$Ooreboard&.- , ie snCAPS

MAJOR LEAGUE
BASEBALL
CLEVELAND 11,
Boston 1
INDIANS LEADS SERIES 20
NY YANKEES 3,
Texas 1
YANKEES LEAD SERIES 20

NHL HOCKEY
Detroit 7,
ATLANTA 1
Carolina 2,
PHILADELPHIA 0
OTTAWA 4,
Boston 3
Pittsburgh 7,
NEW JERSEY 5

Los Angeles 5,
TAMPA BAY 2
Edmonton at
SAN JOSE, inc.
NCAA FOOTBALL
(17) Syracuse 24.
Pittsburgh 17

Abe 9ic£idt&ilg

Tracking 'M' teams
Check out the Michigan volleyball team this weeken
The Wolverines battle Iowa tomorrow at Cliff Keen
Arena. The first serve hits at 7 p.m. Admission is free
for all students.

Friday
October 8, 1999

10

z~ MICHIGAN 5,

i3wMIHIGAN 5E,
p NOTRE DAME 3
Pair by Langfeld
lifts 'M' in opener

Sparty

still

no match

By Geoff Gagnon
Daily Sports Writer
SOUTH BEND - A penalty-
plagued introduction culminated in
an exciting regular season debut last
night as the Michigan hockey team
defeated Notre Dame 5-3.
The two teams settled into a thrid
period battle after combining for 26
minutes of penalties in the first two
periods.
"There were too many penalties in
the game for both teams," Michigan
coach Red Berenson said. "It was a
hard-fought game from the ice level.
Both teams played really hard and
with a lot of intensity."
Early on, it appeared as if
Michigan goalie Josh Blackburn
would get more use out of his stick
beating it against the ice than he
would knocking down Notre Dame
shots.
The junior netminder slaps the ice
with the stick to
signal to his team-
mates the end of
an opponent's
penalty.
Last night that
duty kept
Blackburn busy
early especially
during the game's
first period, when
the Irish had play- Langfeld
ers in the penalty
box for nearly half of the opening
stanza. Michigan used that edge to
build a two-goal lead - enough to
stave off the comeback-minded Irish.
And while Blackburn kept his stick
busy, those of his Michigan team-
mates stayed equally as occupied as
the Wolverines were able to fire 13
unanswered shots in the first period.
Michigan used the shots-on-goal
advantage to its benefit as Geoff
Koch tallied the CCHA's first goal of
the season.
On the power play, Koch beat Notre
Dame freshman goaltender Jeremiah
Kimento to record his tenth career
goal at 2:11 of the first period.
"The whole power play was really
working well," Koch said. "Mark
Mink slid it over to me, and I pretty
much had an open net"
Michigan continued its offensive
dominance as it took a 2-0 lead on a
Josh Langfeld score at 10:38 into the
first, when Comrie found the junior
forward.
"They had some good players up
front," Langfeld said. "But their goal-
tending was weak."
Penalties would begin to weaken
the Wolverines.
Already shorthanded, Blackburn
picked up his first career penalty, a
two-minute roughing call, as the first

period expired.
"We had a lot of power plays in the
first period, and we had a lot of
power plays go against us in the
second period," Berenson said.
Notre Dame took only 24 seconds
to capitalize on that advantage as the
second period opened. Ben Simon
jumped on a free puck in front of the
Michigan net, en route to cutting the
Michigan lead to 2-1.
"I went behind the net to stop the
puck and then skated back into the
net," Blackburn said. "I slid over, but
it wasn't in time."
Penalties continued to cripple the
Michigan attack in the second period
as the Wolverines repeatedly played
shorthanded.
"It seemed like the majority of the
game was played either up or down a
man," Koch said. "The whole penalty
killing unit got a lot of work out there
tonight."
Michigan and Notre Dame contin-
ued to trade goals in the second peri-
od as freshman John Shouneyia
found classmate J.J. Swistak at 3:22
in that period, before the Irish made it
3-2 on a Ryan Dolder score at 7:12.
Langfeld extended his team's lead
to 4-2, as he notched his second
strike of the game on assists from Jeff
Jillson and Mark Kosick at 10:13 of
the second period.
"The second goal caught me off
guard," Langfeld said. "I kind of put
my stick on it and got it past him."
Notre Dame's rally hopes were kept
alive, as the Irish added a shorthand-
ed goal.
A shot from Jillson from the point
was picked;off just inside the blue
line by Notre Dame's Conner Dunlop.
The freshman kept the puck on the
ensuing break, bef ore putting it past
Blackburn atnd cutting the Michigan
lead to 4-3.
Notre Dame's final chance to add
the equalizer came with just under a
minute and a half to play in the game.
A frenzied scramble in front of the
Michigan net, brought. Blackburn to
his stomach and the Notre Dame fans
to their feet.
"Everybody was all over the
place," Blackburn said. "One minute
you saw it, the next minute there was
a body in front of it. Finally Mink was
in front of it, and I reached under him
and grabbed the puck."
Mike Comrie would add an empty-
net goal with 14 seconds remaining to
seal the game for Michigan.
"This is a good experience for our
kids to learn what it takes to play a
close game on the road, and how to
play good Michigan hockey in the
third period," Berenson said.
Inside: Referees call tight game.
Rge 11.

History says that the team that wins the ground war in this rivalry almost always wins the game. Will this hold true again tomorrow?

State fans will have to listen to more Michigan talk

By Josh Kielnbaum
Daily Sports Editor
Shhh ... You have to be quiet to hear
it. It'll even help to put your ear to the
ground. It's a low grumbling noise, but
it's getting louder.
It's the grumbling of the disenchanted
Spartan fan.
Spartan fans are sick. They're sick of
losing, and, more specifically, they're
sick of losing to Michigan. They're sick
of those Monday morning water-cooler
conversations where they have to hear
about Charles Woodson's spectacular
one-handed interception. They're sick of
those e-mails from supposed friends
about Desmond Howard's diving catch
in the end zone in 1991. They're sick of
opening the paper and seeing rankings,
with the Wolverines ranked No. 3.
For them, this Saturday isn't about a
football game, it's not about a Rose Bowl
race or the national title. It's about
redemption.
Redemption that is't going to come.
MICHIGAN RUSHING OFFENSE
AGAINST MICHIGAN STATE RUSHING
DEFENSE:
After struggling to establish
Michigan's running game over the first
few weeks of the season, Anthony
Thomas had a breakout game against
Purdue last week, rushing for 116 yards.
For the first time all season, Michigan
coach Lloyd Carr put the ball in the
hands of backs other than Thomas for a
significant amount of time. Walter Cross
and B.J. Askew both carried the ball

more than usual, giving the Purdue
defense a different look and giving
Thomas an occasional breather. Expect
to see more of the same this week.
But is that why Thomas and the
Michigan running game were so suc-
cessful? Or was it because Purdue's
defense just isn't very good? Probably a
combination of both.
Michigan State's defense is good. The
Spartans's front seven have been fero-
cious against the run, although against
primarily weak rushing teams. Take.
away Notre Dame, which rushed for 108
yards against the Spartans, and the most
anyone was able to muster against the
Spartans was Iowa's 42 yards last week.
Thomas is just 74 yards short of 2,000
career, a feat established by just 17 backs
in school history. He'll reach the mark,
but probably not this week.
Advantage: MICHIGAN STATE
MICHIGAN PASSING OFFENSE
AGAINST MICHIGAN STATE PASSING
DEFENSE:
If it hasn't sunk in yet, it should: this
Michigan team is a passing team. As
sacreligious as that sounds, it's true. The
passing game has been more effective
and consistant than the running game.
Senior Tom Brady has emerged as the
better quarterback, but Carr will contin-
ue to use both Brady and sophomore

Drew Henson at quarterback.
Look for sophomore wideout David
Terrell to have the best game of his
career. Terrell is not just a playmaker,
he's a showman. Like Charles Woodson
before him, he's one of those players
with a knack of making the biggest plays
in the biggest games. Last week, Terre Il's
offensive performance was slightly
diminished - he had just two catches
and a touchdown - because he played
so much on the other side of the ball, at
cornerback, stopping Purdue's vaunting
passing game. With his focus back on
offense this week, he just may amaze
you.
Advantage: MICHIGAN
MICHIGAN STATE RUSHING OFFENSE
AGAINST MICHIGAN RUSHING DEFENSE:
This could be very interesting. Two
weeks ago, Michigan shut down
Wisconsin's Ron Dayne, a back far bet-
ter than either Lloyd Clemons (90.8
yards per game) or T.J. Duckett (40.8
yards per game). But the Badgers didn't
have any passing game to complement
Dayne.
The Spartans offense is balanced, and
could be tougher for Michigan to con-
trol. Still, Rob Renes has been getting
great push on the ball all season, clog-
ging up the middle, letting the rest of the
Michigan front seven find their way to

the ball. That should be no
weekend.
Advantage: MICHIGAN

different this

INDORSOCCER-
Fall II Season: Oct. 28th - Dec. 30th
Now accepting Registrations for Fall II Leagues
Registration Deadline: October 20th Y
Individual Registrations are welcome
Call (734) 913-4625 for Details
ODEWORLD www.wwsports.cor
SPORTS CENTER

MICHIGAN STATE PASSING OFFENSE
AGAINST MICHIGAN PASSING DEFENSE:
After shedding the 'suspect' label
against Drew Brees last week, the
Michigan secondary doesn't have any-
thing to prove. Still, quarterback Bill
Burke will throw often, especially once
Michigan State coach Nick Saban real-
izes that his running game is ineffective.
Michigan's secondary has develop*:
into a hard-hitting machine. Last week
cornerback Todd Howard said, "If they
(receivers) want to touch the ball, that's
their problem." The secondary bullied
Purdue,1including a bone-crunching hit
by Howard, and got into the
Boilermakers' minds, forcing, 10
dropped passes. If that happens again,
not only does Michigan win this
matchup, it wins this game.
Advantage: MICHIGAN
SPECIAL TEAMS
Jeff Del Verne has been a pleasant
surprise for the Wolverines this year,
but he's not Paul Edinger. Edinger,
Michigan State's place kicker, has hit
10 of his field goal attempts, includi
two over 50 yards.
The Spartans also have a solid puntei
in Craig Jarrett, averaging 43.7 yards-
per punt. So the Spartans have the edge
in the field position game.
Michigan still doesn't have a punt
returner, although wide receiver
Marcus Knight has served as a punt'
catcher for most of the season, whiLe,
the Spartans's Gari Scott averages -
yards per return, including a 51-yarde .
In other words, this matchup isn't.
even close.
Advantage: MICHIGAN STATE


C1

~iffW~