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September 15, 2003
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Stomping ground
MICHIGAN 38,NOEAM
Wolverines make
statement with
'blowout over Irish
By Naweed Sikora
-Daily Sports Editor
It wasn't supposed to happen this way. In a rivalry tradi-
tionally built on hard-fought, down-to-the-wire battles,
victories just don't come this easily.
But there is only one word that can capture the latest
chapter to the Michigan/Notre Dame rivalry book - dom-
ination.
"We whooped their ass this time," former Michigan
wideout Desmond Howard said after the game. "We may
never see that happen again in our lifetime."
No. 3 Michigan's 38-0 win was historic. It was the first
time the Wolverines have shutout the Irish since 1902, and
their 38-point margin of victory is the largest ever (the
previous record was 23 points, set in 1898 and 1902).
By the end of the first half, it was clear that the Wolver-
ines, plain and simple, were just the better team on the
field. Both on offense and defense, Michigan seemed to
know everything Notre Dame was going to do before it
happened -and the Wolverines were ready. They had a
greater sense of motivation and simply wore down the
Irish.
"I don't think we've ever been this prepared for a
game," offensive lineman Tony Pape said. "We spent so
much time in the film room and at practice. We were
ready for them."
Chris Perry seemed to be on a mission. The senior
rushed for 133 yards on 31 carries and three touchdowns.
He also had a touchdown reception on a short pass from
John Navarre.
"Our offensive line made great holes for me," Perry
said. "They have been doing a great job all year. When
they make holes like that, I have no choice but to run
through them."
' The offensive line dominated what was supposed to be a
strong Notre Dame defensive front - a front that takes
pride in stopping the running game.
If the offensive line keeps up its play and Perry contin-
ues finding those holes, it's shaping up to be quite a sea-
.son for Perry. He has already picked up 549 yards and
Sseven touchdowns on the ground and caught one touch-
down.
"Perry is playing great right now, and if he keeps it up,
he's going to have all the success he can imagine," Pape
: said.
Navarre also seemed to have sharpened his game after
last week's rough performance against Houston. Although
he suffered a big hit and fumbled on Michigan's first
See IRISH, Page 583
Heart, as well as
legs, is key to
Perry' ssuccesses
hris Perry's legs carried him to a pretty decent first
three years at Michigan. It's apparently another
muscle entirely that's fueling him this season.
"Chris is running with his heart, he's not running with
his legs," offensive tackle Tony
Pape said. "I think that's the big
change he made this year."
It shows.
The rap on Perry used to be
that he ran straight into defend-
ers, rather than cutting or juking
his way to extra yards. Saturday,
he ran around, over and through COURTNEY
people. On a third-down play in CUE Y
the third quarter, when a Notre LEWIS
Dame defender stood in his path, Full Court Press
Perry just hurdled the guy like it
was high school track practice. And that's the second time
he's done that this season.
Perry bulldozed his way through the Fighting Irish's
defense for 133 yards and three touchdowns, and he
added a touchdown reception - the first of his career.
And these weren't easy yards, either. Perry had more
carries then all of his teammates combined, so the Irish
had to know a running play meant No. 23 was getting the
ball. But they couldn't stop him. Perry just kept chug-
ging. He got yards after the catch, yards after contact,
yards just for fun.
Perry is clearly giving extra effort in his senior season.
Not many of his carries are flashy, breakout runs going
the length of the field. The 6-foot-1, 218-pound tailback
has earned his yards by relentlessly pounding defenses.
He averaged just 4.3 yards per carry against the Irish, but
they added up, partly because he wasn't once caught
behind the line of scrimmage. And his gains were impor-
tant. Perry has become the man Michigan counts on not
only for touchdowns, but also for grinding out first
downs.
Perry put up huge numbers in Michigan's first two
games, too. But those were against two teams (Central
Michigan and Houston) just hoping to get out of the Big
House alive.
"Saturday was'differeiit.
This was a rivalry game, and - considering Michi-
gan's recent tendency to lose nonconference games and
hurt its national title chances early - one that the
Wolverines needed to win. And that's why Perry's per-
formance was so important for Michigan. Perry hasn't
always shown up in big games - he ran for more than
100 yards in each of the Wolverines' first two games last
See LEWIS, Page 58
BRENDAN O'DONNELL/The Daily
Michigan linebacker Lawrence Reid erupts after tackling Notre Dame running back Ryan Grant for a five-yard loss.
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SocC IT TO ME, BABY
Page 8B
,a
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As the Michi n men's soccer team heads into its fourth season with varsit status, the players
and their coach remember the exhilerating and heartbreaking moments of their past.
Journey back through the program's short, but rich history
Chemistry Quiz. How well do players really know each other?
Check out the 2003 roster and schedule
Shutout
gives M'
fourth win
in a row
By Steven Shears
Daily Sports Writer
Road to Frozen Four begins now
4
A'
A
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a'
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4
a
al
By Gennaro Filice
Daily Sports Writer
It's getting to be that time again.
The leaves are beginning to fall, the
sun has started to fade and Michigan's
gridiron hype has gone national.
Attendance sheets are gone (and iron-
ically, so are students), production on
Bell's Oberon Ale has ceased and
sorority girls are losing their minds
(and definitely voices) in the annual
circus act known as "Rush." But,
underneath every staple of the Ann
Arbor fall, a fundamental process of
the Michigan winter has begun - and
it ain't earmuff shopping.
The Michigan hockey team - partic-
ipants in the Frozen Four in each of the
last three seasons - hit the ice of Yost
Arena last Wednesday for captains'
practice. But, for the first time in three
years, these coach-less practice sessions,
which go on through the end of this
week, aren't led by Jed Ortmeyer - a
two-time team captain. After Ortmeyer's
graduation last year, coach Red Beren-
son promoted senior Andy Burnes from
alternate captain (a role he played last
season) to team captain.
"When coach announced I was
team captain, it was a tremendous
honor," Burnes said. "You look at
Ortmeyer and John Shouneyia (alternate
captain), have departed, Burnes stresses
that their influence is always present.
"Obviously, Jed and Johnny received
a lot of praise from our coaching staff,
and I did really learn all three years I
was playing with those guys," Burnes
said. "I know what those guys did to be
successful and to be looked upon as
good leaders, and I definitely picked up
a lot from them."
Burnes is joined in captainship by
juniors Eric Nystrom and Brandon
Rogers, who will both don the alternate
captain 'A.'
"They're both very hard workers,"
Burnes said. "Eric is a real vocal guy,
and he's a guy who's going to step up
and say stuff that needs to be said.
"Brandon Rogers is a defenseman
like myself, and I think that will be good
too because this year we've got a lot of
young defensemen coming in, and with
two of the captains being defensemen, I
think that will set a pretty good prece-
dent for our younger players."
The trio will run practices until
the coaching staff takes over next
Monday. The sessions include a list
of drills assigned by the coaching
staff, intrasquad scrimmaging and
some conditioning.
"We're just trying to get in shape,"
Burnes said.
The Blue/White intrasquad game
takes place on Sept. 26, and the Wolver-
ines open the season against Mercyhurst
on Oct. 4 at Yost.
On the Michigan field hockey ros-
ter, there is a 'Fr.' next to Jill Civic's
name.
But in the eyes of her teammates,
there is no such thing as a freshman.
Civic was the catalyst for the
Wolverines in yes- 9Ew H ArsHIRE 0
terday's 5-0 win M RH GAN 5
over New Hamp-
shire, jumpstart-
ing the offense
against the Wiidcats (2-4).
Just 12 seconds into the game, the
freshman found the ball off a New
Hampshire defender and put it past
the goalie on the right side. Civic,
second on the team in goals (six),
certainly does not play like a fresh-
man.
"The freshman jitters are out now,"
Civic said. "I feel comfortable."
But then again, no one expects her
to perform like an underclassman.
"We told all the freshmen that you
aren't freshmen," Michigan coach
Marcia Pankratz said. "There is no
freshman class, and our expectations
are higher than that,"
Civic understands there is no
emphasis put on age at Michigan.
"Every day you earn your spot and
the coaches put the best players out
JASON COOPER/Daily
Sophomore Lori Hillman blows past an Ohio defender yesterday. She set up her
teammates twice in the 6-0 rout.
rarely let the ball cross over midfield,
holding New Hampshire to no shots
on goal.
"We were confident and executed
our fundamentals," Pankratz said.
"Fundamentally, if you feel good and
you're confident where you put the
ball, you can play good possession
hockey."
It wasn't until the second half that
Michigan reignited its offense.
Once again, it was the underclass-
men providing the boost. Sophomore
Lori Hillman's unselfishness fostered
two assists.
Her first was to senior captain April
Fronzoni just 2:35 into the second
half. Fronzoni found the pass and
swept to the right side to put it in.
"Hillman has played like an upper-
classman since the day she got here,"
Pankratz said. "She's in the middle of
the field, and she's a smart player. She
is on, and our team is in good shape."
another freshman, Mary Fox, for the
first goal of her career. Fox's goal put
Michigan up by five and the scoring
rout ended.
The Wolverines had an astounding
37 shots on goal, compared to one
shot by the Wildcats.
The victory capped a complete
shutout this weekend, as the Wolver-
ines blanked Ohio 6-0 on Friday. It
was ball control and defense that was
essential in that victory as well.
"I was more impressed with our
defense this weekend because we shut
teams out," Pankratz said. "Even
though we've scored a lot of goals
over the years, our strength has been
limiting shots and playing tenacious
defense. This weekend, I was very
proud of them for doing that."
Along with Civic's two goals,
another freshman, goaltender Beth
Riley, helped provide the shutout
against Ohio (1-3) in her first colle-
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