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MAJOR LEAGUE
BASEBALL
PLAYOFFS
American League
Championship series
NEW YORK 9,
Cleveland 5
Yankees win series, 4-2
NHL
HOCKEY
MONTREAL 1,
Anaheim 0
Detroit 3,
WASHINGTON 2
NASHVILLE 3,
Carolina 2
DALLAS 3,
Chicago 1
Toronto at
EDMONTON, inc.
Ube Mtdftm IWiv
Tracking 'M' teams
Want to go Sparty crashing? Check out Michigan's
soccer and field hockey teams in East Lansing this
weekend. Soccer plays Friday at 3 p.m. and field ho*
ey plays Sunday at 1 p.m. Bring your paintballs.
Wednesday
October 14, 1998
I
Blast oli
'M'faces
R,.ockets
I ry ., Geoff Gagnon
For the Daily
"The Michigan women's soccer team
's hoping today's matchup with Toledo
an serve as a launching pad to the
remainder of the season.
IThe Rockets enter today's 4 pin.
game at Michigan Soccer Field on the
j. heels of a 6-1 beating that came cour-
-+esy of Wisconsin on Sunday. The
Badgers troubled Michigan a month
'ago, giving the Wolverines their first
loss of the season.
Toledo, clinging to a 6-8 record in
just its third season, has struggled to
find its way against nonconference
opponents. Should this trend continue,
it may bode well for Michigan. Toledo
has failed to pick up a win outside of
the Mid-American Conference, despite
a 4-3 mark in the league.
Michigan, meanwhile, has emerged
from the bulk of its Big Ten season
with a 4-3-1 league mark, and with
only conference-worst Michigan State
left to play this weekend, Michigan's
tjh-place standing in the Big Ten has
I secured the team a spot in the Big Ten
tournament.
"We're thankful that last weekend's
wins gave us a spot in the Big Ten tour-
nament," Belkin said. "But we're not
going to take anything for granted. I
mean that we're going to play the rest of
our games just like we always have. We
can't sit back and be content, because
doing well will help us if we intend to
make the NCAA tournament."
The Wolverines extended their over-
all record to 9-3-1 with shutout victo-
ries over Illinois on Sunday and No. 16
Indiana on Friday. Michigan soccer
coach Debbie Belkin said she hopes
that the pair of conference wins will
give the squad the emotional boost it
needs to close out the season.
"The Indiana game and the Illinois
game were each well-played," Belkin
said. "After Sunday, I don't think we're
going to change a thing."
And that means relying on the strin-
gent defensive effort that has allowed
Michigan to hold its opponents to one
goal in the past five games, Belkin said.
"Defense has been very key for us
lately," Belkin said. "Hopefully that
sort of play can continue. We're simply
looking to improve some of the little
things that still give us trouble without
changing a lot."
Another thing Belkin said she has no
desire to change is the recent offensive
output from her talented crew of for-
wards.
Marshaling the late-season charge
that has seen Michigan collect four
wins in its past five outings has been
junior Amber Berendowsky. The
standout forward tied a Michigan
record with goal No. 32 of her career
after a pair of scores on Sunday.
"Amber Berendowsky has been play-
ing great for us, and that has been real
nice to see," Belkin said. "She has been
scoring goals and playing her role."
But Belkin said that the Brighton
native has not been alone. Teammates
Kacy Beitel, who scored in both wins
this weekend, and Jessica Limauro
have also shouldered their share of the
offensive burden, giving Michigan the
balanced offensive attack that Belkin
says is refreshing to see as her team
eyes the Big Ten tournament.
"The combination of goal-scorers we
have has really been working," said
Belkin, "When one is off, the others
have been picking up the slack and giv-
ing us what we need."
Up in the air: Ray's status still uncertain
Fifth-year senior Marcus Ray has already missed three games. How many more?
By Jim Rose
Daily Sports Editor
Hold everything.
Marcus Ray might
Michigan safety
be back in two
games - but then again, he might not.
During the weekly Big Ten telecon-
ference yesterday, Michigan coach
Lloyd Carr said that "there seems to be
some debate as to whether (Ray's sus-
pension will) be five or six games."
Last Friday, Carr and Athletic
Director Tom Goss said Ray would
miss two more games as punishment
for improper contact with an agent.
Now, that may have changed. Carr said
Ray will miss "at least two more
games," and maybe three.
"There is some confusion on the
part of both the
University and they
NCAA as to what
was stated and
what was understood" in terms of
Ray's suspension, Michigan Associate
Athletic Director for Media Relations
Bruce Madej said last night.
"There is an area of confusion in
terms of the amount of games that
Marcus is suspended for," Madej said.
Madej also said that University faculty
adviser "Percy Bates is talking with the
NCAA to try to reach an agreement."
On Monday, Carr said Ray would no
longer be a tri-captain for Michigan,
and that he'd have to compete to win
back his starting safety position.
The confusion apparently revolves
around whether Ray's punishment was
to be half of Michigan's season, or just
two more games - in addition to the
three he's already missed. Because
Michigan has 1£ games scheduled this
season, a half-season suspension
would warrant sitting out the extra
game.
RcdcmptzJ nfi
Bik Ten playe
ndiana's Antwaan Randle El "played
a marvelous game on Saturday prior
to getting injured," his coach, Cam
Cameron said. Randle El accounted for
281 yards of total offense.
On the same day, Purdue's Drew
Brees tied an NCAA record with 55
completions in one game, leading
Wisconsin coach Barry Alvarez to call
Brees' "poise and reads" among the
best he's seen. Brees threw for 494
yards in the game.
But it was Michigan State's Bill
Burke - the same guy Michigan
roughed up a couple weeks, ago, the
same guy who was in grave danger of
losing his starting
spot to a true
freshman - who
earned the honors
after guiding the
Spartans to a 38-
31, double-over-
time victory over
the Hoosiers. JIM
Burke com- ROSE
pleted 24 of 37 Rose
attempts against Beef
Indiana, for 324
Burke,
t/ic
of the
week
accelerate and change directions as well
as Randle El can." In fact, had Randle
El not left the game, Burke may never
have gotten the chance to rally his tea@
to the victory - much less earn player
of the week honors for himself
"I was watching him during
pregame warm-ups," Saban said of
Randle El, "and I said, 'For as much as
this guy carries the ball, he must be a
tough little nut, because it seems like he
might get hurt.'
"Fortunately for us, he banged his
head on the turf and missed a few plays
in a critical part of the game - which
probably helped us a little bit."
It probably helped them a lot. The
Spartans trailed 24-16 when Randle El
left, but rallied to win in his absence.
BACK ON THE FIELD: For Iowa quar-
terback Randy Reiners, the past year
has been one disaster after another. ie's
been injured and benched - and those
were clearly the easy parts.
Reiners' sister, Natalie, died after
the beginning of the season, leaving tl
young quarterback with much more p
than football on his mind.
Iowa coach Hayden Fry said Natalie
"was the person (Randy) was closer to
than anyone in his life,' and that
Reiners is still struggling with the loss.
A couple weeks ago, Fry said that
Reiners, who didn't play against
Michigan, was still a long way from
getting back into playing condition. At
the time, Fry said that "you can be talk-
ing to Randy, and all of a sudden his
eyes will glaze over, like he doesn't
even hear you."
But this past Saturday, with Kyle
McCann injured, Reiners made his first
start since the season opener - and his
first return to extensive action since the
death of his 25-year-old sister. The
return was a success: A 26-24 win over
Northwestern. He threw for 249 yards
and two touchdowns.
"He just did an inspirational job,
Fry said. "He made some plays that a
normal quarterback couldn't have
made, because he's such a competitor."
- Daily Sports Editor Jim Rose can be
reched atjwrose@umich.edu.
yards and two
touchdowns, and salvaged a potentially
disastrous two-point conversion attempt
by scrambling into the end zone.
Those two points meant the differ-
ence, ultimately, between an overtime
win and the Spartans' fourth loss of the
season.
And after bearing the brunt of the
criticism for Michigan State's slow
start, the strong performance was espe-
cially gratifying for Burke.
"Well, it's a huge win for our team,
no question," Burke said. "If we can say
that we've accomplished something at
the end of the season, I'm gonna have
to be an integral part of that."
Burke's performance came during a
game in which his counterpart, Indiana
sensation Randle El, dominated for
much of the afternoon but missed
action in the fourth quarter after getting
hurt.
Even Michigan State coach Nick
Saban said that few quarterbacks "can
AP PHOTO
Michigan State quarterback Bill Burke is beginning to find his groove. He's led the Spartans to three victories in four games,
including a 38-31 double-overtime win over Indiana this past weekend.
'X' marks the spot for golfers' best finish yet
- 5th
By Chris Grandstaff
For the Daily
The young Michigan men's golf
team grew up a little bit this week. The
Wolverines placed a season-best fifth
out of 19 teams at the Xavier Invitational
in Kings IsleMason, Ohio.
The Wolverines shot an 877 on the
Jack Nicklaus-designed course, just nine
strokes behind tournament winner
Eastern Michigan. Big Ten rival Indiana
finished second with a score of 870,
while hometown favorites Cincinnati
and Xavier finished third and fourth
with scores of 871 and 875, respectively.
Michigan coach Jim Carras called
the Wolverines' performance in
Cincinnati "the best tournament we've
played all season."
Tournament medalist honors went to
Georgetown's Tristan Lewis, who defeat-
ed Xavier's Steve Dixon in a playoff.
Both players carded rounds of five-
under for the tournament.
Michigan was once again led by
junior captain Michael Harris. Harris
finished the tournament with a three-
round total score of 217, his second-best
score of the season. Harris' 10th-place
finish was highlighted by a one-under-
par 70 in the first round. Freshman
Andy Matthews continued to impress
Carras, finishing 26th overall. Matthews
fired a 221. total for the tournament and
carried the Wolverines yesterday, shoot-
ing a one-under-par 70.
Carras continued to juggle the
Wolverines' lineup, inserting true fresh-
man Andy Chapman into the lineup this
week. Chapman shot a 223 total in his
Michigan debut, which placed him 39th
overall.
"I'm very, very pleased with the play
of the freshmen Matthews and
hapman," Carras said. "I'm especially
leased with the play of Andy Chapman
'n his first college tournament."
Sophomore Scott Hayes and fresh-
man Kyle Kilcherman rounded out the
scores for the Wolverines - both posted
scores of 224, good enough for 44th
place. And although the young
Wolverines have yet to win a tourna-
ment, Carras remains optimistic.
"Every week is different in college
golf," Carras said. "In the last couple of
weeks, teams have been coming out of
nowhere to win tournaments. Who
knows it could be us one of these
weeks."
With Harris a virtual lock to put up
three solid rounds, the key to success for
the Wolverines is the play of the fresh-
men.
"You have to remember we have
three players starting for us who two
months ago had never played a round of
college golf" Carras said. "The experi-
ence they are gaining is irreplaceable."
The Wolverines will continue to gain
experience as they face what Carras calls
"the toughest competition of the season,"
when they travel to Palo Alto, Calif. for
the Stanford Invitational, completing the
fall season.
pm
LS&A Concentration
and Advising Fair
What: A fair to find information about
the different concentrations in LS&A by
talking to advisors, faculty, and staff.
Where:
Michigan Union Ballroom
When:
12:00-4:00 PM, October 14, 1998
What else?
1:00 PM-.LS&A Majors and internships
SARA SCHENCK/Daly
Michigan's Michael Harris shot a 217 at the Xavier Invitational to lead Michigan.
Harris finished the tournament in 10th place.
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