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 , A V >~, i 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-