The Michigan Daily - SportsTuesday - September 2, 2003 - 17A 'M' eleven performs clean sheet for weekend upsets Michigan stumbles on opening road trip By Ellen McGurity Daily Sports Writer EAST LANSING - Wedding bells rang for Michigan soccer coach Steve Burns this weekend as he watched his team unite both confidence and.skill in the Michigan M State Invitational. In the team's sec- ond and third games of the season, the Wolverines dominated No. 2 Loyola- Marymount 2-0 and Xavier 1-0. "Anytime you start the season, it's kind of like planning for a wedding: You put all these plans in place, and you've got everything right," Burns said. "Then you're standing there at the altar, hoping your bride shows up. You never know how it's going to translate in terms of that first game." The win against Loyola-Marymount on Saturday was just the second win Michigan has ever had against a ranked team in its three years holding varsity status. Even more impressive is that Michigan nearly beat another ranked team, No. 12 Notre Dame, a week ago when they tied 1-1, in exhibition. The Loyola-Marymount game got off to a promising start as the team kept the ball mostly in it's opponent's half of the field. But 15 minutes in, the ball came dangerously close to getting past junior goalkeeper Peter Dzubay. "They came out and they got a lot of easy fouls" said Dzubay, who achieved nine saves in the first half. "They had a real big guy who'd send the ball out to the back post, and he'd try to send it back in and it was working for them. He (almost) got lucky on a couple." By the second half, the Wolverines had re-grouped and re-energized, com- ing out with a more possession-orient- ed, rather than direct style of play. "We adjusted what we needed to at the half,' Burns said. "Keeping the ball on the ground was key for us. We felt that we would be able to take them apart if we could keep the ball on the ground in the central midfield." The change worked for the Wolver- ines when juniors Mychal Turpin and Knox Cameron scored goals within one minute of each other five minutes into the second half. With his goal, Turpin, who also scored the only goal in last week's game against Notre Dame, earned the title of Big Ten Co-Offensive Player of the Week. Scoring two goals in a row helped break down Loyola Marymount's defense and allowed Michigan to take Junior midflelder Karl Lopata attempts a pass yesterday against Xavier. The Wolverines beat the Musketeers 1-0. By Melanie Kebler Daily Sports Writer There's no better way for a team to improve than to schedule tough matches against high-ranked oppo- nents. If the first three games of the Michigan women's soccer team's sea- son are any evidence, the team has taken that philos- ophy to heart. After a tough BGA yuG preseason full of daily double practices, the Wolverines opened competi- tive play two weeks ago with 4 an exhibition match against one of the most storied women's soccer programs in the nation, North Carolina. Last weekend, they jumped on a plane again, head- ing West to battle No. 27 Brigham Young and Utah. "It's going to be tough," Michigan coach Debbie Rademacher said of Michigan's upcoming year. "It's not going to be any easier than last week- end. Our schedule is pretty much tough all the way through." The Wolverines have a lot to pre- pare for if the games in Utah are to be considered "easy." Michigan went 0- 1-1 for the weekend, fighting through rough and aggressive play. The mental and physical fatigue that results from such play was a big factor for the Wolverines when they took on the Utes Sunday afternoon. "I don't think we were completely ready to play," Rademacher said. "We were mentally unprepared, and we didn't show up ready to battle. We started the match on our heels and were on the defensive the entire time." Utah took advantage of Michigan's slow start and jumped out to an early 3-0 lead in the first half. The Wolver- ines couldn't get going until midway through the second half, and by then it was too late. "We didn't play nearly as well as we could have," senior co-captain Erika Kleinholz said. "We definitely didn't challenge hard, and our individ- ual battles weren't played that well." Friday's game against Brigham Young was much more competitive, and much longer, as the game was delayed during the second half because See COUGARS, Page 20A control of the game. "After that second goal, the heads of their team all went down," Burns said. "They were very vulnerable for a good fifteen minutes." But Loyola-Marymount came back to take possession of the ball again, forcing the Wolverines to stay on guard for the remainder of the game. "Suddenly, it went back their way and then it was a dangerous game because you think you're in control, but if they get one of their direct knock-down goals, then it's a big time fight right to the end," Burns said yesterday. It was obvious that the Wolverines' win from the day before had not gone to their heads. They immediately took pos- session of the ball from Xavier and kept it throughout the game. Cameron scored the only goal of the game in the second period to clinch the win. With the two victories this weekend and the tie in their exhibition game last week, Michigan has already shown its improvement from last year, when at this point the team had only won one of its first three games. I . - . .. . .. .. ... . .. .. ... . ... .. .. .. ... .. . I .. .. ... .. .. I I .. ... .. .. .. .. ... .. .... ... .. .. .. ... .. .. .. ... .. .. I . .. ... .. .. .. ... .. .. .. .. ... .. . .. ... .. .. .. .. ...