14-- The Michigan Laiy - Fridqy, September 15, 2000
IPowers emerges
I:
n-By Sarah Ensor assists, raising her
: Daily Sports Writer to a lofty 12, good
team.
This season, the No. 4 Michigan Powers is "such
field hockey team has seen the Michigan coach1
*'Powers that be dominate its offense. said. "Her stick ski
Molly Powers, a sophomore for- to her speed and h
ward from Oak Park, Ill., has really goes for the
cmerged as one of :he Wolverines' If it's laying there
main offensive threats, filling the pounces on it first
boxscores and stat sheets with her thing happen."
contributions. After scoring six goals That has become
in 24 games during her freshman to players and fans
campaign, Powers has lit up the one of the Wolveri
scoreboard this season, netting five sive players, freque
goals in Michigan's first five con- ball at all costs a
tests. ground to make a c
While that streak was broken in In Sunday's matc
Michigan's 6-1 victory over Ohio on along the goal line
Sundav, Powers still added two April Fronzoni's se
as big-time threat for 'M' field hockey
season point total
for second on the
a quick player,"
Marcia Pankratz
ills are catching up
er quickness. She
ball in the circle.
open, she usually
and makes some-
e readily apparent
s alike. Powers is
nes' most aggres-
ently attacking the
nd diving on the
rucial play.
A, her diving pass
set up freshman
cond score of the
game and earned her the adulation of
the crowd.
"I'm definitely more comfortable
with my stick skills" this season,
Powers said. "When the ball comes,
I'm more confident with it on my
stick. I'm moving a lot better with
the other forwards, and we seem to
be clicking right now."
While being among the team's
leaders in points and goals is some-
thing new to Powers, scoring in
clutch situations is not. In last year's
NCAA semifinal against
Connecticut, she tallied the game-
winning goal that gave the
Wolverines a 4-3 victory and a ticket
to the national championship game.
This season, she has already
scored two game-winners, leading
Michigan to victories over Duke and
American.
Powers attributes her success not
to any special techniques or strate-
gies, but rather to her natural matura-
tion as a player. She has only been
playing the game since her freshman
year of high school, and is still grow-
ing accustomed to the intricacies of
collegiate competition.
"I stayed here for a month (this
summer) and practiced stick skills,"
Powers said. "The longer you play,
the more comfortable you get. I'm
getting more comfortable with my
teammates and on the turf." '
She's also modest about the nature
of her contribution to the team,
insisting that she's merely "in the
right place at the right time" on a
regular basis.
"I think it could be anyone scoring
those goals," Powers said. "It just
comes to me on my side. My goals
are finishing in the circle, when the
ball pops loose I just step up and put
it in the goal, or it's just a dribble and
I have to push it in. I don't do fancy
shots like Jessica Rose."
Fancy or not, it's working for the
Wolverines, especially as its sched-
ule gets increasingly difficult head-
ing into the conference campaign.
Power(s) surge
Name: Molly
Powers "
Age: 19
Height: 5'4"
Pos.: midfield
Home: Oak
Park,
111-.L
Powers
Powers saw action in 24 games
as a true freshman, including a
pair of starts. Her stellar freshman
season was highlighted by a game-.
winning goal against Connecticut<
in the NCAA semifinal.
e As a sophomore, Powers has
started a pair of games in a strong
Michigan midfield alongside
upperclass stalwarts such as
Courtney Reid, Ali Balmer,
Regan Wulfsberg, and Jeanne
Shin.
- 0 Her speed and quickness have
proven problematic for opponents.
She has also improved her stick
skills and has opened up numerous
scoring chances, as evidenced by
her five goals in Michigan's first
five games.
Former Marquette coach
McGuire has leukemia
NEW YORK (AP) - Al McGuire,
the former Marquette basketball coach
who was hospitalized in July with an
unspecified illness, has leukemia,
Sports Illustrated magazine reported.
Columnist Rick Reilly said the ill-
ness has whittled McGuire to 115
pounds. Leukemia is a cancer of blood-
forming tissues.
Last week, the Milwaukee Journal
Sentinel reported that McGuire was liv-
ing in a managed care facility.
The newspaper said McGuire, 72,
entered a Milwaukee-area hospital July
27 and some days later was transferred
to the managed care facility where he is
being treated for an unspecified illness.
When McGuire retired from CBS as
a broadcaster after calling the
Wisconsin-Indiana game March 5, he
said he had a form of anemia, a blood
disorder. He has been no more specific
about his ailment.
When hp entered the hospital, his
wife, Pat, said he was being treated for
a viral infection, apart from his blood
disorder.
Interim IU boss Davis
refuses Knight's office
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. (AP) -
Mike Davis may have followed Bob
Knight as basketball coach at Indiana.
but he won't move into The General's
office.
"I could never move in there," Davis
said. "It's just too special of a place
and there's too many memories. I
wouldn't feel comfortable."
He said that as long as he is part of
the Indiana coaching staff, Knight's
office in Assembly Hall will remain
unoccupied.
"I'll have the same desk, the same
phone number, the same everything,"
Davis said. "I don't need any extra
room. I may get new carpet but that's
about it."
Davis, an assistant coach the past
three years, was appointed interim
coach on Tuesday, two days after
Knight was fired for violating a zero-
tolerance behavior policy.
0;
Neuheisel returns to
Boulder with Huskies
BOULDER, Colo. (AP) - Rick
Neuheisel returns to Boulder tomor-
row with his ninth-ranked
Washington Huskies, hoping the
focus will be on football and not his
abrupt and bitter departure from
Colorado 20 months ago at the height
of recruiting season.
While Colorado players say
Neuheisel has been forgotten, fans
may Neuheisel acknowledges he's
likely to receive a rude reception.
"I don't anticipate a lovefest or
anything like that," he said. "If peo-
ple are bitter that I left, then that's
part of college football."
Neuheisel watched with interest
the return of former Mississippi
coach Tommy Tuberville - nowat
Auburn - to Oxford, Miss., last
weekend.
Some Rebel fans wore T-shirts fea-
turing Tuberville's face and "Liar,
Liar" printed under it.
"There's a lot of passion associated
with college football," Neuheisel
said. "If the passion manifests itself
in a distaste for me, I've got big
enough shoulders to handle that."
Updated at i p.m.
Home teams in CAPS
'M' SCHEDULE
Today: Field Hockey vs. Ball State. 4 p.m. at Ocker
Field
Women's soccer at Purdue. 5 p.m.
Volleyball vs. Houston at Arkansas Invitational. 5:30
p.m.
Tomorrow: W Golf hosts Wolverine Invitational. 9 a.m.
at Michigan Golf course
W cross country at Spiked Shoe Invitational (State
college) 10 a.m.
Volleyball vs. Virginia at Arkansas Invitational. noon
Field Hockey vs. Rutgers. 1 p.m. at Ocker Field
Football at U.C.L.A.. 3:30 p.m.
Volleyball at Arkansas in Arkansas Invitational, 8:30
p.m.
MLB STANDINGS
AMERICAN LEAGUE
Central
Chicago Sox
Cleveland
Detroit
Kansas City
Minnesota
East
NY Yankees
Boston
Toronto
Baltimore
Tampa Bay
West
Seattle
Oakland
Anaheim
Texas
W L Pct GB
87 58 .600 -
77 64 .546 8
71 74 .490 16
68 78 .466 19.5
63 82 .434 24
W L Pct GB
84 59 .587 -
75 68 .524 9
75 70 .517 10
66 80 .452 19.5
61 85 .418 24.5
W L Pct GB
80 66 .548 -
77 67 .535 2
74 72 .507 6
66 80 .452 14
NATIONAL LEAGUE
East
Atlanta
NY Mets
Florida
Montreal
Philadelphia
Central
St. Louis
Cincnati
W L Pct GB
86 60 .589 -
83 62 .572 2.5
69 76 .476 16.5
61 83 .424 24
60 85 .414 25.5
W L Pct GB
85 61 .582 -
75 71 .514 10
I