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-