("h w tl
Van Ryn bolts for Canadian team
0
By Mark Francescutti
Daily Sports Writer
After a long hot summer, the
4ichigan hockey team finds its num-
ber of defensemen slowly melting
away.
Mike Van Ryn said yesterday he will
forgo his junior and senior season at
Michigan to play for the Canadian
National Team. He joins Scott
Crawford - who will transfer to
another Division I school - as the lat-
est defenseman to leave the
Wolverines.
0 Michigan could also lose a third
defenseman, incoming freshman Matt
Bannon, if he is ruled ineligible by an
NCAA committee today.
Van Ryn broke the news of his early
exit to Michigan coach Red Berenson
yesterday afternoon.
"He's been going back and forth
Wolverines
cool o
Huskies
By Ryan C. Moloney
Daily Sports Writer
Cool as a cucumber.
* No, this tried and true cliche does
not describe the Michigan field hockey
team's offense. The red-hot forward
and mid-field units thoroughly
thumped visiting Northeastern last
Sunday, scoring two goals in each of
the halves.
And no, the scorching on-field tem-
perature at Ocker Field - nearly 100
degrees - doesn't quite fit. Torturous
might be a better adjective.
The Wolverine defense - "proba-
ly the best in the Big Ten," said coach
Marcia Pankratz, chilled the
Northeastern offense in the second half
and secured the 4-1 win._
At times, it looked as though the
temperature dropped 30 degrees once
the ball entered the Wolverine zone.
Led by captains Ashley Reichenbach
and Erica Widder, the defense showed
no sign of fatigue in gracefully inter-
#pting Northeastern passes and feed-
ing the offense.
"It was about 10 or 15 degrees hot-
ter on the field than the regular temper-
ature," Reichenbach said. "But that
can't be a factor because both teams are
playing on it and we practice in it
through the summer.
"It gives us an opportunity to work
on our tans."
That was about as much work as it
took for the Wolverines, though
*ankratz deems the win as a crucial
step towards the team's season-long
goal - an tournament NCAA berth. .
"It's an important win --it's an out-
of-region win when you consider the
rankings," Pankratz said.
The Wolverines trounced
Northeastern by the same tally last
year, but Northeastern earned a tour-
nament berth while the Wolverines
'tayed home.
A slight the team has not forgotten.
"We commanded this game,"
Pankratz said. "I'm very, very glad we
won."
The win put Michigan at 3-1 on the
year with their lone loss occurring
against powerhouse North Carolina the
weekend before.
Though it is early yet for the
Wolverines - even in their non-con-
ference schedule - the momentum of
win streak could build a foundation
See HUSKIES, Page 20A
with the decision all summer long,"
Berenson said. "It's sad to see him go."
Van Ryn - a staple in the Michigan
dlefense for the past two seasons - net-
ted 14 goals and 27 assists in his two
years as a Wolverine.
"I'm pretty sad to leave, but it does-
n't have anything to do with Michigan,"
Van Ryn said. "I just felt that for my
development, it might prepare me more
to join the national team."
The Canadian National Team offers
Van Ryn the ability to play in almost
double the games versus tougher, older
opponents. The schedule of traveling to
different countries around the world is
grueling and demanding, something
that Van Ryn says could help him take
on NHL play earlier.
"There were no cons as far as com-
ing back to Michigan except the fact
that there aren't enough games," Van
Disappearing Defense
The Michigan hockey team hasn't fared well in the off season, losing
several Jey members of its defensive core.
RemrnInin6
Bob Gass
Dave Huntzicker
Jeff JiHson
Kevin Ma nuson
Sean Peach
Jay Vancik
Defenseman lost: (3)
Bubba Berenzweig
Scott Crawford
Mike Van Ryn
Questionable: (1)
Matt Bannon
Ryn said. "The (Canadian National)
team plays a schedule that is the most
difficult at my level."
Van Ryn could finish his season with
the national team and then join the team
that drafted him in 1998 - the New
Jersey Devils - for the NHL playoffs.
The departure of Van Ryn is the first of
its kind in several years. The last promi-
nent Michigan player to leave school
early was Aaron Ward, who departed
before his senior season in 1993..
The Wolverines could also lose a
defenseman before he even gets to
school.
Bannon, their only incoming fresh-
man defenseman, might become
See VAN RYN, Page 15A
FILE PHOTO
Mike Van Ryn
said yesterday he
will leave school
early and join the
Canadian
National Team.
He is the second
defenseman the
Wolverines have
lost in the off-
season.
Migaioon 2&, Notre Dame 22
p
SI
ar
Brady las
late-game
By Josh Kleinbaum
Daily Sports Editor
The Michigan-Notre Dame football
game last Saturday had to unfold this
way: Fourth quarter, Michigan trailing
by three points, just 4:08 left on the
clock. Michigan had one last chance,
one drive to fend off hated Notre
Dame, sixty yards to move the ball to
preserve the fading dreams of New
Orleans.
Who's hand does Lloyd Carr put the
ball in?
After a week of speculation, it
turned out to be a no-brainer.
Thanks to a five-minute dazzling
display to start the second half, Tom
Brady grabbed the quarterback reins
and held on tight, refusing to be
bucked off by anything - not
Henson, not Carr, not the NCAA-
record crowd that oohed, ahhed and
cheered every time Uber-QB Henson
dropped back to pass.
Suddenly, this was Tom Brady's
team.
And in the final drive, he didn't dis-
appoint. He hit two key passes,
including a 20-yard strike to David
Terrell at the five yard line, then
watched as Anthony Thomas punched
into the endzone on third-and-goal
from the 1 with 1:38 left in the game.
Michigan 26, Notre Dame 22.
"Tom did a great job in there,"
Michigan offensive lineman Steve
Hutchinson said. "He led the boys in
the huddle, he led the boys on the field
and he led us-to the end zone."
He had a little help, though -
namely from tailback Thomas and
split end Terrell. Brady, Thomas and
Terrell teamed up for a lethal pass-
rush combination throughout the
game. No more of this "Three yards
and a cloud of dust" Big Ten hogwash.
Although Brady claims not to be
affected by the quarterback competi-
tion between him and Henson, he
See IRISH, Page 18A
DANA LINNANE / Daily
Tommy Hendricks and James Whitley celebrate a first-quarter defensive stop on Saturday. Despite a shaky secondary, Michigan held off the Irish, 26-22.
Afer
weeks ofdebate, Brady answers questions... with a smile
m Brady couldn't wipe the grin
off his face, no matter how hard
he tried. How does it feel to beat
Notre Dame? How do you think
Drew Henson played? Will you be the
starter next week? It didn't matter
what he was asked.
Brady answered all of the ques-
tions through a smile as blinding as
the television lights that beat down
upon him. (By the way, the answer to
the final question is yes.)
But Brady didn't care. He didn't
even make an
effort to con- Andy
ceal how Latack
pleased he was.
And he had a
lot to be happy
about.
In his final
showdown with
nemesis Notre
Dame, Brady
remarkably sharp, completing 17-of-
24 passes for 197 yards and throwing
no interceptions. He engineered the
game-winning drive in what was one
of the best Michigan-Notre Dame
matchups in recent memory.
But what's more impressive -
and what makes it hard for Brady to
stop smiling - was what he went
through before he even took the field.
Like Henson, his competition for
the position, Brady endured the suffo-
audition to win duties for the second
half.
Brady didn't even enjoy home
field advantage in his home stadium.
The record crowd cheered wildly
when Henson entered the game in the
second quarter, ready to stake his
claim to the starting job. They
cheered when he completed his first
pass attempt. They cheered when he
took a snap. And a drink of water.
With Henson still an enigma, the fans
on an 80-yard drive in the first pos-
session of the half to retake the lead.
And that was just the beginning.
Sure, Brady didn't have the game-
breaking potential of the game's other
quarterback, Notre Dame's Jarious
Jackson. But rather than comparing
Brady to other quarterbacks -
you've got to be getting tired of doing
that by now - let him be himself.
Watching Brady and Jackson duel
Saturday was like reading Aesop's
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