MAJOR LEAGUE
BASEBALL
AMERICAN LEAGUE
CHICAGO 3, '
Detroit 1.
Anaheim 1,
KANSAS CITY
New York 6,
TORONTO 4
Boston 6,
CLEVELAND 4
TAMPA BAY 8.
Seattle 4
Texas 8,
MINNESOTA 3
NATIONAL LEAGUE
New York 10,
COLORADO 5
CINCINNATI 5,
Chicago 4
Philadelphia 8,
HOUSTON 6
Milwaukee at
St. Louis, inc.
Florida at
San Francisco, inc.
~fe£dia aigic
Traking 'M' tickets
Did you turn in your Michigan basketball ticket order-
form yet? Student applications are due Sept. 24. The
Cost for season tickets is $100 and includes the all-
important home game against Duke.
Thursday
September 16, 1999
15A
'M' soccer faces tough Big Ten battles
By David Mosse
Daily Sports Writer
Taking on the Big Ten is always a daunt-
ing task. The Michigan women's soccer
team opens conference play with two colos-
sal road battles in a three-day span.
The upcoming weekend will test the sta-
*a of the Wolverines and should provide
a indication of what to expect in the Big
Ten.
First, Michigan travels to Columbus
Friday for a meeting with the rival
Buckeyes.
The Wolverines head into the game on a
high, following their dramatic overtime vic-
tory over Utah at the Michigan soccer field.
The win concluded a 3-2 non-conference
son, but it's still the Wolverines' worst
ord in three years.
But hidden beneath its record is the fact
that Michigan has outplayed each of its five
opponents, and with some better finishes,
could easily be undefeated.
The Wolverines dropped two of their last.
three games despite outshooting their oppo-
nents 73-40. Heading into Columbus,
junior Kacy Beitel believes it's a must for
the Wolverines to regain their scoring
touch.
=We're getting the opportunities, which is
all you can really ask for," Beitel said. "But
you're not going to win games if you can't
put the ball in the back of the net."
Beitel said the team's practices this past
week focused heavily on finishing and
putting scoring chances away.
If taking on the Buckeyes wasn't big
enough, Michigan will depart straight from
Columbus to Happy Valley on Sunday to
tussle with the fourth-ranked and defending
conference champion Nittany Lions. Penn
State arrives at this game on the heels of a
victory over North Carolina, an enduring
dynasty in women's soccer.
"Penn State is definitely the team to beat
in the Big Ten," Beitel said.
Surviving this weekend will not be easy
for the Wolverines. Michigan coach Debbie
Belkin will be without the services of star
forward Amber Berendowsky.
Berendowsky is still nursing a sprained
ankle which has kept her out of all but one
game this season.
For the time being, Belkin hopes others
can step up their game.
One strong candidate to fill the void left
by Berendowsky is freshman Abby
Crumpton, who has shown promise in the
non-conference games.
"Abby is is one of our more dynamic for-
Slipping in the mud
The Michigan soccer team hasn't had such
a quick start to this season. Here's a look at
its early-season record in the past few years.
1999: 3-0-2 in first five games. The
Wolverines have lost two out of the last
three games
1998: 5-0 to start the season.
1997: 9-0-1 record in first 10 games.
wards, Beitel said. "She is capable of scor-
ing lots of goals for us." .
Crumpton and the rest of the Wolverines
must contend with a devastating schedule
this season.
With Purdue entering conference play,
Michigan's schedule was thrown into chaos,
and the Wolverines have ended up with an
seemingly unbalanced schedule. Wisconsin
and Northwestern, two teams Michigan
played away last season, will be road games
again this season.
While the schedule should provide a
heavy challenge, it has not dampened the
Wolverines hopes for a successful season.
"We have lots of tough games but we
know we are a very good team," Beitel said.
MICHELLE SWELNIS/Daily
The Michigan soccer team will face two tough conference foes on the road this weekend. The
Wolverines battle Ohio State on Friday. Sunday, Michigan takes on Penn State.
WALKING WITH THE ENEMY
9,
'.
Walker hopes to get
last laugh at Syracuse
L ,
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By T. Berka
Daily Sports Editor
This Saturday's Michigan-Syracuse d
football game is a big one. Many
Michigan fans circled it on the calen-
dar as soon as the Orangeman
whomped the Wolverines, 38-28, in
Michigan's home opener last season.
While the loss to Syracuse was
painful for many people in the
Michigan football family, their pain
was nothing compared to that of
sophomore wide receiver Marquise
Walker.
Walker was one of the top receiving
prospects in the nation in 1997, coming
out of Henninger High School in the
heart of Syracuse. Needless to say, his
pro-Orange friends got on his case
went he went home after his freshman
year.
"I know a lot of people on the
Syracuse team," Walker said. "They
were talking a whole lot of junk to me
about that game this summer."
A lot of the junk that was said was a
result of spurning local school
Syracuse for the maize and blue.
Syracuse tried hard to keep Walker
at home in central New York, even
enlisting the services of Michigan's
eventual archnemesis, Donovan
McNabb.
"I talked with him a few times"
Walker said of the star quarterback,
now with the Philadelphia Eagles. "He
tried to get me to come to Syracuse,
but I just wanted to get away from
home for a while."
Not that Walker wasn't tempted to
stay home for his college years.
Having lived in Syracuse since he
was eight years old, Walker followed
the Orangemen throughout grade
school, junior high, and high school.
"I've watched all their games since I
have lived there," Walker said. "I
watched every single regular season
game and every bowl game."
The fact that McNabb was Walker's
favorite player at Syracuse almost
tipped the scales in favor of the
Orangemen. In fact, Walker had
Syracuse atop his list at the beginning
of the recruiting process.
"I was very close to going there,"
Walker said. "They were number one
on my list for a while, since they were
close to home and they were my
favorite team when I was a kid."
Despite old emotions and home
cooking,Walker ended up choosing
Michigan, joining fellow sophomore
wide receiver David Terrell to make-up
the most highly-regarded one-two
freshman punch in the nation last year.
But Walker didn't put up the big
numbers last season. Stuck on the
bench behind Tai Streets and Marcus
Knight, Walker managed to catch only
WALKER WHO?
Marquise Walker isn't the first
person with the name Walker
to be in the spotlight. Here are
some other famous Walkers.
Jimmy Walker - 80's come-
dian who starred in Good
Times.
. . ... . ; :- ,. " e ;q . \ 4 m " : -
LU "ylT7M/wi
Michigan sophomore receiver Marquise Walker halls from the heart of Syracuse. He'll try to help the Wolverines exact revenge on the Orangemen on Saturday.
Spotwood, Nunesstepint ptigh
great work ethic. You'll see Marquise
Walker become a very good receiver at
Michigan" Carr said.
The win over Rice showed a glimpse
of how good Walker can be. After hav-
ing only five career catches - four in
1998 and one in the opener against
Notre Dame - Walker broke out
catching five passes for 59 yards.
Walker's production wasn't limited to
just offense, though. Walker also
blocked a Rice punt in the third quarter
which Michigan turned into an Anthony
Thomas touchdown. He also returned a
punt 23 yards on the next play.
"Marquise is a great player who had
a great game," Michigan quarterback
Tom Brady said. "He has improved
significantly in the last year. We need
him to make great plays like that if we
are going to continue to win."
Although Walker is starting to enjoy
the success which was predicted of him
coming out of Henninger, he's taking it
with a grain of salt.
"The ball just happened to come to
me," Walker said. "I'm just learning
the system and trying to make plays."
Walker might have more of a reason
to make plays Saturday. Walker will
have 30 to 40 family members and
friends at the Carrier Dome to watch
By John iloty
Daily Orange
SYRACUSE, N.Y. (U-Wire) - A
year after Donovan McNabb slashed
his way around Michigan Stadium's
turf, slashing Michigan's throat in the
process, Syracuse is looking for a
new star or two. Could the
ngemen have found their men this
past week against Central Michigan?
Senior Quinton Spotwood had a
break-out game, notching 135 yards
on six catches for two touchdowns.
Troy Nunes posted efficient passing
numbers, going eight-for-13 for 170
Yards and three touchdowns.
ment suffered last season against
Cincinnati.
After not catching a pass and gain-
ing just five yards on three punt
returns two weeks ago, Spotwood
displayed the game-breaking ability
that made him an All-American punt
returner in 1997.
Spotwood gave Syracuse a 17-0
lead with more than two minutes to
play in the first quarter, slowing up
to catch an underthrown Nunes pass
and taking it 56 yards into the end
zone. Then in the second quarter on
third and 29 from the Central
Michigan 43-yard line, Spotwood
41-yard scamper on the first series.
Brown's legs and Nunes' arm com-
bined to lead the Orangemen on six
of the nine first-ha'lf series.
Nunes fired a third-down bullet to
Pat Woodcock for the first touch-
down on Syracuse's first drive of the
night. SU stalled on the next drive as
Leigeb batted away Nunes' pass on
third down. But Syracuse came back,
this time with Madei Williams, and
Nate Trout hit a field goal to make it
10-0.
The revolving door of quarter-
backs continued, but Nunes again
appeared to boast an edge over
"The kids are
looking forward
to preparing for
Michigan."
-Paul Pasqualoni
Syracuse football coach
But Nunes showed poise and cre-
ativity similar to his play in the
Toledo game, helping ignite the first-
half offensive outburst and going 6-