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Wednesday,
November 27, 2002
ntichigandaily.com
sportsdesk@umich.edu
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showdown
By Bob Hunt
Daily Sports Writer
As Michigan goes into the 10th annual Col-
lege Hockey Showcase against Wisconsin and
Minnesota on Friday and Sunday, respectively,
the Michigan coaching staff has made wholesale
changes to each of its lines.
Head coach Red Berenson and his staff have
been considering changing up the forward pair-
ings for about a week now, as the Wolverines
haven't been as explosive offensively. After
Notre Dame defeated Michigan 4-3 last Satur-
day, the coaches decided that now was the time
for the change.
"Maybe some of the little things caught up
with us on Saturday night that we were getting
away with and winning," Assistant coach Billy
Powers said. "Unfortunately, in sports, some-
times those things take a loss to really register."
The changes come right before playing a Min-
nesota team that ended Michigan's season last
April in the NCAA Frozen Four en route to a
title.
"There's definitely going to be some emotion
in that game," forward Dwight Helminen said.
"They beat us twice last year and we have some-
thing -to prove."
The Gophers are a lot younger this year, but
their freshmen - led by nine-goal scorer
Thomas Vanek - have outscored all of the other
freshman classes in the Western Collegiate
Hockey Association,
The Badgers have been by far the least suc-
cessful team in the history of the College Hock-
ey Showcase - going 2-15-1 over Thanksgiving
weekend the last nine years. Despite bringing on
USCHO TOP 15
Team (First Place) Record Points
1. Boston College (11) 9-1-1 541
2. North Dakota (9) 11-1-0 526
3. New Hampshire (10) 8-2-2 518
4. Maine (7) 9-1-1 463
5. Denver (2) 10-2-2 444
6. Colorado College (1) 9-1-2 444
7. Cornell 6-1-0 343
8. Michigan 9-2-1 340
9. Minnesota 7-3-3 254
10. Ferris State 11-3-0 244
11. Boston University 6-3-2 212
12. Miami 12-3-1 189
13. Harvard 5-2-0 106
14. Providence 8-4-1 54
15. Ohio State 8-4-1 52
fAOAP
GM)NOTES
Varsity lands four on
first team All-Big Ten
all received the honor. Baas, Hobson
and Jackson also were named to the
first team by the media.
Tight end Bennie Joppru and kick-
er/punter Adam Finley received second
team honors from the coaches and
+I '',
5
On the heels of a 9-3 regular season, media. The coaches also voted wii
the Michigan football team had four receiver Braylon Edwards to the se
players named to the All-Big Ten First ond team. Defensive lineman Da
Team by the conference's coaches. Rumishek earned second team hono
Sophomore left guard David Baas, on the media's All-Big Ten team.
junior offensive tackle Tony Pape, sen- B.J. Askew, Grant Bowman, Ca
ior linebacker Victor Hobson and June, John Navarre, Shantee Orr a.
sophomore cornerback Marlin Jackson Chris Perry received honorable mentio
Blue desperate after
ide
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V
return fromParadise
By Chris Burke
Daily Sports Writer
The phrase "Paradise Jam" turned
out to be quite ironic.
The Michigan men's basketball team
finished the tournament with an 0-3
record - the team's first 0-3 start
since 1970-71 - was hardly "Par-
adise" and shooting just over 35-per-
cent left the Wolverines without many
opportunities to "Jam."
So as the holiday weekend approach-
es, the Wolverines have little to be
thankful for - other than the fact that
their game against Western Michigan on
Saturday won't be in the Virgin Islands.
Michigan headed to its first presea-
son tournament since a trip to the Maui
Invitational in 1994. Unfortunately, the
Wolverines were easily handled in the
first round by St. Bonaventure, and
were unable to regroup, subsequently
dropping contests to Virginia Tech and
Kansas State.
"I think, obviously, we'd like to be 3-
0 instead of 0-3," Michigan coach
Tommy Amaker told the Ann Arbor
News after Monday's 82-71 loss to
Kansas State. "One of the reasons why
we scheduled (the tournament) was to
make sure that we would find out
about ourselves right away. Obviously,
we have a lot to work on"
Michigan has less than a week to fix
those glitches, because Western Michi-
gan will enter Saturday's game as a
confident bunch.
After dropping its opener to Prince-
ton, Western Michigan has rolled over
Cal.-Irvine and Fordham - the latter
CRISLER ARENA
Who: Michigan (0-3) vs. Western Michigan (2-1)
When: 2 p.m.
Latest: According to College RPI.com, the win-
less Wolverines are two spots ahead of 1-0
Michigan State in the latest RPI rankings.
being a 70-51 trouncing on Monday.
A plus for the Wolverines is that the
Broncos do not possess a lot of team
size. Their starting center in Monday's
win, junior Anthony Kann, stands at
just 6-foot-7, and there are only three
Broncos who top the 6-foot-8 mark.
Michigan was knocked around by
Virginia Tech's center, Terry Taylor, to
the tune of 23 points in the Hokies' 65-
53 victory on Sunday. Kansas State then
continued the trend, as Pervis Pasco
poured in 14 points as Michigan's start-
ing center, Chris Hunter, found himself
in foul trouble.
Before the Wolverines departed for
the Paradise Jam, Amaker had expressed
concerns about exactly that problem.
"I'm hoping our defense will lead to
our transition. I'm not completely sold
on all of that yet," Amaker said. "I do
feel like scoring on the interior,
defending on the interior I'm con-
cerned about."
Last year, the Broncos led Michigan
by 19 at halftime, and held on 79-73.
After a miserable tournament trip,
getting revenge on the Broncos is some-
thing that Michigan desperately needs.
And while everyone in the Midwest
groans 'over the freezing cold and
snow, the Wolverines probably couldn't
be hannier to be out of "Paradise."
01
BRENDAN O'DONNELL/Daily
Michigan freshman Jeff Tambellini is just one the many Michigan forwards changing lines this weekend when
the Wolverines head to Wisconsin and Minnesota for the College Hockey Showcase.
new coach Mike Eaves from the U.S. National
U-20 Team, Wisconsin still sits in last place in
the WCHA with a 1-5 conference record.
Michigan, the winningest team in the history
of the College Hockey Showcase, has not lost to
the Badgers in their last eight meetings.
The Wolverines are 12-5-1 in the nine-year histo-
ry of the showcase, and have yet to lose a road
game in Thanksgiving weekend event.
Michigan will try to combat these Big Ten
rivals by moving freshman Jeff Tambellini back
to left wing.
The freshman will be back on a line with sen-
ior Mark Mink and Helminen, who he's played
with the majority of the season.
The British Columbia native started the season
as Michigan's hottest player, scoring six goals in
his first six games. But Tambellini hasn't lit the
lamp since.
"You go through slumps and you go through
droughts," Tambellini said. "You usually get
some bad goal somewhere, and it kind of kick
starts again.
"Hopefully we can get lucky in the first game
and get going again."
Berenson believes Tambellini's new position
will make it easier for him to generate scoring
opportunities, as left wing is his natural position.
MADISON AND MINNEAPOLIS
Who: Michigan (6-1-1 CCHA, 9-2-1 overall) vs. Wisconsin (1-5-0
WCHA, 5-7-0) and Minnesota (4-2-2 WCHA, 7-3-3)
When: 8:05 p.m. Friday, 3:05 p.m. Sunday
Latest: The Wolverines will travel to two Big Ten cities over the
Thanksgiving weekend to take part in the 10th annual College
Hockey Showcase.
"You can see more of the ice when you're
coming down on your on wing than you can
when your on your off wing," Berenson said.
"We know we've been a little bit slow, and
hopefully that shakes us up a little bit," Tam-
bellini said. "We can't lose between now and
Christmas for sure."
This weekend, the forwards should get more
scoring opportunities, as they will be playing on
an Olympic-sized ice surface for the first time
this season.
Wisconsin's Kohl Center and Minnesota's
Mariucci Arena each have 100-foot wide sheets
of ice, making open-ice skating more important
than before.
"You've got to use your speed," Helminen
said. "There's plenty of open ice so you can get
something going out there."
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SATURDAYS
COLLEGE FOOTBALL
A nnr 1-AV19 %k1 A V
Kickers set for NCAA quarteiinals
WOMEN'S SOCCER SANTA CLARA, CALIF.
0]
By Michael Nisson
Daily Sports Writer
It's time for round four in the David versus Goliath chal-
lenge, otherwise known as the NCAA Tournament.
After handling No. 3 seed Pepperdine 2-0 Saturday, the
Michigan women's soccer team travels to Santa
Clara, Calif. this weekend to take on the fifth-
seeded Broncos of Santa Clara in quarterfinal SANTA CL
action of the NCAA Tournament. Who: Michig
Although the Broncos are seeded lower than Santa Clara (
the Waves, that doesn't tell the whole story. When: 4 p.m
Santa Clara (18-4-1) is the defending national Latest: If theV
champion and also has one of the best players in want to adva
the country in senior midfielder Aly Wagner, national semi
who won the Honda Award as the nation's best need to defea
female soccer player last year. national cha
"They also have a pretty good supporting team.
cast," Michigan coach Debbie Rademacher said. "We really
have to produce together as a team and have some strategy of
countering their strengths with our strengths."
With Wagner leading the way, it should come as no sur-
prise that Santa Clara's strength, much like Pepperdine's, is
its offense.
Santa Clara is "a similar type of team to Pepperdine, but
probably with a little bit more size and strength," Rademach-
er said. "They try to move the ball around and spread teams
m
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ifin
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out and play a possession type of game on the ground.
"Their speed of play is quick."
While some might immediately doubt the Wolverines'
chances, the team is playing its best soccer of the year and
that's a valauble aspect of tournament play.
"We're peaking at the right time," Rademacher said.
"The team set a goal at the beginning of the
IE A year, and each game gets us more and more
RA, CALIF. excited at the possibility of winning a national
(16-6-1) vs. championship."
41) Michigan (16-6-1) has shut out its last three
opponents, bringing its season total to an
olverines astounding 10 blankings. The Wolverines have
e to the also outscored their opponents 44-17 this year.
als, they will Much of the scoring can be credited to the
ast year's dynamic duo of Big Ten Player of the Year Abby
onship Crumpton and freshman Therese Heaton. The
pair has combined to score 21 times.
"If Abby and Therese can get an early service (in the box)
behind Santa Clara, they going to give them problems," Pep-
perdine coach Tim Ward said.
The Wolverines also impressed Pepperdine freshman goal-
keeper Anna Piccarelli.
"I think that Santa Clara will have some trouble playing
Michigan," Piccarelli said. "I think the size factor, and (the
fact that) they go through every ball will be a problem for
Santa Clara."
JASONOUOPER/Daily
LeeAnn Bles has been steady in the middle for the Wolverines so far, but it has
been Michigan's bench that has enabled the team to nail down a 2-0 record.
Deep bench helps 'M'
cagers in close wins
By Brian Schick
Daily Sports Writer
M' still hoping for NCAA berth
When scouting the Michigan
women's basketball team, coaches often
look at the roster and see a team that
relies heavily on its bench, a possible
sign of inexperience.
As Michigan was facing at an eight-
point deficit with four minutes remain-
ing, Cal.-Santa Barbara coach Mark
French saw the Wolverines slowly los-
ing control of the game.
"As they started to turn the ball over
and our pressure was picking up, we
went up by eight and I was thinking
'They're just about to crack,"' French
said. "It would have been very under-
standable; they're young (players). But
they didn't - they hung in there and
they did what they needed to do."
As it turned out, Michigan coach Sue
Guevara stuck with the same lineup,
which included two bench players, in
crunch time and pulled out a 70-64 win
against the 25th-ranked Gauchos.
CRISLER ARENA
Who: Michigan (2-0) vs. Massachusetts (2-0)
and Detroit (0-2)
When: 7 p.m. Friday, 2 p.m. Sunday
Latest: The Wolverines will conclude their sea-
son-opening, four-game homestand before
heading to the Xavier Invitational on Dec. 7.
emotional leader on the team.
"We have (Gandy) coming off the
bench who gives us that emotional ener-
gy and she gets us going," Guevara said.
"We need to get that experienced depth
and it's a good boost for our team."
With the game tied at 64 in the final
minutes, Andrews calmly hit two free
throws to put the Wolverines ahead for
the first time in the second half.
Although Andrews was only playing in
her second game, Guevara wasn't con-
cerned about her remaining on the floor,
as well as the rest of her young lineup.
"I thought they did a really nice job
of maintaining their composure and (I)
didn't see them panic," Guevara said.
0.
4,
By Albert Kim
Daily Sports Writer
The Michigan women's volleyball
team will fight for a chance to
extend its season this weekend at
Cliff Keen Arena.
The Wolverines will face No. 15 Wis-
consin on Friday night and Northwestern
on Saturday in their last two matches of
the Big Ten regular season. Michigan (9-
9 Big Ten, 15-13 overall) must win both
matches to even have a chance at secur-
ing a spot in the NCAA Tournament.
"It will all be determined this week-
end," Michigan coach
Mark Rosen said. "If we
play great this weekend, it CLIFF KE
gives us a shot, but maybe
not a great shot"Wh:Michig
I .a ctvar the team was 15-13 overall
Michigan is 10-1 at home this season,
and only 5-12 on the road.
"We've certainly played much better
at home all year, and it's nice to be
home during Thanksgiving," Rosen
said. "We're going to have
to be a lot more consistent
N A REN A than last weekend."
Saturday night will also
(9-9 Big Ten, be senior night for the
s. No. 15 Wolverine .Lone senior
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