cat lie 91lti l igttn tt g
P
i7
R\
y/ , :, - : °,. ''yyy. i yy . : 4a 'r,: xv a s ,Y " a Y,: s.A '' y ya " ;
Volverines win OT thriller
By Geoff Gagnon
)aily Sports Writer
First it tipped forward and slowly
agged. And then, with a stiff breeze
ehind it, the inflatable block 'M' that
Oded a corner of the field fell to
be ground with a thud.
The gesture seemed ominous and it
ouldn't have come at a worse time.
A penalty-kick goal by Utah's
atie Tata had just brought Utah back
ito yesterday's non-conference soc-
er matchup with Michigan. With
1omentum on their side after tying
ie game late in the second half, the
J seemed poised to make a state-
iW of their own. And the fallen 'M'
eemed a foreboding sign that the
ame might be slipping away from
he Wolverines as it headed into over-
me.
Kacy Beitel never noticed the
maize and blue symbol had collapsed,
and she refused to let her Michigan
team collapse. Instead, the junior for-
ward spearheaded an overtime charge
that culminated with just less than six
minutes into the sudden-death over-
time. Beitel used a pass from Emily
Schmitt to put the game-winner past
the Utah netminder. The goal was
Beitel's second of the game and
touched off a frenzied celebration as
the win snapped a two game skid.
"We really needed this one,"
Michigan coach Debbie Belkin said,
"This was a big win and we needed a
boost like this to give us some
momentum as we head into Big Ten
play next week."
Michigan entered yesterday's
matchup eager to seek redemption
after dropping its home opener to
Arizona State, 3-1. on Friday and
falling to Missouri last week. The
Wolverines' hunger for redemption
showed itself early. The Wolverines
nearly drew first blood when Schmitt
found a streaking Beitel in the game's
23rd minute. Though Beitel's header
sailed wide, it ignited an offensive
outburst that saw Belkin's squad tally
four unanswered shots, capped by
senior Mari Hoff's goal with 17 min-
utes left in the first frame.
But with three minutes to play in
the opening half, the Utes answered
back as Amy Koeford slipped the
equalizer past Michigan's Carissa
Stewart. With the game tied and the
first half in its waning moments,
Michigan forwards Schmitt and
Beitel rejuvenated the Wolverine
attack, turning up the pressure on the
Utes. With 39 seconds remaining,
Beitel took a pass from Schmitt and
gave her team its second score and a
2-1 halftime lead.
See OVERTIME, Page 4B
Michigan takes.
two in Al-Sport
By Jon Zemke
Daily Sports Writer
For the first time this season, the Michigan volleyball
team was knocked down. Then they got right back up.
After being swept in their second match of the All-
Sport Classic by No. I1 Pepperdine, 15-4, 15-11, 15-10,
the 25th-ranked Wolverines could've given into frustra-
tion and rolled over, especially with No. 16 Arkansas as
their next opponent. But Michigan beat the Razorbacks
3-1 to go 2-1 as tournament hosts.
"I thought tonight was a good test to see if we learned
or go in the same direction," Michigan volleyball coach
Mark Rosen said. "The girls did a great job... and it
showed when they went out on the floor and executed."
In the fourth game against Arkansas. The Wolverines
let a 4-1 lead slip out of their hands, falling behind 6-4.
The momentum had turned against the Wolverines and
the possiblity of dropping a second game to force a
deciding fifth game became very realistic. Then outside
See ALL-SPORT, Page 3B
MLSttELNIS Da
,The Michigan soccer team celebrates a goal during the
Wolverines' sudden-death victory over Utah yesterday.
Michigan 37, Rice 3
' a: ry
..
9 J
t
,,r3 Vii.,
''.
er
m
pec
es
:
:-'::4k
a y
w,
Blue stops
Owls' old-
school '0'
By Rick Freeman
Daily Sports Editor
Finally, points when they mattered.
Marquise Walker blocked a punt,
Anthony Thomas scored on the next
play and the Wolverines had converted
an opponent's mistake into a touch-
down. The only trouble with the quick
conversion is how infrequently that has
happened this season. Even though the
Wlverines schred seven times to
administer a 37-3 beating to Rice, a
familiar pattern is beginning to
emerge.
Michigan's offense has ventured
within 20 yards of the goal line 15
times. To show for it, the Wolverines
have:
Seven Jeff Del Verne field goals.
Six touchdowns.
One head coach unsatisfied with
his ground game.
"We're not where we want to be in
the running game," the coach, Lloyd
Carr, said after Saturday's game.
At Michigan (2-0), the ground game
often is the offense. But even against
the undersized Rice (0-2) defense,
Michigan's 221-lb. Anthony Thomas
had trouble. He led all Michigan rush-
ers with 87 yards on 21 carries. Walter
Cross and freshman B.J. Askew ran for
12 and 18 yards, respectively, on six
carries each.
"I think B.J. Askew showed some
real tough inside running today. He's
been tremendous on our special
teams," Carr said. "He made great.
play today on a kickoff, so I thought
he did a good job with a few opportu-
nities. Charles Drake did a good job
there in the end, and I have confi-
dence in Walter Cross. So we'll just
have to see who emerges as the sec-
ond back."
To be fair, Rice's defense is used to
stopping the run - the Owls utilized
the forward pass just four times. Their
lone completion was Chad
Richardson's 15-yard strike to Ralph
Tillman in the second quarter.
But if Rice looked like one of Bo
Schembechler's old teams, Michigan at
times didn't even resemble one of
Lloyd Carr's.
The Wolverines passed 31 times
Saturday, and five of their 18 comple-
tions were for more than 15 yards.
Sophomore quarterback Drew Henson,
who took over for Brady in the waning
moments of the first quarter, also threw
a 14-yard touchdown pass to David
Terrell. Three other times, Michigan
quarterbacks went deep, but were
incomplete.
Npn nmrnlted icMt rf lie 14
LOUIS BROWN/Daily
.rIc Brackins and and Tommy Hendricks beat up on Rice halfback Mike Gingrich. Rice players got beat up all day, as
Vlchigan eased to a 37-3 victory.
Huddle up: M' has Rice on the run
LL
ice coach Ken Hatfield's game
plan was obvious from the start:
Lull Michigan, the i10,000-plus
rows, the sportswriters, the national
SPN2 TV audi- _
nce and anyone
Ise within a 200- JOSh
ile radius of Kleinbaum
AnnArbor to -- ---
sleep.-
eah, Rice lost
foame, but was
nyone able to
tay awake long
nough to remem-
er how? APOCALYPSE
Just in case Now
our eyes were
three-yard loss. Rice punts.
Woo-hoo.
Overheard in the Rice huddle:
Player 1: What should we do this
time?
Player 2: 1 hear they got this new
thing in Europe, the forward pass.
Maybe we should trv that.
Player 1: Forward? We're supposed
to move the ball forward?
Player 3: What's a ball?
Player 2: Hey, is that Mini-Me in
the stands?
When Rice handoff specialist Chad
Richardson left the game in the third
quarter, you could see him favoring his
right arm, sore from those two pass
attempts.
pass, maybe because Michigan coach
Lloyd Carr's Don't-tell-anyone-any-
thing' philosophy forced the Owls to
prepare for Tom Brady, Drew Henson,
Hayden Epstein and Marquise Walker
to play quarterback and - gasp! -
throw the ball.
But through the tedium of the game,
the Michigan offense offered the note-
worthy titbits.
A week after a dominating perfor-
mance against Notre Dame, Anthony
Thomas struggled against the weak
Rice defense, mustering just 88 yards.
Maybe he had an emotional letdown
from last week, but Thomas appeared
slow entering the holes.
For the second time in as many
I
I