Friday March 2, 2003 michigandaily.com sportsdesk@umich.edu OReTSiCbgan jaiv 8 Bears 'surprised' to play at Yost Iowa presents early challenge for Blue By Waldemar Centeno Daily Sports Writer By Dan Rosen Daily Sports Writer With loyal fans that could fill any arena close to home and a No. 6 spot in the Pairwise Rankings, the Uni- versity of Maine hockey team didn't expect to be at Yost Ice Arena in the Midwest regional. When the Black Bears sat down to watch the selec- tion show last Sunday, they thought they'd be headed to one of the two regional sites in the Northeast - Providence, R.I. or Worcester, Mass. - someplace closer to home. Ohio State and then Ferris State and the whole league championship," Michigan coach Red Berenson said. "I think that was good for our team, but (the Black Bears) have had one thing on their mind, (and that) is that (game) when they get to the tournament. This is what they're preparing for." Maine is led by Martin Kariya, who has 14-35-49 totals on the sea- son. The younger brother of Ana- heim Mighty Ducks' all-star Paul Kariya was also named to the Hock- ey East's All-Conference first team. "We were a little sur- prised," said Maine coach Tim Whitehead of his team's reaction to the news that they would play Michigan in Ann Arbor. The Black Bears have themselves to blame for that, though. Once the No. 1 team in the country, Maine has dropped seven of its last TOMORROW Michigan vs. Maine Time: 3 p.m. Yost Ice Arena. Fox Sports Detroit "He's. as fierce a com- petitor as you're going to find, and yet he only has three penalties all year," Whitehead said of Kariya. "He won the sportsmanship award in our league, and it's amazing, he could have won the competitor of the year. That's how remarkable of a player, "Here it is," first-year Michigan base- ball coach Rich Maloney said. "Here's the moment." For the Michigan baseball team, the Big Ten season will begin today in Iowa City. Coming off an exciting win against Central Michigan, the Wolver- ines' (8-9) adrenaline is pumping for their series against Iowa (6-6). "The guys are excited to get into con- ference play," Maloney said. "We've geared ourselves to be ready for this moment by using the first 17 games to really find ourselves. We thought that the first 17 games would be kind of a barometer to see where we stand." The Wolverines will see exactly where they are right now against a chal- lenging opponent in Iowa starting today through Sunday. The Hawkeyes have won five of their last seven games and are on a roll. But the Wolverines lead the all-time series against Iowa (80-35) and were the win- ners of three-of-four games in Ann Arbor last year. "Playing in (Iowa's) ballpark is going to be difficult," Maloney said. "However, on the same token, we fully expect to go down there and play well. We've played a pretty solid schedule up to this point, and we are excited to go into these games." Leaving all history aside, a confident Michigan ball club believes it has a chance to sweep the Hawkeyes. "I can bet that when Iowa saw Michi- gan on its schedule, it put us as a series sweep, and we obviously said the same thing," Maloney said. "Winning the series is the most important thing going into conference weekends. But the irony is that both teams are in that same mode. That's the great thing about baseball, something is going to have to give." Michigan's enthusiasm comes from its 15-6 triumph over Central Michigan. Both senior third baseman Brock Koman and redshirt freshman catcher Jeff Kunkel gathered three hits and drove in three runs in the opening game at the Fish. "Koman is one of the best hitters I have ever coached, and I have coached some pretty good ones," Maloney said. "Koman had an outstanding game and hit all five balls hard. He could have easily gone five-for-five. If there's a bet- ter hitter in our league, then I hope we don't have to face him." Kunkel was a critical replacement for the typical starting junior catcher Jake Fox, who felt ill before the game against Central Michigan. "Kunkel came in and gave us a big lift," Maloney said. "Fox was sick, so he wasn't in the game. But, it worked out well for us. Kunkel did a wonderful job by hitting a triple, and he was stellar throughout the game." 9 0 12 games. That stretch includes a first-round sweep out of the Hockey East Tour- nament by Massachusetts. "I think we got a little tired, men- tally and physically," Whitehead said. "I've seen that before, and it's a fine line. We still played some very good hockey at some points during that stretch in February there, that last month of the season where we slumped. Overall, we did not play our best hockey, and we know that." But that was almost three weeks ago, and Maine hasn't played since. "They've had nothing to think about except this game; whereas we've had our plates full, just with in my opinion, he is." Whitehead also compared Kariya to Michigan captain Jed Ortmeyer, in that their positive approach to the game inspires their teammates. Between the pipes, the Black Bears split time between freshman Jim Howard and sophomore Frank Doyle. Howard was a teammate of Michigan starter Al Montoya last season with the U.S. National Team Development Program. The two even roomed together on the road. "He's a great guy," Montoya said. "He's very competitive in every- thing he does. He always wants to do it to his best potential. He's just a TONY DING/Daily Freshman Danny Richmond will have his hands full against Maine's Martin Kariya tomorrow in the second game of the NCAA Midwest regional. Tumblers face tough competition at BTT great guy all around. We're friends off the ice." Although the two haven't had a chance to catch up directly yet this season, Montoya said that he often gets updates about Howard's play No. 2 MAINE VS. What the Black Bears bring to Yost Ice Arena: They bring a Kariya. No, not that one. But Martin is just as dangerous as his older brothers (49 points in 38 gamesplayed). Berenson's take on Maine: "I consider Maine the No. 4 team (in the nation) ... They were 20-2 at Christmas, so this is a pretty good team. I was voting Colorado College No.l, Maine No. 2 (for the early part of the season). If you look at the poll at Christmas ... that's their potential." Opposing coaches' views on Maine: "Maine plays at a high tempo and is an excellent transition team from defense to offense. This creates problems for teams. I say it is a 60-minute track meet. They keep coming and are always pushing the play ... Offensively, they attack with four men and will throw pucks to the net-creating traffic and loose puck situations. They are also deep and can play four lines ... Their recent struggles have come from inconsistent goaltending. If this area improves, they will be a dangerous team ... Will the three weeks off, from games, help or hurt? I think it will help." No. 3 MICHIGAN What the Wolverines bring to Yost Ice Arena: Basically, they'll bring the same stuff that they've had all season at home (a.k.a. very good hockey - minus one game against Michigan State). There's a lot of tradition in this playoff series - starting with Maine's three-overtime win in the national semifinals in 1995 - so expect senior captains Jed Ortneyer and John Shouneyia to have this young team more than ready for the game. Berenson's take on Michigan: "I don't think (the 0-3 record against Maine in the postseason) is a big part of the motivation against Maine - I think it's part of the respect. We've had good games with them... it's a good matchup, really ... but I can't tell you that (the past) is the focus of our team." Maine coach Tim Whitehead on Michigan: "We know the atmos- phere is tremendous at Michigan, and we. know they're a great team, and so it's going to be a great experience for us. And we know we have our hands full, and we're ready to go." from their old goalie coach with Team USA. On the ice, Howard has struggled a bit of late. In the losses to Massa- chusetts, the freshman gave up six goals in 40 minutes of play and was pulled from both games. Howard has been solid on the year, though, posting a 2.45 goals- against average and a 14-6-0 record.. "He's a very positive kid, very easy-going," Whitehead said. "He doesn't get flustered. He's just very composed, very poised in the net. Many times, with scrambles around the (goal), he seems like the calmest guy on the ice. That's a pretty good trait for your goalie, you know." But as far as playing his former teammate goes, Montoya has other things on his mind. "That'll be something special, but I'm looking more forward to the actual game," Montoya said. "I try not to think about it at all much dur- ing the week, I don't want to be mentally drained or anything. But god, this is the reason you come to Michigan, is to play in games like this." The brutal nature of gymnastics does not appear on the parallel bars or pom- mel horse, but rather in the seats of the judge's table. It's the judge's discretion which controls who will be a champion. "Judges determine the outcome, not the athletes' performance," Michigan coach Kurt Golder said. "Our sport is judged subjectively. Regardless of indi- vidual performance, somebody else is going to determine the victor." The men's gymnastics team will be competing at the Big Ten Championship in Columbus this weekend - a tourna- ment that has traditionally been fruitful for the Maize and Blue. "But at Big Ten's it's real fair," Golder said of the judging. He emphasized that Columbus will be neutral ground, as each representative state will bring two judges. "Ohio State will just have the crowd advantage." Amassing 14 Big Ten championships in the program's history, the Wolverines won back-to-back Big Ten titles in 1999 and 2000 and finished as runner-up the By Kevin Maratea Daily Sports Writer last two seasons. The No.6Wolverines (8-7 overall) are ultimately looking to prepare for the upcoming NCAAs with a strong performance this weekend. The Big Ten is loaded with talent, as all six of the competing schools are ranked nationally in the top 10: Penn State (No. 2), Ohio State (No. 3), Illinois (No. 5), Minnesota (No. 7) and Iowa (No. 8). "A finish in the top three would be very good," Golder said. "We're not at full strength, so I don't know if we can win it or not. But we do have seven indi- vidual champions in the lineup, which no other team can equal." The Wolverines have not been at full strength much this season, but the return of senior Kris Zimmerman should enhance the team's chances. "Adding a former national and Big Ten champion on the parallel bars back into the lineup should be a big boost to our team," Golder said. Zimmerman is returning to the lineup after competing in just two meets due to nagging back problems. He will be lim- ited to competing in just three of the six events. In addition to the parallel bars, he is expected to participate in the vault and horizontal bar. Game-breakers Game-breakers Semior forward Martin Kariya 38 Games played 14 goals, 4 GWG 35 assists Freshman goaltender Jim Howard 14-6-0 47 goals allowed 3 shutouts, 91.6 save pct. Senior forward Jed Ortmeyer 33 Games played 16 goals, 1 GWG 16 assists Freshman goaltender Al Montoya 28-9-3 92 goals allowed 4 shutouts, 91.0 save pct. PREDICTION: MICHIGAN 4-3 (OT) - ENDING MAINE'S PERFECT RECORD AGAINST MICHIGAN IN THE POSTSEASON. New DVD IIl Ii NNNiRentals .-.-.w 21 8 Mile TCharlotte's W6b 2 PITN -mieLOWEST PRICES! HIGHEST QUALITY! +Over 1,000 Titles FASTEST SER VICE! * 1002 PONTIAC TR. U North Cmps994-1367 Plerpont Commons Weather can't hamper home opener for 'M' By Daniel Bremmer Daily Sports Writer all about what we do." What the Wolverines do will be important to a team that will play its forced the team to practice indoors over the past few weeks, with its first real practice on Alumni Field not com- For Michigan softball coach Carol Hutchins, this weekend's start of the Big Ten season will mean her team will face some of the strongest compe- tition it has seen to date. But Hutchins is worried less about how her oppo- nents will come out and play and more with how her own team will get out of the gate. "We're all about Michigan," Hutchins said. "We'll take a look at a couple of (scouting reports) we get from our scouts, but in general, we're first home games of the season at Alumni Field this weekend - squar- ing off against Illinois today and tomorrow before taking on North- western on Sunday. While home field advantage would usually come into play at this point in the season, the softball team will have no THIS WEEKEND Michigan vs. Illinois Time: 3 p.m. today, 1 p.m. tomorrow Alumni Field ing until yesterday. Making things even tougher for the No. 15 Wolverines (16-6), their opponents are both play- ing well as of late. The Fighting Illini (19-5) have won nine of their last 10 games and received votes in the most recent top 25 poll. Meanwhile, the No. 24 Wildcats (17-6) are "The difference is the intensity that goes with the competition," Hutchins said of the conference season. "We have nothing but top notch teams coming in to play us. There's something at stake (now). In the preseason and exhibition games, there's not as much at stake. "Our kids need to keep in mind that nothing's changed, except possibly the importance that they put on the games. It's my job as a coach to keep them one-game focused and not worrying about anything else." In its last outing on Tuesday, Michi- gan split games with Bowling Green. While the loss to the Falcons (9-14-1) may have been cause for concern, Hutchins was pleased with how her team looked. "I thought we played great softball in the doubleheader," Hutchins said. "We didn't happen to win one of the games, but we really did play well." such luck today. Poor weather has The Bradford Group is an international company and the leader in direct marketing of limited-edition collectibles. We hire top talent; we support initiative and encourage creativity. 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D A Anr in A 4 Arr4 t Art ., - in /+.l i A III. arr11,einn P rnrint I"\ inn R i sntinnR trnnn intrnchin vnrin nria p rrn coming off a 4-0 week and have defeated four top-25 teams already this season, including a victory over pre- season No. 1 California. Hutchins hopes that her team's com- petitive non-conference schedule will prepare it for the tougher Big Ten stretch.