j 2B - The Michigan Daily - SportsMonday - November 29, 2004 CLUBSPORTSWEEKLY Femanle icers exceed exectations By Stella Binkevich and Alyssa Trotsky For the Daily Shear as a part of the been moti ing a great In a rebuilding year, the Mich- players hav igan's women's club hockey team they are d has surprised everyone, surpassing players fea all expectations and goals the play- the new c ers set for themselves. and assert Of the several factors that have in the seas helped the team succeed, none are team come more important than the reconfigu- the ice. ration of the coaching staff. In additi "Getting a new coaching staff there was has brought this program to a new by the loss level," junior goalie Jennifer Barn- knit senior hart said. "The board of the hockey season, but team had a major influence in decid- assumed k ing how it was going to be set up." "This y Former assistant coach Adam mature anc Winters joins former player Andrea captain Sta Browns and Be ghrack up 106 points CINCINNATI (AP) - Kelly Holcomb threw for 400 yards and five touchdowns - and lost. Strange? Not as strange as those other num- bers glowing on the scoreboard as Holcomb trudged off the field with his head down and more misery ahead. Cincinnati 58, Cleveland 48. The intrastate rivals played the wildest game in their history yesterday, one that defied logic and wound up as the second-highest scoring game in NFL history. "You just can't explain the second half, and there's no need to try to," Bengals linebacker Brian Simmons said. "It was a great game for the fans, I guess." It started as a referendum on the two head coaches, and quickly turned into a rewrite of the record books. The points came so fast that it seemed a recount might be needed to determine who won Ohio's bragging rights. "It was crazy," said the Bengals' Rudi John- son , who ran for 202 yards and two touchdowns. "Just crazy." The 106 combined points were the second most in an NFL game, trailing only the Redskins' 72- 41 victory over the Giants on Nov. 27, 1966. Until yesterday, the most points in a game since the NFL- AFL merger in 1970 was 99 - Seattle beat Kansas City 51-48 in overtime on Nov. 27, 1983. In the end, the Browns (3-8) had the ball and a chance to send this one to overtime as well. Del- tha O'Neal's interception and 31-yard return for a touchdown finally decided it with 1:43 left. "We kept putting them away, and they kept coming back," said Cincinnati's Carson Palmer, who threw a career-high four touchdown passes. "We kept expecting them to slacken up, but they never did." No one expected anything like it. The Browns' defense has been the only dependable thing during their losing streak, now up to five. The Bengals (4-5) have been watching their young defense grow up fast, allowing only two touchdowns in the three previous games. co-coach. An important eir coaching strategy has vating players by plac- ter emphasis on what the ve done, rather than what oing wrong. While some red a difficult transition, oaches have stepped up ed their own style early on, which has helped the together both on and off ion to changing coaches, also uncertainty created of a core group of tight- s that graduated after last t the younger players have ey leadership positions. ear the team is more d has a better chemistry," acey Moses said. This chemistry has helped with the tough transition that comes along with having a young team. In spite of its youth, Michigan set a preseason goal of finishing in the top three of its division. At the beginning of the season, it seemed unlikely, but now the team is starting to come together, and Moses predicts they will finish in the top two. "We have already played the hardest teams in our divisions, and we think we can beat the rest," Moses said. Although they faced a difficult schedule playing the top teams in the league, such as Western Michi- gan, the Wolverines stayed strong. A major turning point for the young roster was the team's last win: a 6-0 shutout against Oakland University. Sophomore Laine Schmid scored two of Michigan's four first-period goals to give the Wolverines a 4-0 lead after one period. Graduate student Darcy Utter also notched two goals to lead Michigan to victory over the Golden Grizzlies. One of the more lofty goals for the Wolverines is to make nationals. If you asked any coach or player at the beginning of the year whether Michigan would go to nationals, the answer would have been "no." But as of right now, Michigan is two spots away from being nation- ally ranked and is preparing for a crucial upcoming game against Penn State. The Wolverines will play two games against Northern Michigan, Ohio State and Michigan State to close their season. Athlete of the Week Name: Ta'Shia Walker Team: women's basketball Hometown: Lansing Class: freshman Why: The freshman scored 22 points and grabbed four rebounds in Michigan's 57-51 win over UC-Santa Barbara on Friday. The win snapped the Gauchos' 12-game home winning streak. Walker averages 19.6 points per game this season and is shooting 69 percent from the field. The Wolverines are off to a 2-1 start. 'M' SCHEDULE A Date Event Location 11/30 11/30 M Basketball at Georgia Tech W Basketball vs. Drake 12/2-3 Volleyball vs. Rice NCAA Tournament first round 12/2-3 W Swim/Diving U.S. Open 12/3 -4 W Swim/Diving Eastern Michigan Invitational 12/3 W Basketball at Charlotte 12/3 Ice Hockey vs. Notre Dame 12/3 Wrestling Cliff Keen Invitational 12/4 M Basketball vs. Notre Dame 12/4 Ice Hockey at Notre Dame 12/4 Wrestling Cliff Keen Invitational 12/4-5 M Swim/Diving Texas Invitational 12/4-5 Volleyball NCAA Tournament second round Atlanta Ann Arbor Austin, Texas San Antonio Ypsilanti Charlotte, N.C. Ann Arbor Las Vegas Ann Arbor South Bend Las Vegas Austin, Texas. Austin, Texas. Time 7 p.m 7 p.m TBA 10:30 a.m 6 p.m 7 p.m 7:35 p.m TBA noor 7:05 p.m TBA TBA 7 p.m Daily's Y's NF16 Power 2. Philadelphia (10-1) "T.O. and Co. already clinched the NFC East, and they should sail toward their fourth straight NFC Championship game. Cincinnati running back Rudi Johnson rushed for 202 yards and 2 touchdowns on 26 carries in the Bengals' 58-48 victory over the Cleveland Browns. AP PHOTO 4. Dallas (10-5) 4. Indianapolis (8-3) *"Nowitski's ankle is a question * Manningshouldshatter Marino's mark, despite a 32-point effort on record for TD passes in a season. Saturday. But with Finley's health in Peyton needs to share the wealth the air, the Mavs may slide. with brother Eli, who looks horrible. Yesterday, it looked like they were playing two-hand touch. Two previously struggling offenses combined for 49 first downs and 966 yards, gaudy numbers set up by innumerable missed tackles and broken coverages. The first five possessions of the second half resulted in touchdowns, many of them as easy as they get because of defensive breakdowns. "It is what it is," Browns defensive back Rob- ert Griffith said glumly. "We gave up too many big plays - deep balls, long runs. It's just frus- trating. When it rains it pours, and right now we've got to turn off the sprinkler." Holcomb, who took the Browns to the play- offs under coach Butch Davis in 2002, nearly got him a desperately needed victory. Holcomb threw four touchdown passes in the second half, including a 1-yard toss to Steve Heiden that put Cleveland up 48-44 with 10:22 to play. Holcomb knew it wouldn't be enough. "The way the game was going, I felt like we needed to score two more times," said Holcomb, who has thrown for 400 yards twice in his career and lost both games. The Browns put up their most points since a 51-0 victory over Pittsburgh in the 1989 opener. This one surely will turn up the heat on Davis, who has been assured of finishing the season and nothing more. "I'd be lying if I didn't tell you it was demoraliz- ing," Davis said. "There's not a lot of joy in losing." Bengals coach Marvin Lewis also had a lot riding on the game. He screamed at his team following a loss to Pittsburgh last week, turning this game into a test of his credibility. His credibility survived better than his defense. "I don't know if I've ever been in a situation where the defense had a game like that, but we'll take it," said Lewis, whose defense in Baltimore gave up only 165 points during the 2000 regular season. Palmer, who has-struggled in his first season running the offense, threw touchdown passes of 18 yards to Kelley Washington, 46 to Chad Johnson and three yards to T.J. Houshmandza- deh as the Bengals went up 27-13 at halftime - more points than they'd scored in any game all season. "It wasn't pretty, but when you win, you get to wash it out the window," Palmer said. And right into history. 6. Cleveland (9-4) 6. Atlanta (9-2) "The Cavs have won nine of their *"Vick is back to his old form, butcan past 10 games by an average of 15 he remain healthy? He's led the team points per win.L.I ) in rushing four of past five games. 4 8. Miami (10-5) 8. Denver (8-3) " Wade is exploding (25.2 ppg), while " Will the Broncos fall victim to a Shaq's scoring average is the lowest of tough conference? An eventual 11- his career (19.9ppg). The Heat should win AFC team may miss the playoffs. be the best team in the East, soon. Brees, Gates lead second half charge .4 KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) - Strip away the great plays and the wild action, and San Diego's 34-31 victory over Kansas City is reduced to a simple fact: big plays. The revitalized Chargers (8-3) showed why they keep winning, and the distraught Chiefs (3-8) showed why they continue to lose. San Diego made the big plays yes- terday, got expert quarterbacking from Drew Brees and let tight end Antonio Gates and running back LaDainian Tomlinson carry most of the load. The Chiefs gave up big plays, sustained costly penalties and turned the ball over at the worst possible time. "Everybody got their money's worth (yesterday)," said San Diego coach Marty Schottenheimer, whose Chargers were a league- worst 4-12 last year. "It was quite an exciting game." Nate Kaeding, set up by Don- nie Edwards' interception of Trent Green's pass, made up for missing two field goals with a tiebreaking 43-yarder with 2:24 left. A few minutes earlier, Brees' 11-yard touchdown pass to Anto- nio Gates tied it 31-31 and capped a 71-yard drive that saw the Chargers overcome four penalties, including one that nullified Antonio Gates's 51-yard gain. Making it possible was Kassim Osgood's 65-yard run- and-catch on second-and-22 from the Chargers 19. "Kassim Osgood made what, in my mind, is as fine a play as I've seen in my entire career in foot- ball," Schottenheimer said. Even more memorable for Chiefs fans was the Dante Hall show. The lit- tle return specialist, who took the NFL by storm last year when he returned five kicks for touchdowns, sped 77 yards with the second-half kickoff and was just a few steps from the end zone when the ball inexplicably popped out of his hands. Jerrell Pippens recovered for San Diego on the 5, and a few min- utes later, Kaeding's 25-yarder tied it 17-17. But in the fourth quarter, after Brees's 18-yard TD pass to Gates gave the Chargers a 24-23 lead, Hall took the ensuing kickoff, burst up and the middle and fled 96 yards to the end zone, tightly holding onto the ball all the way. "The guys did a heck ofajob block- ing," Hall said. "There were two or three ways I could have gone." He refused to make an excuse for drop- ping the ball on the first long return. "I'm running and the ball came out of my hands," he said. "Those things cannot happen when you're fighting to keep your playoff hopes alive." Kansas City seems headed for its worst season since 1988. "Something's not right this year," Chiefs tackle Willie Roaf said. "It's been going on all year." 0 w ff for more information call 734/998-6251 The University of Michigan College of Literature, Science, and the Arts presents a public poetry reading and reception 4 U I k r A Redk BIG TEN BURRITO NOW AVAILABLE: NnRTH CAMPUS ________________ I - I IW~ <, :k'< . ". } ;r IOS ~R San Diego's LaDainian Tomlinson rushed for 46 yards and two touchdowns and caught 10 passes for 57 yards in the Chargers' 34-31win over the Kansas City Chiefs. 0 0 Ui .FUJ'" m AN sa I m K U --