCain and Ben Cox, to the
Western Michigan Invitational, where
they each won first-round matches. This
Veekend, the team is off to Baltimore for
&ITA All-American tournament.
Joining the freshmen will be Will
Farah, Matt Wright, Jake Raiton, John
'Long and Brad McFarlane. They'll all
Boston
College
icers look
to reload
By Mark Vemazza
The Heights (Boston College)
* (U-WIRE) CHESTNUT HILL,
Mass. - Life after Reasoner. When col-
lege hockey's leading scorer signed a
million-dollar contract with the St.
1Louis Blues in July, many thought the
forward's departure spelled disaster for
the Eagles, but it doesn't. Although
Marty Reasoner cannot and will not be
replaced, Boston College returns a
frighteningly talented team with hardly
q weaknesses.
After last year's heart-wrenching
overtime loss to Michigan in the
National Championship game, the
Eagles enter the '98-'99 campaign
ranked No. 3 in the nation by The
Sporting News.
Other than Reasoner, the Eagles
graduated just forward Jamie O'Leary
and defenseman Ken Hemmenway,
while replacing them with a trio of high-
ly touted freshmen: Ales Dolinar, Jeff
' liano and Brooks Orpik, who was
of the nation's most sought-after
recruits.
A stable of emerging superstars will
try to climb into Reasoner's enormous
skates, including a pair of All
Americans. Mike Mottau, a preseason
pick by some for Hockey East player of
the year, leads the Eagle defensive unit
with his tenacious defense and silky
offense. Jeff Farkas, who bulked up over
I summer, should rise to a new level
and assert himself as an All American
and possible Hobey Baker candidate.
But this Boston College team is not
about individuals, it's about depth.
Coach Jerry York, with the help of
Reasoner, has brought the Eagles to col-
lege hockey's elite level. York is in a
4 position where he does not need to
rebuild every year. He simply needs to
reload, like this season.
FORWARD
* The Eagles return two lines of for-
wards that could be the top line for
almost any team in the country.
Sophomore Gionta registered 62
points playing with Reasoner last season,
and one needs only watch him for a
moment before it becomes clear how
important the 5-7 winger is to the club.
Gionta's scrappy, fiery and unrelenting
play gave the team character as it crusad-
*nto the national championship game.
DEFENSE
The Eagles' defense is perhaps the
best in the country. Mottau is one of col-
lege hockey's finest. Always a bulwark
on defense, Mottau exploded for 13
goals and 36 assists last season to lead
all national defensemen in scoring. He
compete in the tournament, which ranks
the individual players from around the
country.
There are no seedings in this tourna-
ment. The players are randomly matched
up with one of the other 255 contenders,
all of whom compete in pre-qualifying
matches. Each player has to win five
matches to move on, and at the end of the
tournament, the players will be ranked
based on their performance.
Last year, the Wolverines sent three
players, including Brook Blain and
Arvid Swan, who qualified for the dou-
bles draw but failed to qualify for the sin-
gles. This year the Wolverines are send-
ing more players with hopes of qualify-
ing more players.
"It is beneficial to your team if you
send more players," said Michigan coach
Brian Eisner said. "We want to elevate
this tournament and make it more impor-
tant.'
Even though each person is compet-
ing on an individual level, the tourna-
ment will count as one of the 25 permit-
ted team contests, since Michigan is
sending more than three players. The
scores will only influence individual
records, however.
Since the Wolverines are just begin-
ning the 1998 season, this weekend's
tournament should give Eisner a sense of
each of the players - especially the new
ones - and an early look at where to
place them for the season.
"So far, we have just been working
on how to integrate the new players into
the team;' Eisner said. "So far, the fresh-
men have shown to be very positive. We
just need to see where they fit."
With an impressive showing by the
freshmen so far, and many returning
players, the team has a good chance of
improving upon last year's record.
B R I A R w 0 0 a M A LL
U of M and Eastern Michigan, students and
employees. Show us your "M" card or "Eagle" card.
*Not valid on Kiddie Car Classics or Hallmark Keepsake Ornaments
g& a J&ffnw - Briarwood Mai &
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Nor,
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