Blue goalie tk heats up late By Ryan Sosin Daily Sports Writer DETROIT - Michigan goalie Al Montoya hasn't been playing up to his usual level. But when the third period of any game starts, the bad breaks that have plagued him all season seem to disappear, the junior becomes almost unbeatable. While the numbers don't show a great disparity in his play between periods, Montoya has stood on his head when the Wol- verines have entered the third within one goal of their opponent. "He shouldn't have to be the difference night after night," Mich- igan coach Red Berenson said. "When (Saturday's) game was on the line, Al Montoya stood tall, and kept us in the game and gave us a chance to win. And that's all you can ask of your goalie." During Saturday's 5-2 victory over Lake Superior State, Mon- toya opened the final period with a sprawling glove save that set the tone for Michigan's push down the stretch. Just as he did during Thursday's win - when he stopped all nine shots Lake Superior State fired at him - Montoya kept the Michigan net empty in the third stanza. After a solid first period Saturday, Montoya lapsed into the inconsistent play that has become commonplace for him during many stretches throughout the season's first six games. While attempting to clear a puck from behind the net 38 seconds into the middle frame, a Lakers forward picked Montoya's pass off as it careened off of the boards and put it into the net before the Michi- gan netminder could get back to the crease. The second goal given up by Montoya also fell into the "soft goal" category. With a clear view of the shooter and nothing between him and the shooter to deflect the shot, Montoya was sim- ply beaten stickside, and Lake Superior State took a 2-1 lead. "It's moving past errors," Michigan goalie coach Stan Matwijiw sad. "It's subtle things that most people aren't going to see. But I know what he's thinking, and he knows what's going on. He's f maybe being overly critical on the little things he's doing." After every shaky period and every weak goal, Montoya has moved forward to look sharp in the third period. "As a goalie, mind and body have to walk together," Matwijiw said. "As soon as your mind separates from your body, that's when The Michigan Daily - SportsMonday - October 25, 2004 - 3B Spikers fall to Badgers RYAN WEINER/Daily Goalie Al Montoya has been inconsistent so far this season. Montoya knows that, as the CCHA season continues to get roll- ing, the bad breaks will come and go. "You just have to let it go," Montoya said. "You have to stay focused and go for the win." One of the reasons Montoya stayed in Ann Arbor - instead of signing with the NHL's New York Rangers, who drafted him sixth overall last summer - was to work on his development as a hockey player. There shouldn't be much questioning of his mental toughness in a high-pressure situation. Now, Montoya has to prove whether he - and the rest of his team - can put together a complete 60 minutes of error-free hockey. They haven't done it yet. But if Montoya's play in the third period is any indication, Michigan could prove it did deserve the No. 1 ranking it got to open the season. By Stephanie Wright Daily Sports Writer Despite falling behind in the sec- ond and third games of Friday night's match, the Michigan volleyball team regained its focus and fought back against a weaker team, defeating Northwestern (2-8 Big Ten, 7-13 over- all) by a score of 3-0. But against a solid Wisconsin team on Saturday, Michigan beat itself. With the match tied at one, Michi- gan (5-5, 15-6) took control of game three early, with N H E the steady play of seniors Jennifer Gandolph and Lisa s Gamalski leading to a 12-8 advan- tage. But the Wolverines couldn't hold onto their lead, allowing Wisconsin three streaks of three or more points on its way to a 30-23 win. In a reverse of game three, Michi- gan fell behind at the start of the fourth game, before Gandolph propelled the team within one, 16-15. Gandolph led the Wolverines with her seventh dou- ble-double of the season, recording 14 kills and 19 digs. Then Michigan fell apart. "Game four we broke down," Michi- gan coach Mark Rosen said. "We just kind of spiraled out of control. We had a chance to fight back in and force a game five and then we just didn't take care of it." The Badgers took advantage of the Wolverines' collapse, scoring the final seven points to win game four, 30-20, and the match, 3-1. But Michigan can compete with a good team like Wisconsin at times. After dropping a close first game, 31-29, the Wolverines were flat at the start of game two, allowing the Badgers to take a 4-0 lead. Sophomore Erin Cobler then had two strong kills to awaken Michi- gan, which traded points with Wiscon- sin until the middle of the game. At this point, the Wolverines' streaky play returned. The Badgers went on a 6- 0 run to take a commanding 19-12 lead. But like the night before, Michigan bounced back, with Cobler and sopho- mores Danielle Pflum and Megan Bow- man recording five kills and a decisive block to tie the game at 21. The Wolver- ines went on to win the back-and-forth game, 34-32. "We'll be unstoppable for one point, and then the next point we just fall apart," Cobler said. "I think we're playing a lot of mental games with ourselves right now. I think that we have the talent and skill to be unstop- pable, but we're just kind of holding ourselves back." It's not that Wisconsin (7-3, 13-5) played that much better - it recorded six fewer blocks than its season aver- age, while committing six more attack errors. And in the middle of game three, the Badgers were audibly tell- ing themselves to calm down. But Wisconsin was able to limit the length of Michigan's runs and kept the score close when it wasn't playing well. In order to assert itself as one of the elite teams in the Big Ten, Michigan recognizes that it must be able to do the same. "We can play with anybody for peri- ods of time, but we can't do it past a certain point," Rosen said. "Against the lower teams we're able to survive that, but against the top teams we're not. They're not going to wait around for us to be steady." you get in trouble."] 0 WOMEN'S CROSS COUNTRY Redsh-it firosh wins Classic By Jack Herman Daily Sports Writer Like most people, Michigan fresh- man Nicole Edwards considers run- ning a 5,000-meter cross country race a pretty daunting task. But, unlike most people, Edwards is actually a member of the women's cross country team. "I'm not as comfortable running cross country," Edwards said. "It's not what I do." That did not stop her from taking first place at the EMU Classic, which was held Friday at Buhr Park in Ann Arbor as a non scoring team meet. Edwards, who is redshirting and ran unattached, is more familiar with middle-distance racing, as her main sport is track in which she competes in the 800-meter run. In order to prepare for the 800, Edwards ran cross coun- try this fall to get a different approach to training. "I'm more of a speed person than a strength and distance person," Edwards said. "I was really weak at the begin- ning of the season, but cross country helped me get stronger." Despite her victory, cross country has not replaced track as her preferred running sport. "I'm really excited to run indoor track," Edwards said. "Thinking about indoors is what got me through cross country." Michigan coach Mike McGuire was pleased with Edwards's performance on Friday and feels that the cross country experience has been beneficial to her. "It's a good springboard for getting in shape for track," McGuire said. McGuire was also happy with the performance by the rest of the team, many of whom are also running cross country to get in shape for track. "It was a good effort - I thought we competed really well," McGuire said. "We were quite a bit faster than we were on this course earlier in the sea- son, and that shows that all of our hard work is paying off." Unattached junior Chelsea Loomis (19:15) came in third place behind Edwards. Senior Chelsea Holman (19:33) and Kalli Williams (19:43), both running for Michigan, crossed the finish line right after Loomis, placing fourth and fifth, respectively. McGuire was particularly impressed with the performance of Williams - a redshirt freshman. "I thought she showed a quite a bit of improvement," McGuire said. Williams, who cut 1:15 off her previ- ous time at Buhr Park, was delighted about the way the team performed. "We worked well as a team," Wil- liams said. "It was a good way to end the season." Friday marked the end of the sea- son for those who ran, as only the top Wolverines will compete at the Big Ten Championships on Sunday. Those who qualified sat out to rest for the upcom- ing meet. McGuire feels it is a good note for these runners to go out on. "It's a tangible reward for all the efforts during the fall," he said. SHUBRA OHRI/Daily Jennifer Gandolph had a solid game Saturday despite Michigan's loss to Wisconsin. She had 14 kills and 19 digs, recording her seventh double-double this year. U U -i ---- --- -- O & REC SPORTS INTRAMURALs The University of Michigan Department of Recreational Sports Intramural Sports Program www.recsports.umich.edu 734-763-3562 REC SPORTS INTRAMURALS Entries taken: Mon, 10/25 ONLY 11:00 AM - 5:30 PM IM Building Entry Fee: $88.00 per team Manager's Meeting: MANDATORY Wed, 10/27 6:00 PM or 9:00 PM IM Building i ,,. o l s 1 w . Entries taken: Mon, 10/25 ONLY 11:00 AM - 5:30 PM IM Building Entry Fee: $55.00 per team Manager's Meeting: MANDATORY Wed, 10/27 7:15 PM IM Building Play begins: Thurs, 10/28 M Building yball Play begins: Thu rs, 10/28 Mitchell Fields F I Wall Flag Football k' Entries due: Wed, 11/03 4:30 PM IM Building Entry Fee: $180.00 per team Manager's Meeting: MANDATORY Thur, 11/04 6:30 PM IM Building Tournament Dates: 1 4 )' 1 41/10 Entries due: Thurs, 11/04 4:30 PM IM Building Entry Fee: $25.00 per team $5.00 per individual f Entries als taken online Run Date: Sat, 11/06, 9:00 AM Mitchell Fields/Gallup Park Yost Ice Arena fI II I '~' ~ -