The Michigan Daily - SportsMonday - October 29, 2001 - 3B RAPHAEL GOOD STEIN Wolverines wilt under the Florida heat Walker's catch the start of something special. IOWA CITY - Every legitimate Heisman contender needs to play for a national title-caliber team and put up great stats. But more importantly, he needs to make one play that voters remember. One play that ESPN shows dozens of times. One play that legitimizes his candidacy. Desmond Howard's diving touch- down catch on fourth-and-one against Notre Dame, and his punt return for a touchdown against Ohio State legitimized Howard's candidacy. Charles Woodson's one-handed pick against Michigan State while staying inbounds did the same for Woodson's chances. Marquise Walker became a legitimate Heisman contender Sat- Marq urday. Not because of Wal his six catches or 72 becai yards, but because of his legiti touchdown catch on a Heisma pass that nobody tend thought was catchable. Satu By now you've seen because the catch, and you touch remember this catch catc more than any of Walk- er's other 48 catches on the season. Whether they admit it or not, Heisman voters are the same way. They remember certain'plays more than other plays. Voters don't watch every game. They watch the big ones, and then watch SportsCenter for everything else. Needless to say, Walker's catch made SportsCenter. And needless to say, every reporter in Kinnick Sta- dium was talking about the catch. The game was also a 3:30 broad- casted on ABC. But as important as the highlight is, it's also important that he's been good enough so far this year to be a known name nationally. Maybe not as much of a name as Nebraska's Eric Crouch, or Ken Dorsey of Miami (Fla.), but enough of a name that people will now watch for him to continue to make big plays. This play came at a perfect time for Walker. He was huge in No. 6 Michigan's lone loss this year, catching 15 passes for 159 yards and two touchdowns. He was d r+ c Michigan's only offensive threat and has quietly played very well ever since then well enough to make a name for himself. Now, as the season is starting to reach its peak, he made his statement. It's important that Walker played well in Michigan's only loss, because nobody can say he didn't step up when he needed to. Walk- er's play absolves him from blame in Michigan's sole loss. Walker and Michigan will need to continue to win if he's to remain a candidate - Michigan only lost one regular-season game combined the years Howard and Woodson won the Heisman. UCLA's 38-28 loss severely ham- pers DeShauin Foster's hopes, just as Florida's uSer loss to Auburn two weeks ker ago ended Rex Gross- ne a man's hopes. Much like nate the polls, a loss late in 'n COn- the season is much more ler damaging than a loss day early in the year. of his Michigan should win its down last four games. Michigan h State, Minnesota, Wiscon- sin and Ohio State are all winnable, and will all be televised. ESPN's College Gameday will likely broadcast from Michigan Stadium for the Ohio State game, making the spotlight that much brighter. Walker might need a little help if he's to win the trophy. Many schools go out of their way to pro- mote candidates. Oregon paid for a billboard of quarterback Joey Har- rington as a promotional stunt. This isn't Michigan's style. Nei- ther Howard nor Woodson - nor some of the candidates who didn't win it: David Terrell, Tyrone Wheatley, Anthony Carter - were promoted by the University. Consenuently, those candidates went out of their way to talk about their candidacy. This isn't Walker's style. "That's for (the media) to talk about," he says. After Saturday's catch, the media is talking. Raphael Goodstein can he reached at raphaelg tuniich.edu. By Rohit Bhave Daily Sports Writer Looking to recharge in the warm Florida weather this weekend, the Michigan men's soccer team (2-3 Big Ten, 8-6-1 overall) sought to com- pete well against the No. 15 Furman Palladins (11-4 overall) yesterday and the Florida Interna- tional Panthers (7-6-1) on Friday. Unfortunately for the Wolverines, bad breaks and poor finishing hurt them in both games, causing a 4-0 loss to Furman, and 2-I loss to Florida International. Yesterday, stiff winds severely affected Michi- gan coach Steve Burns' strategy against the Pal- ladins. Choosing to have the wind at his team's back in the second half, Burns counted on the Wolverines to hold off Furman until they could have more favorable attacking conditions. "Any time there is a strong wind in the game of soccer, the team against the wind struggles," Burns said. This approach backfired. After giving up an own-goal 14 minutes into the contest, bad luck bit the Wolverines even harder in the form of a critical red card. With just two minutes left in the first half, Michigan goalkeeper Joe Zawacki attacked a jump ball just inside the penalty box. As he attempted to punch the ball out with both hands, Zawacki was whistled for a flagrant elbow foul. In addition to Zawacki's game ejection and two- game suspension, Michigan had to play one man down the rest of the game. "It's tough for our team to rebound from adver- sity - unfortunately it was adversity that came at the wrong time," Burns said. The tough situation was compounded when the Palladins were awarded a penalty kick as a result of the play. Furman's Anthony Esquivel converted to score against freshman goalie Bryan Lau. Down two goals and one man the rest of the game against a nationally ranked team, the Wolverines had an impossible hill to climb. Despite having the wind in the second half and three one-on-one breakaways against Furman goalkeeper Scott Blount, the Wolverines were unable to come back, eventually succumbing on the road. Friday night against Florida International, Michigan played a much more competitive game against the speedy Panthers, but still lost. "It was a real good learning experience, play- ing against small quick guys that are good with the ball at their feet." Burns said. Down 1-0 in the in the first half, Michigan responded just five minutes later. With 16 min- utes left, forward Mychal Turpin buried a header from five feet out after an excellent cross from midfielder Knox Cameron, tying the game at one. The second half became an aggressive free-for- all, with 27 fouls. Constantly attacking the Pan- thers' forwards with its three-forward look, Michigan appeared to have control in the second half. The Wolverines squandered their offensive opportunities with poor finishing. Given the aggressive nature of Michigan's 3-4-3 alignment, the entire team is vulnerable to counterattack when goals are not scored. "It puts a lot of pressure on everybody when chances aren't being finished," Burns said. Whj1e the Wolverines were shut out in the sec- ond half, Florida International capitalized on its sole offensive chance. From a cross by John Pulido, Conor Collins notched his second goal of the day from five feet out, beating Zawacki to the upper right corner of the net. Afterwards, Burns expressed his regret over the lost opportunities. The loss to Florida International was "a game that was ours to win," Burns said. "We had FIU on their heels the last 30 minutes of the game.'" While losing certainly hurts the young Wolver- ines' morale, being swept this weekend may help Michigan focus better in preparation for its Friday night game at Ohio State, No. 5 in the Big Ten. This weekend's losses "help serve as motiva- tion, in terms of doing more of the little things right in practice," Burns said. Women s soccer improves play against ranked teams , By Allison Topp Daily Sports Writer SOUTH BEND - Coach Debbie Rademacher reached a milestone last Friday night, earning her 100th career win at the Michigan in a 2-1 win over Michigan State. But the total stayed at 100 as the Wolverines lost a hard fought game against No. 8 Notre Dame yester- day, 2-1. The loss in South Bend yesterday was an improvement for the team, considering the results it had against ranked opponents earlier in the season. "We have played top teams earlier in the season when we weren't really sharp," Michigan head coach Debbie Rademacher said. "I feel like we've faced every condition and every type of team we could face if we went to the NCAA Tournament. We're pre- pared." The Fighting Irish had confidence that translated into composure on the field. Notre Dame often car- ried the ball up the field and gave its forwards ample time to make a run up the flanks or into the middle. This style of play allowed the Fighting Irish to pos- sess the ball for most of the game and keep compo- sure when an error was made. "The chemistry of our team has always allowed the girls to play together very well," Notre Dame coach Randy Waldrum said. "We have so many young play- ers that part of that composure has come through experience in the second half of the season. We're starting to play together as a group and do the things we need to do as a team." The first goal came with 25:13 minutes left in the first half. Notre Dame sophomore Randi Scheller shot a high arching ball 30 yards away from the mouth of the goal. Michigan goalie Bre Bennett jumped up to knock the shot away, but hit it up against the crossbar for Notre Dame's first goal. Ten minutes later, Michigan forward Abby Crump- ton answered with a goal to tie the game. Despite the physical play from both teams in the last 15 minutes, the game was taken into overtime. Both teams had their opportunities in overtime, but Notre Dame forward Amanda Guerten was the first to capitalize in sudden death leading her team to victory. The game-winning goal extended Guerten's four- game scoring streak to five. On Friday afternoon, Michigan beat in-state rival Michigan State 2-1. Like Notre Dame yesterday, Michigan went down by a goal early in the second half. Spartan Kristi Arrington scored the first goal with 39:18 minutes left in the game. Michigan had hoped to use the wind to its advantage in the first half, but it was in the sec- ond half with the wind against them that the Wolver- ines finally came to life. . Michigan forward Abby Crumpton used her speed to rally her teammates and score a goal with 25:37 minutes left in the game. Freshmen Kate Morgan and Theresa Dwyer assisted on the goal. Crumpton scored the game-winning goal with 8:41 JokL :tis DANNY MOLOSHOK/Daily Junior Abby Crumpton scored Michigan's only goal against No. 6 Notre Dame this weekend. minutes left after being assisted by Erica Kleinholz. "I told them going into the second half it was do or die because we didn't hAve the wind advantage anymore," Rademacher said. "Sometimes the wind isn't such an advantage when it's so strong. We were still able come back and win the game in the second half" 'M' stickers roll through Northwestern By Joe Smith Daily Sports Editor Crew finishes fall i"n search of best lineup By Melanie Kebler Daily Sports Writer The Michigan rowing team wrapped up its fall season at the Head of the Elk last weekend, bat- tling rough conditions in Elkhart, Ind. The team entered four boats in the varsity eight race as it continues to test out lineups and search for team chemistry. "The lineups in the fall are pretty tentative," Michigan assistant coach Emily Ford said. "They were select- ed by the coaches for this race but we didn't put a lot of emphasis on the selection." Despite the randomness of the lineups, the team still placed well, finishing with boats in second, third, ninth and 14th place. Michigan State took first place. High winds and choppy water made the course difficult to navigate, but the Wolver- ines managed to finish their fall season on a good note. "I think we should we have a pret- ty deep team," senior captain Christina Meyer said. In what may be called a rebuild- ing year, the team has already shown progress this fall with an excellent performance at the Head of the Charles regatta earlier this month. "We definitely have a lot of first year varsity members and. freshmen and it's encouraging that they are doing well," Meyer said. "They have added a lot of strength to the team already." Changing lineups during practice and at competitions has helped the team discover who works well together and who doesn't. This is extremely important, as chemistry between rowers in a boat can make or break a team. "The boat depends on all eight people, and how they work togeth- er," Meyer said. After some successful fall races, .the Wolverines will continue to train in preparation for the spring season. By the time the spring season starts in March, the rowing team should be ready to compete. EVANSTON -- One could see the frustration in their eyes. The Wildcats were exhausted, men- tally and physically, after the No. 5 Michigan field hockey team dominat- ed the second half, constantly on the attack in Northwestern's defensive zone. All of the confidence Northwestern (1-5 Big Ten, 2-12 overall) gained from Michigan's sluggish start went by the wayside as the Wolverines (4- 2, 13-4) pulled away late in the sec- ond half to beat the conference cellar-dwellers, 2-0, on the windy shores of Lake Michigan. But Northwestern will have its chance at revenge when it has a rematch with Michigan in the first round of the Big Ten Tournament on Friday on the same field. Michigan's Kristi Gannon netted both goals on corners, including the nail in Northwestern's coffin with just 38 seconds left in the game. But Michigan coach Marcia Pankratz said Gannon's first goal that put Michigan on the board was vital because it changed the momentum of the match and kept a hungry Northwestern team down. "It was huge," Pankratz said. "I think it's really important, especially when you're the hunted because the longer you keep the other team in it and they think they can win, the more they gain confidence while our team can get tight." According to Gannon, the play worked just like the coaches drew it up. "When we get in the circle, we either want to get a shot off or force a corner and make something out of the play," Gannon said. "So I think the girls did a great job in forcing the corners and I got the shot off fast since the field was nice and slick." Ali Balmer and Catherine Foreman assisted on both goals, with Foreman setting. the school record for assists (58) - breaking Courtney Reid's old mark of 56 that was set from 1997 to 2000. Michigan's potency in the corners continued throughout the match, as the Wolverines hit the post once with seven minutes remaining, and had a goal disallowed just a few minutes prior -- which created an animated argument between Pankratz and the referee that carried on through the final seconds. The apparent goal was deflected through the pack of Northwestern defenders and hit over 18 inches above the board inside the net - which according to international rules nullifies the shot. "In hockey, when the ball crosses the line on a corner strike, because of safety they want to keep the ball at the level of the board - that's the rule," Pankratz stated. "Her shot was a little bit of a banana shot, it came off and we felt it came back down before it went in -but they didn't think so. It's a judgment call, and it's a really hard one at that speed to make. "But we just had to deal with it," she added with a smile. To deal with a possible letdown against Northwestern (with the Big Ten Tournament just a week away,) the Wolverines made several adjust- ments at halftime to help propel them to victory. These changes mostly had to do with the field con- ditions and Michigan's style of play, including improved their on the slip- pery field,'more intensity and more ball speed. But adapting to these conditions served another purpose for Michi- gan, as it will have to return to the same field when the Wolverines attempt to defend their conference tournament crown next weekend against the Wildcats on their home turf. "We haven't played here in two yearsNo for us to get back over here and play on the surface was impor- tant," Pankratz said. "It's a fast sur- face, so it's nice and it plays to our style really well." Reaction Women's Diesel Steve Madden I Reaction Men's Reaction Men's Steve Madden 0 FO SUCSFLLVNG% ULV,; M.