cJhe Mi higan &Iaa
SPORTSMO
Monday
November 25,2002
SECTION B
DA~NNY MOLOSHOKur/Daily (sadium), clock~wise fromtop left,.DAID KAx~TZ/aily, DANNY MOLOSHOK/D~aiy, DAVID KATZ/Daily
Michigan's Chris Perry (top left) looked on as Ohio State fans celebrated on the field. Many fans tried to bring
down the goal post (right). Ohio State's Will Allen (left), who had the final interception, celebrates with his team.
Loss to Ohio State makes season a ailure
COLUMBUS - Several minutes after the Wolver-
ines second straight loss to Ohio State, junior
tailback Chris Perry fought back tears and fits of
rage as he continued to keep his eyes glued on the thou-
sands of Buckeyes' fans rushing the field in massive
celebration.
As the last Wolverine to walk off the field - and be
escorted by police officers - Perry kept looking back
at the mayhem. He'd probably still be standing there if
running backs coach Fred Jackson didn't push him
along into the lockerroom.
"I wanted to see all the celebration," said Perry. "I
wanted to see them all celebrating, because I want to
live with it and remember it."
Officially, Michigan will now have to celebrate
another season that failed to meet expectations.
Michigan had the kind of season in which it could
very well have been playing for a national title berth on
Saturday in Columbus. Then, it would have been Perry
basking in glory while trash-talking
snake-bitten Ohio State fans
watched.
But the flipside is that this Michi-
gan team could just as easily have
been 6-6: If a miraculous Philip"
Brabbs' field goal had missed wide
right against Washington, a Penn
State completion had not been
called out of bounds and a Brooks JOE
Bollinger pass to Jonathan Orr had
connected in the final minutes, the SMITH
Wolverines could be heading for the The one
Motor City Bowl. and only
That's what made this Ohio State
game so pivotal. Win, and Michigan still would be 10-2,
have a chance to play in a BCS bowl and avoid losing to
its bitter rival for the second straight season - all goals rytn
for the Wolverines this season. game
Lose, and the Wolverines pack their bags for central Michigan athletic d%.ector Bill Martin said yesterday the
Florida for the fourth time in the past five years, eye :: erieS n id ou thei old. i nahon uflt K
another possible four-loss season and listen to thend t d stntionunti
Buckeyes rub it in their face for another 360 or so days. after next weekend's games are played out
Lose, and like it or not, the season is a failure. Wh9ie Martin said the Wolverines are likely headed t i the
"There's never a good season when you lose to Ohio Vapital One Bwl in Orlando, Fla. or the Outback 8owl n
State," said Michigan offensive coordinator Terry Mal- Tampa, Fla. he said sin.e the..ig Ten doesn't know for
one. "No matter what else happens." sure if Iowa will reoeive the Rose Bowl invitation, Michk
And other than dramatic, memorable finishes against gan will have to wait another week before making plans.
Washington and Penn State, nothing of grave impor- ": just g:t off the phone with the BIg Ten CommissIoner,
tance happened to the Wolverines this year. and that's what he told me," Martin ski over the ph.
As senior Ron Bellamy said, the team didn't accomplish last night. "We know nothing at thiS poln"
their goals - and by definition that equates to failing. It's possible that the BCS .oud select team.with a
Michigan didn't win the Big Ten title. It's not going large draw s.ch ,s Notre Dame to play in the Rose Bowl.
to the Rose Bowl. It's not playing in a BCS bowl game. even if the bowl usually takes the Big.Ten oham.
See SMITH, Page 4B
Blue rides Waves to shutout victory
WOMEN's SOCCER ANN ARBOR
Third period collapse burns 'M'
By Dan Rosen
Daily Sports Writer
For 17 seconds on Saturday, the crowd at
Yost Ice Arena went nuts. Milan Gajic had
evened the score at three in the third period.
But before public address announcer Scott
Spooner could finish recognizing Gajic for
tying the game with less than four minutes
remaining, Notre Dame reclaimed the lead
and split the weekend series.
"This was a setback today, losing this game
at home," Michigan coach Red Berenson said.
"And we know we're not going to go through
the season unbeaten. But this was still a disap-
pointing loss because we put ourselves in
position to win this game."
The Wolverines entered the last period
leading 2-1. But just 5:26 into the final period,
the Fighting Irish tied things up on a high shot
from the right side of the crease by junior Tom
Galvin. Nine minutes later, they took a 3-2
lead on a rebound shot by Cory McLean.
"We had them down after two (periods) and
we couldn't hold that lead," Berenson said. "It
was going to be a one-goal game, and you had
to defend that lead, and we didn't do a good
job of defending it."
Suddenly trailing with just 5:40 left, the
Wolverines generated a number of good scor-
ing chances. Freshman Brandon Kaleniecki
had a slap shot from the right faceoff circle
stopped by Fighting Irish goalie Morgan Cey.
See IRISH, Page 3B
By Michael Nisson
Daily Sports Writer
ALYSSA WOOD/Daily
Michigan's Dwight Helminen tries to control his man
in the Wolverines 4-2 win over Notre Dame Friday.
The Michigan women's soccer team is liv-
ing out one of its dreams.
The Wolverines
won 2-0 on Satur- U MICHIGAN 2
day, stunning No. 3
seed Pepperdine in PEPPERDINE 0
the third round of
the NCAA Tournament. After the game,
Michigan coach Debbie Rademacher put the
teams' feelings in perspective.
"Obviously we're ecstatic to be still play-
ing," she said. " (Doing well in the NCAA
Tournament is) something that we've been
shooting for allseason. fp
As has been the case for a couple of
weeks, the Wolverines started out slow.
Pepperdine controlled the flow for much of
the first half, putting together many strings
of passes and keeping the ball in Michigan's
zone for nearly 20 minutes. But it was all for
naught because the Waves came up empty-
goal for us."
As the half wore on, the Wolverines began
to take command of the game. The shots
began to pile up, and it became clear that it
was only a matter of time before the Wolver-
ines would break the tie.
Freshman forward Therese Heaton did just
that. With 18:03 remaining in the half,
Heaton snatched up a loose ball in Pepper-
dine's defensive third of the field and then
beat Waves' goalkeeper Anna Piccarelli with
a low shot into the left corner of the net.
Pepperdine began to show frustration after
the goal, receiving a yellow card before the
end of the half and one more three minutes
into the second half.
Michigan continued to dominate the game
in the second half, keeping the ball in Pep-
perdine's third of the field for most of the
time. With 33:12 remaining in the contest,
Michele Perisi put the Wolverines up 2-0.
Michigan won a free kick at midfield, and
senior defender Andrea Kayal sent the ball
into the Pepperdine box. Abby Crumpton
Poor shooting and turnovers keep Cagers winless
By Charles Paradis
Daily Sports Writer
It's always something. In its second game of
the Paradise Jam Tournament, the Michigan
basketball team lim- _
field. The Wolverines were probably the coldest
thing in the Caribbean last night, shooting 27
percent from the field in its 65-53 loss to Vir-
ginia Tech.
The beginning of the game was characterized
by poor shooting by both teams. Michigan (0-2)
the equally poor shooting Hokies.
But while Virginia Tech was able to shake off
its slow start in the first half and come out fir-
ing after halftime, the Wolverines were never
able to find their touch.
"But I am going to be hard fought to find dif-