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Sports desk: 647-3336
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SECTION B
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SOCCER:
START 'EM UP
'Purple 'god
looks out for
Washington
SEATTLE - Washington got the first
gift of the young college football sea-
son Saturday. The Huskies should take
it and be happy with it.
But they shouldn't think they earned it.
"It doesn't matter if you are lucky or good
as long as one of the two happens," Wash-
ington head coach Rick Neuheisel said after
the game.
It really couldn't be
put any better. One of _______
the two did happen -
but which one do
Neuheisel and his
Huskies think hap-
pened?
Willie Hurst and his
teammates were elated
after the game, jump-
ing around and with
Hurst sarcastically PHILLIPS
calling Michigan one Ramble
the most prestigious On
programs in the coun-
try. It was a swagger
displayed by a team that believed it deserved
to win.
Sure, the plays they made needed tremen-
dous athleticism. A Roc Alexander 77-yard
return off an Omare Lowe blocked kick was
a spectacular effort. The ball took two hops
into the lap of Alexander and he was gone,
leaving Hayden Epstein and John Navarre
trailing.
Two plays later, another touchdown land-
ed in the lap of the Huskies when a Navarre
screen pass slipped through the hands of
Chris Perry and was picked off by Lowe,
whose poor coverage paid off with him
waltzing into the end zone.
"I actually did the wrong thing and I fol-
lowed (the screen) and it tipped off (Perry's)
hands and it went right into my hands and it
was just'a short dash into the end zone,"
Lowe said.
The momentum swing was so great it gave
fans of both teams whiplash. It was reminis-
cent as Neuheisel's last miracle: The Kordell
Stewart to Michael Westbrook Hail Mary.
How could this be? Michigan's defense
looked like it had finally gelled by effective-
ly shutting down the Washington offense. It
held the Huskies to just nine offensive
points.
The Wolverines' offense was moving the
ball effectively up and down the field on the
touted Washington defense.
Was it the aura of Husky Stadium that
turned the tables? Don't put it past
Neuheisel.
"Husky Stadium has a way of having
those things happen for the home team,"
Neuheisel said.
Husby Stadium 1, Michigan 0? Probably
not.
All-American Larry Tripplett - who fin-
ished the game with one sack and another
assisted tackle - believes that it was the
aura of the team that earned the win.
"They came here and we're the Dawgs, so
See PHILLIPS, Page 4B
ABOY -RSNAM/Dily
Michigan allowed four goals going 1-1.
Blue shut
out against
Penn State
By Brian Steere
Daily Sports Writer
After giving up only one goal in
its first three games of the season,
the Michigan men's soccer team
experienced a rude awakening yes-
terday as Penn State shut out the
Wolverines 4-0 at State College.
The Wolverines (0-1 Big Ten, 3-1
overall) were off to their best start
in team history after they beat
Cleveland State 1-0 Friday night.
But Penn State showed Michigan
just how tough it is to win on the
road in the Big Ten.
"This was a good learning experi-
ence for us to open the Big Ten sea-
son on the road," Michigan coach
Steve Burns said.
After clinging to a precarious 1-0
lead for most of the game, Penn
State earned some breathing room
in the 63rd minute when senior
defender Chris Stout redirected a
corner kick past Wolverine redshirt
freshman goalkeeper Joe Zawacki.
See LIONS, Page 8B
AP PHOTO
Washington cornerback Omare Lowe darts into the endzone after picking off John Navarre's fourth quarter pass. Lowe also blocked Michigan kicker Hayden
Epstein's kick 51 seconds earlier, giving the Huskies two touchdowns In under a minute - and a win that looked like it was going to Michigan.
Varsity loses composu'e, game in fourth
By Jon Schwartz
Daily Sports Editor
SEATTLE - If Michigan could erase one
minute from its game on Saturday, the team
could have conceivably escaped Husky Stadium
with a hard-fought win.
After all, the fifteenth-ranked Wolverines
played 59 minutes of exemplary football, good
enough for an 21-9 victory.
But as the Wolverines learned, all 60 minutes
are taken into account when the final score is tal--
lied. And because of that, Michigan suffered a
23-18 loss to No. 10 Washington.
From late in the first half until the middle of
the fourth quarter, Michigan appeared to have
developed control of the game. But a blocked
field goal that Washington's Roc Alexander
returned 77 yards for a touchdown, and an inter-
ception return for a touchdown three plays later
shifted control-and the lead - to the Huskies.
The whole swing took 51 seconds.
"I'm tremendously disappointed because we
expected to win and we could have won but we
didn't," Michigan coach Lloyd Carr said.
One dominating factor in the game were the
small breaks that the Huskies got in several key
points.
At the end of the first quarter, Michigan's
Marquise Walker blocked Derek McLaughlin's
punt from the 15-yard line. But, as Carr pointed
out, Walker may have blocked the kick a bit too
well. The ball bounced out of the back of the
endzone for a Michigan safety. The two points
that the team received could have just as easily
been seven, critical in a game that ended with a
five point difference in score.
"Whether we got the six points or the two
points probably would have made a difference
there at the end," Walker said.
Also, with Washington driving late, clinging
to a 20-12 lead, the Wolverines made the stop
around midfield. Salvaging the situation as best
possible, Michigan was going to receive the punt
with about five minutes left.
But safety Cato June was called for a question-
able roughing the passer penalty on the play, giv-
ing the Huskies 15 yards, and a few plays later,
an insurance field goal, the third on the day by
Washington's kicker John Anderson.
See HUSKIES, Page 5B
Michigan's defense and rainy condi-
tions were too much for Dayton.
soccer
splits two
ahome.
Allison Topp
Daily Sports Writer
Ortmeyer named'
hockey captain
By J. Brady McCollough"
Daily Sports Writer
Groninger finds his
I
touch vs 'His Airness'
'M' guard also stars on Big Ten Touring Team
Michigan forward Jed Ortmeyer spent the second half of
last season sidelined with a torn anterior cruciate ligament.
This season, he'll lead the Wolverines onto the ice as the
team's captain.
"I can't wait to get back on the ice," Ortmeyer said. "I've
been waiting since February of last season to get back out
there and be a part of the team again. You can try to be a
part of the team, but if you're not suiting up every game
with them it's tough."
Watching the Wolverines while he was sidelined gave
him plenty of time to evaluate his team and learn what it
will take to successfully lead it this year as a junior.
"I think when you're sitting out, you can see some things
that happened behind the play that you won't see when
<>..rnra~a rn 11nrtmo ;ar u ..i Tharnn mn .
By Joe Smith
Daily Sports Editor
If Gavin Groninger decides to have
kids, he will definitely tell them about
this moment.
Working as a counselor and referee
at one of Michael Jordan's basketball
camps in Amherst, Ill. this summer,
the Michigan junior guard actually had
the unenviable task of guarding His
Airness - one-on-one.
Groninger and Jordan matched up
on both sides of the floor. It was just a
counselors' game up to seven, but Jor-
dan always nlavs for keens. And in this
"He can still play."
But Groninger had the last laugh -
draining the game-winning shot
against Jordan.
Later on in the summer, Groninger
continued to find his scoring touch as a
member of the Big Ten Conference
Men's Basketball Foreign Touring
Team, which made a 10-day trip to Ire-
land and England to play other interna-
tional squads.
Groninger was second on the team
in scoring with 13 points per game as
the Big Ten swept through the tourna-
ment. The team went 6-0 and won by
an average of 26 points - making it
Two times this weekend, with dif-
ferent results, the Michigan women's
soccer team got out to an early 1-0
lead.
While the Wolverines were able to
pull out a victory over Dayton yester-
day, on Friday, Kentucky came back
to win 2-1.
After the loss to Kentucky, yester-
day's game was the Wolverines'.
chance for redemption. The match
against Dayton was a challenge due to
weather conditions. The pounding rain
made visibility tough for almost five to
ten minutes before the game was sus-
pended due to lightning with just over
22 minutes remaining in the contest.
The adverse weather conditions did-
n't keep Michigan from winning its
ALYSSA WOOD/Daily
Jed Ortmeyer is fully recovered from last season's ACL tear.
A0) mnna witan mih1 0tief reshman on the roster It will
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