I 2B - The Michigan Daily - SportsMonday - December 2, 2002 CLUB CPORIsWEEKLY Goals 'almost' achieved in nationial title season Vick-timized By Megan Kolodgy Daily Sports Writer After beating Colorado, 2-1, in the national championship, going 25-1-1, winning the state of Michigan, region- al and conference tournaments and shutting out the team (Penn State) that defeated them in the national champi- onship semi-finals last season, Michi- gan's women's club soccer team had just one thing to say. "This was by far the best season," captain Anne Haghgooie said.' Senior Meghan Harrison agreed. "The.team achieved almost all of its goals," Harrison said. "We won the conference tournament, came together as a team and beat a couple of teams that we really wanted to beat" The tournament started on a sour note, when one of the team's cap- tains broke her arm on the first day of competition. Despite this loss, Michigan managed to barrel through its bracket undefeated and trounced teams such as James Madison, Texas A&M and Maryland. The championship game was played on Nov. 23, in Bakersfield, Calif. The Wolverines earned their bid to.the prestigious national tourna- ment by winning their regional Tour- nament. The positive attitude that Michigan was able to maintain throughout the season served them well in the tournament. "We were very confident going into the championship game," Haghgooie said. "At that point, it wasn't even about which team is better. It's all about heart, and who wants it more." The game remained scoreless until the first five minutes of the second half, when Colorado fired a shot in the box. With 20 minutes remaining in the game, Michigan received a penalty kick for a Colorado handball in the box. Junior Bethany Dalby made the shot. With a mere five minutes left on the clock, sophomore Gwen Reyes scored the game-winner for Michigan, securing the national title for the Michigan club. The quest for a national champi- onship began in late August. The first activity the Wolverines participated in as a team was not a standard soccer practice, but rather a day at a ropes course building leadership and team- work, followed by a picnic. "We have really gotten along well from the get-go," Harrison explained. Haghgooie also noticed that the team gelled unusually quickly. "The team has the most amazing chemistry I've ever seen on a soccer team," Haghgooie said. "There were so many positives this season, and it was just a great way to end my soc- cer career." There was not room on this team for a few dominant players; the Wolverines success did not find success in players attempting to outshine one another. "We really didn't have any stars," Harrison explained. "We just had a very solid team, from first to last off the bench." The players challenged one anoth- er's capabilities, and channeled their competitive spirit into playing as a unit. They found success with a caring attitude and a strong sense of unity. "If people struggled, we didn't look at it as an opportunity to push our- selves up," Haghgooie said. "Instead of pushing them down, the team picked them back up." abe fichig% OWN ATHLETE OF THE WEEK Who: Jennifer Smith Sport: Women's basketball Hometown: Lansing Year: Junior Position: center Why: With a career-best 29 points yesterday, Smith led the Wolverines to a 87-63 victory over Detroit. She also had 20 points in the Wolverines' Fri- day night win over Massachusetts. Michigan is off to a 4-0 start, its best since 1999. Smith 6M9SCHEDULE Tomorrow M Basketball vs. Central Michigan, 7 p.m. Thursday. Dec. 5 Volleyball at NCAA Tournament First and Second Rounds (Campus Sites) W Swim/Diving at U.S. Open (Minneapolis) Friday, Dec. 6 M Swim/Diving at Eastern Michigan Invitational, 3:30 p.m. W Gymnastics in Intrasquad Meet, 7 p.m. Hockey at Northern Michigan, 7:05 p.m. Volleyball at NCAA Tournament First and Second Rounds (Campus Sites) W Swim/Diving at U.S. Open (Minneapolis) Wrestling at Cliff Keen Invitational (Las Vegas, Nev.) Saturday, Dec. 7 W Basketball vs. Saint Louis at Xavier Invitational, 3 p.m. M Basketball at Duke, 3:30 p.m. M Swim/Diving at Eastern Michigan Invitational, 3:30 p.m. Hockey at Northern Michigan, 7:05 p.m. Volleyball at NCAA Tournament First and Second Rounds (Campus Sites) W Swim/Diving at U.S. Open (Minneapolis) Wrestling at Cliff Keen Invitational (Las Vegas, Nev.) The Falcons' Michael Vick had 173 yards passing and 173 yards rushing in Atlanta's 30-24 overtime win against Minnesota yesterday. V Sunday. Dec. 8 W Basketball vs. Central Connecticut or Xavier at Xavier Invitational, 1 or 3 p.m. Volleyball at NCAA Tournament First and Second Rounds (Campus Sites) IFS *I SEE SOMETHING WRONG? IF SO E-MAIL US AT CORRECTIONS UMICHADIU SPORTS Sutter and assistants firedby Sharks due to 'tere start' SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) - The San Jose Sharks fired , x coach Darryl Sutter and assistants Lorne Molleken and t Rich Preston on Sunday in a dramatic shakeup of a slump-x ing team. Doug Wilson, the Sharks' director of pro development,Y and scout Cap Raeder will coach the team until a new head coach is named. With San Jose off to a terrible 8-12-2-2 start, general manager Dean Lombardi decided to replace Sutter, who had led the Sharks to five consecutive seasons of improved point totals while helping to transform them from a laughingstock into a Stanley Cup contender. San Jose became a consistent winner in Sutter's tenure, but he couldn't do anything this season with an under- achieving club that's been one of the NHL's most surprising disappointments. "Darryl was an integral part of the growth of this team the past five seasons," Lombardi said. "This was not an easy decision to make." Following Saturday night's 3-2 home loss to Phoenix, the AP PHOTO Sharks are mired in last place in the Pacific Division, which San Jose Sharks head coach Daryll Sutter was fired they won last season. yesterday by the team, after starting the season 812-2-2. Packers finallyC cinch division e Russia overcomes deficit to win Cup PARIS (AP) - No deficit was too daunting for Russia or Mikhail Youzh- ny in the Davis Cup final. Marat Safin's win over Sebastien Grosjean kept Russia alive. Russia became the first finalist in 38 years to overcome a 2-1 deficit, beat- ing defending champion France to claim its first title when Youzhny fought off a two-set hole in the last match yesterday. Youzhny, a ball boy the last time Russia played in a Davis Cup final, stunned Paul-Henri Mathieu 3-6, 2-6, 6-3, 7-5, 6-4 to give Russia a 3-2 edge in the best-of-five series. "When I was down two sets to love, I told myself: 'I have to play my game, I have to do my best,"' said Youzhny, at 20 the same age as his opponent. "I won this match because I'm in top form. And even though I'm young, I already have experience in big matches." Russia is just'the sixth team to win a Davis Cup final after trailing 2-I. The last was Australia against the United States in 1964. After the last point - Mathieu hit a service return long - the Russian team rushed onto the clay court, lifted Youzhny above their heads and began throwing him repeatedly into the air. LeBron shoots lights out in season opener AKRON, Ohio (AP) - LeBron James can shoot the lights out - but not with the lights out. James, widely acknowledged as the best high school basketball play- er in the country, and his Akron St. Vincent-St. Mary teammates had their season opener cut short by a power outage Saturday night. The Division II Fighting Irish were up 45-10 over Wellston, a Division III school from southern Ohio, with 47 seconds left in the first half when the lights went out. "It's very disappointing," coach Dru Joyce said when the game was suspended after a 45-minute wait. "I honestly want to finish. I'm will- ing to sit here two or three hours to do so, but the power company said some- thing about a five-hour wait." James had 11 points in the game. DAMY SCOREBOARD NBA STANDINGS NHL STANDINGS NFL STANDINGS AMERICAN CONFERENCE East EASTERN CONFERENCE Atlantic Division Philadelphia Boston New Jersey Orlando Washington New York Miami Central Division Indiana Detroit New Orleans Milwaukee Atlanta Toronto Chicago Cleveland 3 7 1 7 9 9 W L 14 4 10 5 11 6 10 7 6 10 4 10 4 12 W L 13 2 12 5 11 5 8 8 8 9 5 10 4 12 2 16 W L 15 1 11 7 9 6 9 8 9 8 5 11 2 14 GREEN BAY, Wis. (AP) - The Green Bay Packers won their first divi- sion title in five years by forcing five turnovers and getting an outstanding performance by rookie running back Tony Fisher in a 30-20 victory over the Chicago Bears yesterday. Fisher, an undrafted free agent from Notre Dame, replaced Ahman Green, who hurt his left knee in the third quar- ter. Fisher ran 17 times for 91 yards and a touchdown. The Packers (9-3), who were coming off two straight losses, clinched the NFC North. They also remained the only team without a loss at home (6-0). On a cold, windy day at Lambeau Field, Brett Favre threw two second- half touchdown passes and improved to 33-0 at home in temperatures of 34 or below. He beat the Bears for the 18th time in 22 tries. The Packers (9-3) trailed 14-6 at half- time and appeared on their way to another defeat until Rod Walker recov- ered Jim Miller's fumbled snap at the Green Bay 1 early in the third quarter. It came one play after Marty Book- er's apparent touchdown catch was called an incompletion, and the Bears lost a challenge. The Packers then drove 90 yards - with Fisher accounting for half of them - and went ahead for the first time on Ryan Longwell's 27-yard field goal that made it 16-14. Fisher was third on the depth chart until fellow rookie Najeh Davenport was lost for the season two weeks ago with a fractured left eye socket. The Bears (3-9) also lost their start- ing running back, Anthony Thomas, who broke his right index finger in the first half. He was replaced by Leon Johnson. Green hurt his left knee when he was tackled by Mike Brown at the end of a 29-yard run early in the third quarter. The Bears took a 14-6 halftime lead on tight end Dustin Lyman's first two career touchdowns, one of which he scored on a fake field goal. Playing on grass for the first time all season, the Bears went ahead 7-0 when Paul Edinger lined up for a 30-yard field goal in the first quarter and holder Brad Maynard pitched the ball to Lyman instead. The TD was set up by defensive end Alex Brown's recovery of Favre's fum- ble at the Green Bay 18. Miller's 8-yard touchdown toss to Lyman made it 14-3, and Longwell's 31-yarder made it 14-6. Then came a wild final minute before halftime. Johnson fumbled at midfield with 21 seconds left, and Na'il Diggs recovered for Green Bay. On the final play of the half, Favre's pass was intercepted at the Bears five by Damon Moore, who raced down the sideline but fumbled at midfield. Packers lineman Mike Flanagan recovered but tossed the ball into the air. Chicago cornerback Roosevelt Williams grabbed the gift and was on his way to another Bears touchdown when Packers receiver Javon Walker chased him down 15 yards shy of the end zone._ Pct .778 .667 .647 .588 .375 .286 .250 Pct .867 .706 .688 .500 .471 .333 .250 .111 Pct .938 .611 .600 .529 .529 .313 .125 Pct .722 .533 .529 .467 .353 .353 .353 7y 8 9 GB 2 2.5 5.5 6 8 9.5 12.5 GB 5 5.5 6.5- Northeast Division Boston Ottawa Montreal Toronto Buffalo W 16 13 10 11 4 L 3 6 9 11 14 L 7 7 8 12 14 Southeast Division W Carolina 11 Tampa Bay 12 Florida 7 Washington 10 Atlanta 6 EASTERN CONFERENCE Atlantic Division GB ~WL GB New Jersey 13 E - Philadelphia 11 2.5 Pittsburgh 11 E 2.5 N.Y. Rangers 10 1: 3.5 N.Y. Islanders 8 1 L 6 6 12 13 WESTERN CONFERENCE Midwest Division Dallas San Antonio Houston Minnesota Utah Denver Memphis Pacific Division Sacramento Phoenix Seattle Portland Golden State L.A. Clippers L.A. Lakers NBA GAMES WESTERN CONFERENCE Central Division W L St. Louis 13 7 Detroit 12 7 Chicago 10 10 Columbus 9 11 Nashville 4 11 Pts 28 28 28 24 19 Pts 36 29 25 24 13 Pts 29 28 24 22 14 Pts 29 28 23 22 16 Pts 34 31 27 27 18 Pts 36 27 25 21 20 West W I San Diego 8 Oakland 7 Denver 7 ' Kansas City 6 C NATIONAL CONFERENCE Miami New England N.Y.Jets Buffalo South Indianapolis Tennessee Jacksonville Houston North Pittsburgh Baltimore Cleveland Cincinnati W 7 7 6 6 W 7 5 3 W 7 6 6 1 PF 287 303 235 315 PF 257 275 256. 157 PF 303 224 262 204 PF 263 328 295 370 PF 320 202 166 219 PF 247 316 322 158 PF 325 238 215 278 PF 285 235 190 244 PA 228 251 243 338 PA 206 287 231 288 PA 269 250 243 335 PA 265 238 266 312 PA 187 217 214 280 PA 126 211 281 221 PA 250 300 331 332 PA 259 242 313 280 *I E 6.5 Northwest Division 10 W 13 Vancouver 15 Minnesota 13 Edmonton 11 Colorado 8 GB Calgary 6 W 13 8 9 7 6 6 6 L 5 7 8 8 11 11 11 3.5 3.5 4.5 6.5 6.5 6.5 L 5 7 8 6 12 L 6 7 7 12 12 East Philadelphia N.Y. Giants Dallas Washington South Tampa Bay Atlanta New Orleans Carolina North x-Green Bay Chicago Detroit Minnesota W 9 6 5 5 W 9 8 7 4 W 9 3 3 3 Pacific Division Dallas Los Angeles Anaheim Phoenix San Jose 0, W 15 10 8 8 8 NHL GAMES Yesterday's games Indiana 92, L.A. CLIPPERS 87 Toronto 92, MEMPHIS 87 New Orleans at BOsToN, inc. Houston at SACRAMENTO, inc. New Jersey at SEATTLE, inc. Minnesota at L.A. LAKERS, inc. The Most Important Exam You'll Ever Take At U of M Yesterday's games N.Y. RANGERS 4, Tampa Bay 3 ATLANTA 5, Washington 4 Calgary at DETROIT, inc. Chicago at ANAHEIM, inc. Today's games New Jersey at PHILADELPHIA, 7 p.m. Tomorrow's games St. Louis at BOSTON, 7 p.m. Vancouver at N.Y. ISLANDERS, 7 p.m. Columbus at N.Y. RANGERS, 7 p.m. Anaheim at DETROIT, 7:30 p.m. Washington at PITTSBURGH, 7:30 p.m. Tampa Bay at TORONTO, 7:30 p.m. Carolina at NASHVILLE, 8 p.m. Calgary at COLORADO, 9 p.m. San Jose at PHOENIX, 9 p.m. Minnesota at EDMONTON, 9 p.m. Wednesday's games Anaheim at BUFFALO, 7 p.m. Vancouver at NEW JERSEY, 7:30 p.m. Carolina at FLORIDA, 7:30 p.m. Ottawa at CHICAGO, 8:30 p.m. Montreal at DALLAS, 8:30 p.m. Thursday's games Atlanta at BosToN, 7 p.m. Edmonton at TAMPA BAY, 7 p.m. NY Rangers at PHILADELPHIA, 8 p.m. Ottawa at ST. Louis, 8 p.m. Detroit at PHOENIX, 8 p.m. Minnesota at CALGARY, 9 p.m. Nashville at Los ANG9LES, 10:30 p.m. Last Thursday's games New England 20, DETROIT 12 Dallas 27, Washington 20 Yesterday's games ' TENNESSEE 32, NY Giants 29, ATLANTA 30, Minnesota 24 Pittsburgh 25, JACKSONVILLE 23 KANSAS CITY 49 , Arizona 0 BALTIMORE 27, Cincinnati 23 GREEN BAY 30, Chicago 20 BUFFALO 38, Miami 21 CAROLINA 13, Cleveland 6 INDIANAPOLIS 19, Houston 3 San Diego 30, Denver 27 Philadelphia 10, St. Louis 3 San Francisco 31, Seattle 24 NEW ORLEANS 0, TAMPA BAY 0 Today's game NY Jets at Oakland 9 p.m. Next Sunday's games Houston at Pittsburgh, 1 p.m. San Francisco at Dallas, 1 p.m. N.Y. Giants at Washington, 1 p.m. Buffalo at New England, 1 p.m. St. Louis at Kansas City, 1 p.m. Indianapolis at Tennessee, 1 p.m. Cincinnati at Carolina, 1 p.m. Cleveland at Jacksonville, 1 p.m. Atlanta at Tampa Bay, 1 p.m. Detroit at Arizona, 4:05 p.m. Philadelphia at Seattle, 4:05 p.m. New Orleans at Baltimore, 4:05 p.m. Denver at N.Y. Jets, 4:15 p.m. Oakland at San Diego, 4:15 p.m. Minnesota at Green Bay, 8:30 p.m. West W San Francisco 8 St. Louis 5 Arizona 4 Seattle 4 x-clinched division NFL GAMES #1 Q i j~ttent job Quicken Loans and Rock Financial are "All of the above." As the leading online provider of home loans, we're revolutionizing the mortgage industry with quick and easy home financing. We work hard. We play hard. 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