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