6- - The Michigan Daily - SportsMonday - October 2, 2000 - 'Men's soccer cele ates hstory with alumi wekei e By David Horn ,Daily Sports Writer "In this great future you can't forger your past, Dob Marley once crooned. Michigan men's soccer coach Steve Burns sug- gested that Marley's words make for an appropriate quote in regard to the soccer program's alumni weekend. Although the varsity team is still playing in its inaugural year, its grosith began long ago. Soccer at the University has been a long and proud tradition that dates back to 1921, when the club was founded. At the time, it was the only soccer club in the state of Michigan. The team has existed continually, in some form, since 1948. This past weekend, alumni old and new returned ,p Ann Arbor for the annual team reunion. The alums laced up their cleats for a pick ip game Friday evening to kick things off. Saturday morning the current varsity team faced off against club team alumni. Sunday morning the "old-timers game" pitted alumni who graduated during odd-years against the even-year grads. "It was a great experience," senior varsity goalie and club alumnus Albert Geldres said. "It was great having all the guys back." For the varsity tean, the weekend exhibition came amidst a hectic regular season schedule. A week after a 2-1 overtime loss to No. 2 Penn State, and a week before a trip to Bloomington to challenge defending national champion Indiana, the exhibition . weekend was a welcome chance to have fun and play in a more relaxed atmosphere. "It's such a fun game," senior varsity captain and club alumnus Will Purdv said. "All our games are so intense. The alums come out intense, but it's a nice break." The varsity team wanted to recognize the efforts of club players of the past - the struggle for varsi- ty status is as old as the soccer program itself. "These alums are in a position to help out the var- sity program," Burns said. "They should fuel a sense of ownership" Saturday's game saw the varsity team victorious over the recent graduates, including their coach. "How many times do you get to play against your coach in a meaningful game?" Burns said. Burns, an '89 graduate, scored the lone goal for the alumni. This weekend was particularly meaningful,. as it was the first alumni weekend since the team was granted varsity status. A look back at a article in The Michigan Daily published on October 17, 1953 is a telling descrip- tion of how long a road it has been, and how far the team has come. "An outstanding example of this lack of equip- ment is exemplified by observations made at last Saturday's Michigan-Indiana contest here in Ann Arbor. "Michigan's uniforms were mainly plain purple jerseys borrowed from the coaching staff of the foot- ball squad. "Their socks were many hues, being supplied by the players themselves and only a few had the prop- er shin guards. Many resorted to stuffing towels in A Long, Strange Trip to Varsity Status 1921 First club team for ' soccer 1948 Permanent club team t rmed 1966 Physical education P Dafessor Rodney Grambeau urrns gus for uniforms, balls and n for club team 1975 Student-coach Steve hr~rnan declares 'M' soccer "5'm rather than a "club" a r 0-0 tie to Purdue 1994 Spurred by Title IX, Woiren's team'granted varsity stytus 1995 Athlotic department vot s not to elevate team to varsity :tatus 1997-98 Team wins back-to-back club national championships 1999 Varsity status granted tI men's soccer and women's wat er polo 2000 First varsity game, 1-0 w n vs. DePaul their socks for this purpose, and some didn't even do that. As a result, a serious injury occurred when Michigan's Kuo Chew Quon received a kick in the shin, and suffered a severe laceration" This weekend was one of pride and .remember- ence for the men's soccer team. "One of the old guys pulled me aside as we were walking off the field," Purdy said. "He told me, 'don't ever forget about the club." The Wolverines had the weekend off from competition. They welcomed back ni new and old and defeated them, 4-1, in a Saturday exhibition. Things to do today: 1) Enter United DevicesTM Million Mile Thanksgiving Giveaway a. Download Software Agent from www.ud.com/utexas b. Watch my PC work harder than I do! 2) Cure Disease, Model the Climate 4 3) Grab Lunch 4) Map the Human Genome 5) Study Group-( : 6) Dinner 7) Pack Bags 8) Fly Away ! United Devices is building the world's largest computer one device at a time. Join our mission, do good things, and bring your family together for Thanksgiving!!! Visit us at www.ud.com. ss-° Monday & Tuesday Ocirober 2& 3,2000 \ Michigan Union as c > ~~ J7CA) lnnoon - 4 pm Connect with over 150 organizations from across the country for full time and inyternship opportuni ties On -site registration First Floor, Michigan Union For information contact CP&P 3200 SA B (734)764-7460 w.wcppumic .edu MerNvyn' california Andersen conauiving Career Planning Placementi Enron 0 ,,i,,,,iiraer,,iuii~is MassMutul Financial Gn'up Scountrywide Home Loans .. ONll 12EC 23 H II N EEC iNI M I M !H N~t I FIELD HOCKEi Continued from Page 18 with a save. "Catherine Foreman has been plarr as well as she ever has," Pankratz s Foreman also had two assists, as d senior Courtney Reid. The stifling defense gives the offer more freedom. "it's good to know that you can ta risks: Wuifsberg said. But Michigan's offensive explosio often come late in the game making t beginnings a tense competition. In the Iowa game, Michigan 1. hold onto a slim 1-0 lead until Gani scored with i:28 remaning in the gain Two moore goals quickly followed-- from Gannon and one from her fre, man sister Kristi Gannon. "We should be starting off quicd and at a higher tempo,' Kelli Ganr said. Kelli Gannon's goals in the to game moved past Julie Flachs for s ond on the team's all-time point ti Despite Gannon rising on Michige scoring list, an unlikely candidate I the game winner. Junior defen Ashley Thomas scored her seco career goal with six minutes gone in first half. I