New standards keep I penalty box popular The Michigan Daily - SportsWednesday - October 15, 2003 - 3B 'Navarre Era'disappointment because of team, not Johnny By Brian Schick Daily Sports Writer OXFORD - Every CCHA game tends to be hard-fought, but if last weekend's series was an indication of new standards for officiating, the first few league series should keep the ref- erees busy. This season, the CCHA has vowed to crack down on hits to the head as well as obstruction penalties. It appears there will be a learn- ing curve for players adjusting to the new, stricter interpreta- tion of the rules. In ,: ~ All players, especially defensemen, will have to learn what will be enough to pass as normal contact and what is now considered an infraction. In addition, teams will have to prac- tice special teams, as both teams had significant time on the powerplay and shorthanded situations. Goaltender Al Montoya, who was called for obstruction-tripping on Sat- urday night, feels that the combina- tion of new rules and playing at Goggin Ice Arena made the situation appear worse. "At first, (the CCHA officials) are going to be hard and strict with their rules," Montoya said. "It's a small rink and people are battling all day so there's a going to be a lot of penalties called here." BURNES RETURNS: Heading into this weekend, Berenson was debating whether to play senior defenseman Andy Burnes, who injured his ankle last week during practice. Although it was only a minor injury, it was enough to scratch his captain for Friday night's game. According to Berenson, Burnes said JOEL FRIEDMAN/Daily The Wolverines struggled to slow down Miami on Friday, falling 8-3. the two-game series between Michi- gan and Miami (Ohio), referee Steve McInchak called a combined 52 penalties for a total of 123 minutes. "There were a lot of penalties; some of them deserved and some of them (were) questionable," Michigan coach Red Berenson said. "But if that's the interpretation we're going to see every night, there's going to be a lot of penalties until the players learn." REDHAWKS Continued from Page 1B he was healthy enough to play, but decided to hold off to prevent aggra- vating the ankle. "Maybe I could have played him (Friday) night, but I wanted to give him another day to feel better about it," Berenson said. "Maybe I should have in hindsight." Perhaps after seeing Friday's result, it was worth reconsidering. Burnes was in the lineup for Saturday's game, and he didn't disappoint. He made his presence felt on defense, showing no hesitation about slamming Miami players into the boards and diving to block shots. And in a game that had 11 penal- ties called against Michigan, Burnes stayed out of the box, which gave some much-needed help on the penalty kill. "He made a big difference," Berenson said. "He's our leader, our captain, a physical force on the defense and we're a different team (when he's playing)." and wandered out halfway to the blueline to clear the puck. But he fell and left the net empty for a few seconds. Miami frantically fired a shot wide left of the goal, and Michigan then cleared the puck. "I won't do it again, but I should have had it," Montoya said. Miami had another great chance in the sec- ond period when Todd Grant received a pass from the left corner. But Montoya dove and caught the one-timer. Miami's lone goal came at 7:51 in the third period when Derek Edwardson - who scored a hat trick Friday - fired a shot from the slot just over Montoya's glove. The goal set up a frantic last 10 minutes, but the Redhawks were unable to find the net. After the game, the Wolverines were thrilled to salvage a split and had already put Friday's debacle behind them. "It was just one game," Berenson said. "We don't like the score, but we've got to live with it. We had to bounce back and have a good game, and we did that." J. BRADY MCCOLLOUGH The SportsMonday Column INNEAPOLIS - John Navarre really got me thinking after Michi- an's 30-27 loss to Iowa Oct. 4. "I feel bad for the guys," he said, on the verge of tears. John Navarre felt bad for them? On the drive back from Iowa City, I couldn't stop thinking about that comment. Was Navarre admitting his guilt? Admitting it was he who lost the game and not the Michigan special teams? I still don't know what he meant, but it struck me how bad he felt for his teammates when they failed him just as much as he failed them. Navarre had just lost his sixth straight game to a ranked opponent on the road. But ugly statistics aside, he did what he'd always done - everything BUT win the game. Notice how I say he lost the game and not the Wolverines - that's how it works around here. I began to pity Navarre and everything he's gone through. No college student deserves the treatment he's gotten from fans and the media. I considered how bad I felt about Michigan losing its second game in three weeks. Then I thought about what it would be like to be Navarre flying back to Ann Arbor with the weight of the Wolverine world on his shoulders. Put yourself in his size-infinity shoes sometime. Imagine a class that you just can't pass. You've taken it six different semesters, and no matter how hard you try - if you're like Navarre, you take the meaning of "try" to a whole new level - you fail the final exam every time. You may have put up startling numbers on your midterm and quizzes, but you bomb the final exam no matter what. And here's the catch: When you don't pass the class, nobody else in the class pass- es either --including your best friends. And when you don't pass it for the sixth straight time, reporters from all the newspa- pers blast you. The rest of the campus calls for your removal from the University. "SPEN-CER BRIN-TON! SPEN-CER BRIN-TON!" "JER-MAINE GON-ZAL-ES! JER- MAINE GON-ZAL-ES!" And most recently ... "MATT GU- TIER-REZ! MATT GU-TIER-REZ!" How do you like being Navarre so far? I do know this: If Navarre was reading this column right now, he'd want to puke. Navarre has never wanted anyone's pity. He showed that Friday night in what might have been the greatest performance of his career, issuing a "Shut the hell up" to everyone who ever said Michigan couldn't win a big game on the road with him at quarterback. Navarre never should have been a three- year starter at Michigan. When Drew Hen- son left for the New York Yankees, Navarre was hurled into the fire a year prematurely. But Navarre never made excuses for him- self, even when things were really bad. He knows his limitations just as much as the rest of us do. He'll never be fast or flashy, he'll always throw some balls inaccurately, but he has worked his ass off in the film room and the practice field to make up for those limitations. In fact, if you dissected the tape from the Minnesota victory Friday, you'd see Navarre played the same game against Oregon and Iowa. On some plays, you see the obvious improvement he has made since 2001. On others, you wonder if he's improved at all. He misfired on a crucial 4th-and-1 swing pass to Chris Perry. On Michigan's eventual game-winning drive, he threw a pass to Jason Avant, draped by a group of Minneso- ta defenders in the endzone, that could have been picked off. But unlike the Oregon and Iowa games, people will remember the great things he did in this one - the shock- ing touchdown reception from receiver Steve Breaston and his 52-yard touchdown heave to Braylon Edwards. This time, with the same things holding him back, Navarre won. He won because his teammates helped him win it. He won because the special teams survived a game without a monu- mental screw up. He won because the Michigan coaches found a way for Perry to beat the Minnesota defense through the air. He won because Edwards, Avant and Breaston played their best game as a receiving trio. Aside from eight games that Henson started freshman year (6-2 record, .75 win percentage), John Navarre has been my quarterback during my four years at Michi- gan (26-10, .72). My graduating class will go down as the Navarre Era of Michigan football, and many will look back at us as the class whose New Year's Day dreams were held down by Navarre. But when I look back at the Navarre Era, I'll remember a quarter- back who persevered through a life's worth of critics and a team -not an individual - that couldn't silence them. J. Brady McCollough can be reached at bradymcc@umich.edu. ' eleven lack of finishing apparent in ties By Melanie Kebler Daily Sports Writer Purdue women's soccer coach Robert Klatt paced the sidelines tensely. The clock was winding down, Michigan held a 1-0 lead and the Boilermak- ers needed an equalizer badly. So with a minute and a half left, Klatt made a strategic move. He sent in a substitute for his keeper. Fans in the stands might not have understood Klatt's move, but on the other side of the field his intentions were clear. Goalkeepers can substitute an unlimited number of times in college soccer. The clock stops every time a substitution is made in the last five minutes of the game. And since the Purdue (5-1-1 Big Ten, 9-2-2 overall) keepers kept rotating in and out during the last minute and a half, the game stretched just long enough to give the Boiler- makers time to punch in a goal with 22 seconds left and send the match to overtime. "Most games you're going to win with 22 sec- onds left," Michigan coach Debbie Rademacher said. "(Klatt) kept stopping the clock with subbing the keepers, and had he not done that, we would have won and the game would have been over." Instead, Michigan (2-2-4, 3-5-6) ended up record- ing its sixth double-overtime tie of the season and its second of the weekend, after finishing with a score- less draw against Indiana (3-3-1, 6-6-1) on Friday. "Every time it's a broken record out here," Rademacher said. "It's because we're not scoring goals." Lately, the Wolverines have had trouble finishing their offensive chances, and last weekend was no different. Michigan's only goal came from a set piece, when junior co-captain Laura Tanchon sent a bending kick from just outside the box over the head of Purdue's keeper. But even after firing 32 shots - 15 of them on goal - the Wolverines just couldn't put the ball in the net. "It's disappointing, especially when you're up a goal and you end up tying and going to two over- times," Tanchon said. "(In the second half) I think we got a little tentative, because we were up 1-0, and we just let down." The Wolverines know that if they don't start get- ting some conference wins soon - which are worth three points in the standings as opposed to one point for a tie - they may see their chances of postseason play slip away. "It's better than a loss," freshman forward Katie Kramer said of Saturday's tie. "But it's frustrating, because we'd rather win these games. We need a big win so we can get some points and get into the Big Ten Tournament." Michigan is currently tied for third in the Big Ten standings with 10 points, but has the second-worst overall winning percentage - 0.429. Next week- end the Wolverines will try for a win at home when they face Iowa and Central Michigan.