Wednesday November 26, 2003 www.michigandaily.com sports@michigandaily.com eRmTShigan Baill 8 Blue marches on in second round without Cameron U By Jeremy Antar Daily Sports Writer haven't been there before." Burns feels that Michigan should not look at Saint Peter's as the underdog, and that it should take an underdog attitude in the game. "We need to play exactly how Saint Peter's is playing, and that is like the Cinderella wildcard," The Michigan men's soccer team will dive head-first into the NCAA Tournament today when the Wolverines face off against Saint Peter's College. But while Saint - - Peter's comes in as a lower seed and "underdog," Michigan is not exactly buying this game as an early-round Mic breeze. For one thing, the Wolver- Sr ines have never faced Saint Peter's. T <> Michigan has also never played in U -M > an NCAA Tournament game, while Saint Peter's has experienced the heat of the NCAA Tournament when it defeated a seasoned Brown team last week. "There's certainly a level of confidence with our team," Michigan coach Steve Burns said. "There's also a level of concern because it's the unknown for us. It's uncharted territory, and we h<< v Burns said. "This is new to us, this how we think we need to play. This is the intensity we need to play with, go out and get it done." Burns noted that Saint Peter's plays a very similar style of soccer to Michigan, and that should pro- duce a high-scoring contest. of the Year Knox Cameron. He will be playing with the U.S. Under-20 Youth Soccer Team in the FIFA World Youth Championship for the next few weeks. While replacing Cameron is impossible, the coaches have been working with the players to ensure that the team understands that Cameron is only one player, and that this team has the tal- ent to win without him. "We've tried to make sure that the rallying cry is not, 'Oh look at us, we're without Knox Cameron, our best player,' but it's, 'Hey, look at how we are still a good team even without our best player,' "Burns said. Without Cameron, Michigan will lean heavily on junior Mychal Turpin. Turpin went on a sen- sational run early in the season - at one stretch netting two four-goal games in two weeks. But he hasn't scored a goal since Sept. 30. Turpin suffered an ankle injury shortly after his second four-goal performance, and has not been the same since. "There's some psychology that's gone on with Mychal, in terms of getting him back to his form that he had in the first half of the sea- son," Burns said. It is no secret that Michigan will try to get the ball to Turpin's feet today, giving him the opportu- nity to work the magic he did in September. Michigan has had a long and successful sea- son, and it has worked hard to prepare itself for its first run in the NCAA Tournament. Burns knows that no matter how much the other coaches and himself have prepared the team for what lies ahead, come game day, it's up to the players to make it happen. "Soccer's a great game," Burns said. "It's very different than any other sport where it's player centered and not coach centered. Come game day, coaches have very little impact on the game. It's all the work that the players have done and the coaches have done up till that point." "They're a team that's a lot like us," Burns said. "They prefer to keep the ball on the ground, and they prefer to play more of a possession ori- ented game, compared to a direct style of soccer." Putting goals on the board will not be an easy task for the Wolverines because they will be without the services of the 2003 Big Ten Athlete CURTIS HILLER/Daily Senior Mike White and the Wolverines will make their debut in the NCAA Tournament today. Helvey 'nervous' around Jeter Moore bids adieu to Cliff Keen By Ellen McGarrity Daily Sports Writer It was actually her second meeting with the New York Yankees shortstop. Last Friday evening began uneventful- ly for freshman women's basketball player Kelly Helvey. She and a few of her teammates - senior Jennifer Smith, junior Tabitha Pool and sophomore Niki Reams - arrived at Crisler Arena to watch the men's basketball game against Oakland. The teams often attend one another's that night was no exception. THIS W E Mchs an v gnvitati Tine: 5 p.m TBA Sat games, and A few minutes into the half, there was a media timeout and the cameramen scanned the crowd for boisterous fans to display on the media scoreboard. The obvious choice was the unexpect- ed group of New York Yankees sitting in folding chairs along the sidelines - among them famous shortstop Derek Jeter. Their picture quickly appeared above the scoreboard and baseball fans, including Helvey, went wild. "I just freaked out," Helvey said. "He's my favorite baseball player. Ever since I was a little kid, I've always liked him." Just before halftime, the Yankees were escorted off the court and into the women's basketball lockerroom where they wouldn't be bothered by photo- and autograph-seeking fans. Many people in the crowd and even members of the media tried to follow them for a handshake or autograph, but the security guards turned them all away. However, one of the Wolverines made an exception. "They were in our locker EKEN room," Helvey said. "So Jen Ts Tech asked him if we could go down to meet him." Helvey had actually . Friday, already met the shortstop at a urday Detroit Tigers' game when she was in fifth grade, but that didn't stop her from tak- ing a second opportunity to chat with her favorite player. The girls were allowed into their lock- er room where just a few hours before they had suited up for their game against Western Michigan. But the locker room was drastically transformed with the presence of the Yankees and their entourage. "We met Derek, Jason Giambi, Jeff Weaver, Jorge Posada and a bunch of the other Yankees," Helvey said. She recalled talking with Jeter about her team's win earlier that day, but said she was "just too nervous" to bring up anything else. Both Helvey and Smith walked out of the lockerroom with autographs, but Helvey left with something perhaps even more special. In addition to a regular autograph, she RYAN WEINER/Daily Freshman Kelly Heivey met Derek Jeter during Friday's men's game against Oakland. asked Jeter to sign one of her basketball sneakers - the ones Helvey wears dur- ing all her Michigan games. The freshman sported the autographed shoes on Monday night in the team's game against Alabama, although Jeter's signature wasn't enough to pull the team to victory - Michigan lost 76-74 in overtime. There's no doubt Helvey, who is still recovering from a hip-pointer she incurred in Friday's game, hopes her newly decorated shoes bring her luck for the remainder of the season. By Eric Ambinder Daily Sports Writer Surrounded by darkness, she saw the light. Tiffin, Ohio, native Erin Moore - captain of the Michigan volleyball team - may have been born in the land of the Buckeyes, but will forever - bleed maize and blue. This past weekend, the Michigan vol- leyball team played its last home game Michigar of season. For Moore, it was the begin- atNo ning of the end. ity: 7 Moore will miss throwing the Michigan t:30 p; volleyball souvenir T-shirts into the crowd ikfH and hearing the pep band during player WelshA introductions at Cliff Keen Arena. She'll miss the crowd roaring for her, and then receiving "fives" from the kids who line the court before the game. She'll miss picking herself off the comfortable Cliff Keen floor after somersaulting to make a dig - a floor so inviting to her over the years. But most importantly, Moore, arguably one of the best Michigan volleyball players ever, will miss looking into the stands and seeing her parents, both alumni of Ohio State, cheering her on. Although both parents graduated from Ohio State, they couldn't be more proud to cheer for their daughter, even if she's wearing maize and blue. "When she made the choice to go to Michigan," Erin's father, Joseph, said. "We couldn't have been hap- pier." Moore's coach, Mark Rosen, couldn't have been happier either. "She brings a tremendous amount of leadership and not just one dimension of talent," Rosen said. "She's a tremendous all around player." Moore is Michigan's all-time leader in kills with 1,331, fourth all-time in career hitting percentage at .262 and ranks second in Michigan's 30-year history for block assists and total blocks. "She is incredibly competitive, very intense and she is also a lot of fun;' Rosen said. "I think she is very -- unselfish. She just wants to win. She'll EkEND do whatever she has to do to win." Even if that means cracking jokes to ct in' , ease her team right before a huge point westemn - a telling sign of her composure, lead- rn. Friday ership and confidence. Confidence has aturay gotten Moore to the top. (l~s1;1)Rosen remembers an incident when mnArena Moore was being playfully picked on during her freshmen year. "One day the girls were joking with her," Rosen said, "and she was like, 'Okay, pick on the girl with all the confidence.' Who says that? Somebody only says that when they are very, very confident." Adopting the leadership role was never difficult for Moore. She hopes her legacy will permeate with the future Wolverines in the same form of intensityand passion that she brought when she stepped on the court. "I hope that our freshmen remember me the way I remember our upper-classmen when I was a freshman,", Moore said. "Ijust hope I was able to make an impact on them, like how to lead a team." Moore will lead the Wolverines this weekend as they conclude their regular season, traveling to Northwestern and No. 18 Illinois. Moore's parents, both school teachers, will be there - they haven't missed a single game in two seasons. "It's going to be a very strange feeling not to rush home from school on a Friday and hop into maize and blue clothes and point the car north," Joseph Moore said. 10 9 a0 RYAN WEINER/Daily After watching the football team beat Ohio State on Saturday, Michael Woodford and the hockey team will play in the College Hockey Showcase this weekend. Icers enjoy week off, game at Big House By Sharad Mattu country," Woodford said. "The CCHA DailySports Writer is one of the top leagues, but the For one weekend, Michael Woodford was just like any other student. Without a hockey game to play, Woodford and his teammates spent last Saturday at Michigan Sta- _ dium. Saturday's game Ti S M against Ohio State was sod big that not only did the New York Yankees to Min show up, Woodford decid- TUe: 7:35 ed to stick around for the 7:35 p.m entire game, something Yost k that he had not been able to do before. But there was one thing the students did that the players didn't join in on. "Coach Pearson had us on the other side (of the field) so we wouldn't get trampled and could just watch everyone c' r lp WCHA is also a real good conference. It's a good opportunity for us to show the country that we're big-time players." Minnesota (3-6-1 WCHA, 4-7-1 over- all), Michigan's Frozen Four semifinal ---- nemesis the past two years, has had a shockingly rough start to the season. The c n Gophers have replaced last s ta year's goaltender, Travis in. Friday Weber, with freshman a4aY Kellen Briggs, but do have Aena 85 percent of their scoring from last year back. Minnesota had its best two games of the season this past weekend, when they swept Michigan Tech. Michigan is coming off a light week in which they practiced without coach- es. The week off came at a good time, HAPPY HOLIDA / 1*____NE FROM DEJA__U' WEDNESDAY1 1/26 - THURSDAY 12/4 MASTER AND COMMANDER (PG-13) I1LOVE ACTUALLY (RI