Ebe £idliguu ~uil
sprtdekSmihOdNSETINY
Sports desk: 647-3336
SECTION B
L
low!,
I
M ICgan
ros
e
a
Varsity legacy
comes to a close
VANSTON - When Michigan scored its seventh
touchdown with 8:34 remaining, the Wolverines were
averaging nearly a point a minute.
Now that's a phrase that hasn't been uttered outside docu-
mentary for decades. Michigan and its point-a-minute offense.
Truthfully, it is more than a phrase - it is a legacy. There are
few things in Ann Arbor today still connected to that legacy
- save the ghost of Fielding Yost, for
whom Michigan reserves a seat at
every home game.
Saturday, all Anthony Thomas
needed was three more yards. North-
western had stacked the line, and the
Wolverines needed nothing but a first
down to kill the clock. But as Thomas
looked through his facemask to the
endzone Saturday - with nothing but DAVID
open field ahead - he was staring DEN H DER
wide-eyed at another legacy.
It was the legacy that put Michigan Double
back on top. It was written with fear- Down
ess energy in the autumn of 1997,
ealed in the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains and hand-
ed off to the future. The legacy was carried through trial and
eventual triumph, through two more Big Ten championships
and into the 21st Century.
That endzone, in a serene clearing in the Chicagoland dusk,
represented the continuation of a great legacy -- the persever-
ance of Once-Again-Mighty Michigan.
"Run, Anthony" you plead. "Run and don't look back"
Don't look back at mediocrity. Don't look back at all the
four-loss seasons, at the Outback Bowls, at the Alamo Bowls,
t the Hall of Fame Bowls, at the Gator Bowls.
"Please."
But the truth can only be remembered in slow motion.
Thomas breaks free, takes one last step toward the endzone
and slowly looks back. He is staring at the ball tumbling
See DEN HERDER, Page 4B
Thomas fumbles;
BCS hopes dashed
By Stephanie Offen
Daily Sports Editor
EVANSTON - No matter how hard the fans shook them,
the goalposts wouldn't give. They may have wobbled a little,
but for the most part they were sturdy. No matter how much
pressure was pushed against them, they didn't give up.
That same statement could not be said for the Michigan or
Northwestern defenses on Saturday. In one of the wackiest
games in either team's history, the Wildcats pulled out an
unusual victory over the Wolverines, 54-51.
That is the result of 1,189 total offensive yards - setting a
total yards record for each team (including 535 yards for
Michigan). The Wolverines also haven't given up that many
points since 1958. The opponent 42 years ago? Northwestern.
But the Michigan offense also contributed to the record-
breaking. The Wolverines have never scored that many points
in a loss. In fact, the 51 points scored was 20 more than the
existing record of 31.
"There were two very good offensive football teams out
there tonight and what looked to me like two poor defensive
teams," Michigan coach Lloyd Carr said.
Ironically, the player that was almost blamed with losing the
game for the Wildcats had a record-breaking day of his own.
Three minutes into the second half Northwestern running
back Damien Anderson broke the record for most yards
against any Michigan team.
But that record almost went without notice.
With a little over a minute left, and a five-point lead, it
looked as though Michigan had victory in hand. On 4th-and-
12, Northwestern quarterback Zak Kustok lobbed a pass to a
wide-open Anderson in the endzone. The ball dropped
through Anderson's hands, giving the Wolverines the ball on
the 12-yard line with 1:38 left on the clock.
The Wolverines had been given a gift. After Northwestern
had a touchdown pass called back because of an ineligible
receiver downfield, Michigan was given just enough time to
See WILDCATS, Page 4B
PETER CORNUE/Daily
Michigan quarterback Drew Henson can't look at the outcome of Saturday's game, as Anthony Thomas fumbled a sure win away.
MICHIGAN STATE 1, MICHIGAN 0
Jcers fire 31 shots on
Miller, none find net
By Joe Smith
Daily Sports Writer
After watching Michigan State net-
minder Ryan Miller make yet another
ectacular save on one of his slap
shots late in the second period, Michi-
gan forward Mark Mink slapped his
stick into the glass in frustration and
looked up in disbelief.
This was the recurring theme in the
latest chapter of this intrastate rivalry.
Despite outplaying the Spartans and
outshooting them 31-13, No. 1 Michi-
gan (4-1 CCHA, 6-1-2 overall) couldn't
penetrate the human wall created by
Miller, as the sophomore goalie helped
*o. 6 Michigan State (4-1, 5-1-1) shut
out the Wolverines, 1-0.
"I'd never been part of a team where
we played so well and didn't come up
with a win," Michigan center Mike
Cammalleri said. "It's definitely a tough
one to swallow."
Although the rivalry has produced
many close games - 13 of the last 15
meetings have been decided by two
oals or less -- Saturday night marked
e first time that Michigan has been
blanked by the Spartans since 1988.
"You don't expect a 1-0 game, you
expect a one-goal game," Michigan
coach Red Berenson said. "It was a
goalie's game and Miller had a great
game. But I can't ask any more from
our team."
Michigan was sparked by the unex-
pected return of senior captain Geoff'
Captain Geoff Koch returns
Miller stones Wolverines
See Page 3B
Koch, who made the gameday decision
to play after sitting out the past five
games due to an ankle injury. In addi-
tion, Saturday's second annual "Maize
Out" gave the first 1,000 fans in the
raucous, standing-room-only crowd of
6,521 "Maize Out" t-shirts. To add to
the atmosphere, the Wolverines donned
their maize sweaters - a rare occur-
rence at Yost Arena.
But none of this could lift Michigan
to victory, as Miller stole the show.
The Wolverines had their share of
chances, peppering Miller with 31 shots.
Michigan also had a number of point-
blank opportunities that missed the net.
"We just ran into a tough goalie,"
Michigan forward Josh Langfeld said.
"That's the bottom line."
Michigan goalie Josh Blackburn was
no slouch, either. He steered aside 12 of
the 13 shots directed his way, but
thanks to Miller, Blackburn had no
margin for error.
Coming into the game, the Wolver-
ines were well-aware of Michigan
State's power play, CCHA's best with a
30 percent efficiency entering Satur-
day's contest. Michigan State has only
six even strength goals all season.
Michigan's penalty-killers were up to
the challenge - Michigan State only
went 1-6 with the man-advantage,
See SPARTANS, Page 3B
FIELD HOCKEY
Bullies of
the Bjig Ten:
Stickers are
champions
By David Roth
Daily Sports Writer
As a student-athlete, it's not always how well one
can play, it's how well one can Reid.
Thanks to Courtney Reid's two goals yesterday in
a 3-2 victory over No. 7 Penn State and her game-
winning assist Saturday in a 2-1 squeaker against
No. 15 Ohio State, the fifth-ranked Michigan field
hockey team won the Big Ten tournament.
For the first time in school history, Michigan won
both the Big Ten regular season and tournament
championships en route to earning an automatic bid
to the NCAA tournament.
"I'm satisfied," Michigan coach Marcia Pankratz
said.
Seniors Kelli Gannon, Jeanne Shin, Regan
Wulfsberg and Reid all finished their last of eleven
games at Ocker Field this season without suffering
a single loss.
"We knew we wanted to finish the season right,"
Michigan goalie Maureen Tasch, who shut Penn
State out in her 60 minutes of play, said. "We want-
Cb!iPs
WOMEN'S
SOCCER
BRANDON SEDLOFF/Daily
The Michigan field hockey team celebrates after a dramatic victory over Penn State in the Big Ten
Tournament final.
ed to do it for the seniors and finish the season
undefeated on our field.
Reid started the onslaught against the Lions less
than ten minutes into the game. With Penn State
attacking deep in Michigan territory, the Wolverines
pushed the ball up to the Nittany Lions' side of the
field, where Reid picked up the stray ball and sent it
into the cage with 25:53 left in the first half.
Michigan maintained its lead into halftime, and
in the second half, Reid sparked the Wolverines
again, as she stole the ball and sent it into Penn
State's circle with 25:05 left in the game. A relent-
less Michigan offense kept pressuring the Nittany
Lions until Gannon picked up the ball and ripped a
shot past Penn State keeper Annie Zinkavich with
See STICKERS, Page 8B
Soccer falls to Lions
in triple overtime
Blue hosts Miami in NCAAs Wednesday
By Naweed Sikora
Daily Sports Writer
CHAMPAIGN - For 120 minutes
and 31 seconds, the Michigan women's
soccer team battled the wind, the cold
and fatigue yesterday in Illinois.
But, its magnificent effort was just not
enough, as the Wolverines fell to Penn
State in triple overtime in the Big Ten
championship game by the score of 1-0.
With only 31 seconds elapsed in the
of the ball deep inside Michigan territo-
ry. From the corner, Penn State's
Stephanie Smith kicked the ball across
the Michigan goal, and the ball found its
way into the Michigan net off Sheri
Pickett's head.
Despite the loss, Michigan coach Deb-
bie Belkin Rademacher was proud of the
tremendous effort put forth by her team.
"They played extremely hard,"
Rademacher said. "I couldn't have asked
for a better effort than today"
r -. , .., ,.
ALYSSA WOOD/ Daily I
I