12A - The Michigan Daily - Thursday, October 7, 1999
Michigan looks to stay atop Big Ten;
continue domination of Spartans
By David Mosse
Daily Sports Writer
The special buzz around campus this week
can only mean one thing - Michigan vs.
Michigan State.
But you don't have to wait until Saturday to
see the two schools square off. Tomorrow
afternoon, the Michigan soccer team welcomes
the Spartans to Ann Arbor, in their final home
game of the Big Ten season.
The Wolverines will be looking to bounce
back from a 4-1 defeat at the hands of Notre
Dame on Tuesday. The loss snapped a seven-
game unbeaten streak (6-0-1) and dropped
-Michigan to 8-3-1 overall.
The Wolverines played the sixth-ranked
Figting Irish much tougher than the score
would indicate. But their vaunted offense was
completely derailed by the Notre Dame
{defense.
"We just need to stay composed," senior
Emily Schmitt said. "we need to capitalize on
dour scoring opportunites."
Despite the loss, the Wolverines sit atop the
,Big Ten standings with a 5-0-1 record and are
favorites to knock off Michigan State. Last
year Michigan cruised past their in-state rivals
by a 4-0 score. But the Wolverines arc not tak-
ing the Spartans lightly.
"This is the best State team we have faced
since I have been here," Schmitt said. "They
are going to be a difficult test.
The Wolverines defense figures to rebound
against a Spartans offense that has amassed
nine goals the entire season. Senior goalkeeper
Carissa Stewart will take aim once again at
tying Jessica Jones' school record of 26 career
wins. Stewart, who is two back at 24 wins, has
surrendered just three goals in six Big Ten
games, a 0.48 goals-against average.
The Wolverines offense, which has grabbed
most of the headlines this season, will look to
rebound from the nightmare in South Bend.
Amber Berendowsky is back to her best and
leads a balanced attack. Junior Kacy Beitel and
Big Ten freshman of the year candidate Abby
Crumpton should provide support.
"Amber is so unselfish. She makes every-
one around her better," Crumpton said. "She
and I always try and work together."
Michigan State (4-5-3 overall, 3-2-1 Big
Ten) is coming off a 1-0 loss to the Iowa
Hawkeyes. Spartans coach Tom Saxton
described his team's performance as the best
"team soccer" it has played all season.
The Spartans boast one of the more experi-
enced squads in the Big Ten. They returned 20
players from last year's team. But the Spartans
have sputtered on offense as their top guns
Jessica Moorman and Gina Dawson have
failed to provide a scoring punch.
Senior goalkeeper Mara lee has done well
to keep the Spartans in games. Anchoring the
defense will be fifth year senior Melissa
Jannetta and promising sophomore Nicole
Leplae, who will look to clamp down on the
Wolverines' talented forwards.
Michigan is in the midst of a dogfight with
Penn State for the Big Ten title and needs this
game very badly to keep pace with the Nittany
Lions. But beyond the standings, this game
means so much more.
"Being from Michigan, I know several
players on their team," said Schmitt. "I am
really excited to take them on."
K
4
DAVID ROCHKIND/DaiIy
Andrea Kayal and the rest of the Michigan defense looks to rebound from a 41 loss to Notre Dame,
when they facer a weaker offensive team in Michigan State.
Field hockey learns from its mistakes,
gears up for undefeated No. 3 Iowa
DANNY KAUCK/Daly
Defensive power Iowa will try to hold off Laura Stinson and the rest of the
Michigan offense this weekend.
By Sarah Ensor
For the Daily
With yet another challenging
weekend looming ahead, the No. 9
Michigan field hockey team hopes to
prove its staying power in the race
for the Big Ten title.
With conference games against
Northwestern and No. 3 Iowa,
Michigan will have the chance to
demonstrate its strengths in front of
hometown fans and affirm its status
as one of the nation's top teams.
The Wolverines are looking to
build off of last weekend's efforts,
which resulted in a 3-2 victory over
then-No. 7 Ohio State and a close 2-
1 loss to arch nemesis and then-No. 5
Penn State.
Although the loss to the Nittany
Lions ended Michigan's five-game
winning streak and hope of an unde-
feated conference campaign, it
proved that the Michigan stickers
have the ability to keep up with any
team in the country.
"We played really well over the
weekend," Michigan coach Marcia
Pankratz said. "The team's pretty
confident about their play over Penn
State even though we didn't win."
Pankratz and the Wolverines hope
that this confidence carries over into
this weekend's equally challenging
matches.
The first test comes tomorrow at 3
p.m., when Michigan faces undefeat-
ed Iowa at Ocker Field.
The Hawkeyes enter the game with
a 10-0 record, including a 3-0 con-
ference mark.
They proved themselves as a seri-
ous contender for the Big Ten throne
with an impressive 2-0 shutout of
then-No.2 Penn State in September,
and have not looked back since.
They currently stand alone atop*
the conference standings, a statistic
that Michigan would love to change.
"Hopefully we can take what
we've done and bring it to this week-
end, especially against Iowa," junior
midfielder Courtney Reid said.
"Hopefully we can take the loss to
Penn State and make it into a win
against the Hawkeyes."
One of Iowa's main strengths this
year has been its defensive power.
The team shut out five of its first ten
opponents, and held four of the
remaining five to only one goal
apiece.
The game will be a battle of wills,
as Michigan's potent offense faces a
defensive unit noted for its stingi-
ness.
"We need to just do what we do
best and try to execute our corners
and take them at speed," Pankratz
said. "The speed of our play was
quite good against Penn State, so
we'll just make a few tweaks here
and there against Iowa."
Although Iowa is undefeated and
has been met with little resistance all
season, it does have one significant
weakness that Michigan hopes to
exploit. There are I I freshmen on the
Hawkeyes' roster, meaning that
many of their key players lack big-
game experience.
"lowa is young," Pankratz said. "If
we can get on them. early and break
their momentum, I think it will be a
close match because they have a lot
of freshmen playing."
After the Iowa game, the
Wolverines' weekend is far from
over.
On Sunday at 1 pm, they face
Northwestern at Ocker Fiel
Michigan has had a great deal o
recent success against Northwestern,
sweeping the season series the last
two years. The Wildcats come into
this weekend with a 4-6 record,.
including a 0-3 conference mark, but
Michigan knows it is dangerous to
overlook any team in the powerful
Big Ten.
"This season anyone can win,"
junior forward Kelli Gannon sail
"Every game is a big game."
It is important that Michigan not
suffer a letdown after facing Iowa, as
Northwestern's powerful offensive-
tandem of junior forward Lindsay
Wright and senior forward Amy
Haase will take advantage of any
opportunities offered to them. Focus
is the key for the Wolverines
throughout the weekend, and the
Michigan players believe that this i
their time to shine. U
"I'm excited," Reid said. "it
should be a good weekend."
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Women's golf plays host for Wolverine Invite
Home course, crowd, give Wolverines advantage at weekend tournament against top teams
....
By Benjamin Singer
For the Daily
The Michigan women's golf team
only plays in Ann Arbor once this year
- this weekend. Michigan hosts the
Wolverine invitational, its third tour-
nament this season.
"Each time you have your own
home tournament, you want to play
well in front of your family and
friends," Michigan coach Kathy
Teichert said. "You like to showcase
your talents."
The Wolverines feel they have an
advantage playing on their home
course, and not just because of the
home crowd.
"Scores are usually significantly
higher (on Michigan's course)," said
sophomore Misia Lemanski. "Our
course is one of the toughest courses in
the Big Ten."
Teichert said the best way to do that
is with a team victory. She is also look-
ing for some individuals to finish in
the top ten, though so far only two
Wolverines have finished inside the
top 30 in their first two competitions.
Sophomore Bess Bowers, who
Teichert views as one of the most con-
sistent players for Michigan, has the
best average per round at 79.8. The
best outing for the Wolverines this sea-
son came from Bowers at the Lady
Northern in Madison, when she shot a
236 to tie for 28th place.
Her consistency was never more evi-
dent than at the Mary Fossum in East
Lansing two weeks ago when she shot
an 81 in all three rounds.
Freshman Kim Benedict emerged as
the top Wolverine at the Fossum with a
237 to tie for 26th despite an affliction.
Benedict had a problem with her right
contact and was only wearing one in
her left eye for the first two rounds,
skewing her depth perception. She still
managed to shoot a 78 and 83: For the
third round, Benedict decided to put in
her right contact believing that her eye
could take it for the four hours it would
take her to complete the tournament.
She went on to shoot a 76. Her con-
tacts are no longer a problem and she
will have perfect vision for this week-
end.
Michigan's aim to win the tourna-
ment may be a tricky task because of
some tough competition. Golf Week
ranks four of the participating teams in
the Wolverine Invitational above 84th
ranked Michigan. No. 31 Kent, No. 67
Southwest Missouri State, No. 68
Ohio, and No. 83 Eastern Michigan,
all rank above the Wolveirnes.
Kent, who also competed against
Michigan in their first two tourna-
ments. Kent shot a 923 over 54 holes at
the Lady Northern to place sixth.
Michigan ended with 966 to finish
10th out of 16 teams in Madison.
A week later, Kent outdid Michigan
again finishing second with a 923 at
the Mary Fossum in East Lansing.
Michigan shot a 962 to come in 10th
again, this time against 18 teams.
Ohio which will also be at the
Michigan Invitational, came in ahead'
of Michigan by shooting 943 to place
fifth.
If Michigan cannot win the
Wolverine Invitational, Teichert hopes
to take consolation in achieving per-
sonal goals for the golfers. S
believes that the Wolverines shou
concentrate on their own talefts at this
point.
"If you worry about your own game,
it'll end up helping the team inthe
long run," Teicheri said.
Michigan will likely shoot lower
than their season hest of 96? this tour-
nament, but then again so will every
team since only 36 holes will be played
instead of the usual 54. Last year,
holes were originally scheduled for the
first day, and 18 on the second as had
always been the case. However; due to
the cold weather, the golfers only had
to play 18 holes each day. This year,
only 18 holes per day are being sched-
uled for the start due to past problems.
Last year at the Wolverine
Invitational, Michigan finished fourth
out of 13 teams.
Playing host
The Women's golf team goes into
this weekend's Wolverine
Invitational after two No. 10 finish
es. As host this weekend,
Michigan looks to improve on that
mark.
Last season, the Wolveirnes No. 4
finish was their best of the season.-
CI
The University of Michigan
BASKETBALL BAND
AUDITIONS
Auditions will consist of scales and sight-reading.
Drum Set players will also need to demonstrate various styles.
REHEARSALS for both Bands will be on Tuesday evenings.
Positions open for:
Drum Set
Electric Bass
Electric Guitar
Piccolo
Clarinet
Approved by
college students.
The fifth was a loser.
These are the teams who the
Wolveirnes will host:
Bowling Green
Cincinnati
Eastern Michigan
University of Illinois
Illinois State
Kent
Notre Dame
11
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