The Michigan Daily - Thursday, February 10, 2005 - 9A Porter taking new approach * I INTERNATIONAL SOCCER Early goals secure , win for USA soccer By tan Robinson Daily Sports Writer As he stretches before practice, soph- omore sprinter Jeff Porter appears to be enjoying himself. He laughs while joking around with some of his team- mates. He is taking a different approach than he did last year. "The biggest difference between this year and last year is that we enjoy work- ing out together," Porter said. Porter enjoys training with his team- mates, whether they are sprinters, dis- tance runners or field athletes. "Every day, I look forward to com- ing to practice," Porter said. "Last year wasn't so much of a team. The team was much more divided." Michigan's men's track coach Ron Warhurst believes that performing well in meets can improve someone's atti- tude. And three-fourths of the team has set personal bests this year. "When you perform well, you have more fun," Warhurst said. "(Porter) has found success both athletically and aca- demically." Porter hopes that this new attitude will translate to continued success on the track. Last season, he won the 60- meter hurdles at the Big Ten Champion- ships and earned the Big Ten Freshman of the Year award. Despite this success, Porter had higher goals. "I missed out on going to Nationals last year," Porter said. "I want to win the Big Ten title and place in Nationals." He believes that he is in a good posi- tion to accomplish his goals. "I am ahead of where I was last year," Porter said. "I am in better shape than I was last year, and I am having more fun than I did last year." Warhurst believes that Porter has the character to become a great runner. "He is a great teammate and very coachable," Warhurst said. "He is a powerful runner." This season, Porter has competed in the 60-meter hurdles and 60-meter dash but will focus on the hurdles. He has captured two titles in the hurdles this year, and he posted an NCAA provi- sional time of 7.89 seconds at the Meyo Invitational, just .02 seconds shy of his personal best. Although Porter has IUNY UING/Uaily Sophomore Jeff Porter competes in two events but focuses on the 60-meter hurdles. turned in a provisional time, he has not yet earned an automatic spot in NCAA Indoor Championships. "If (Porter) wants to make it to Nationals, he needs to improve his time by two tenths of a second," Warhurst said. "He has a good shot to do it." Warhurst thinks that, as Porter begins to train lighter, he will post faster times. Porter plans on running both the sprint and hurdles this weekend when Michigan competes at the Sykes-Sabok Challenge Cup in State College, Penn. Duke edges out in-state rival UNC PORT-OF-SPAIN, Trinidad (AP) - Fifteen years later, the United States still knows how to spoil Trinidad's party. Eddie Johnson kept up his incredible run of goals when he scored in the 30th minute, Eddie Lewis boosted the lead early in the second half and the United States beat Trinidad and Tobago 2-1 yes- terday in the opener of the final round of World Cup qualifying. Kasey Keller, who made a 23-hour trip from Germany on Monday to get to the game, made a sliding save on Leslie Fitzpatrick on a breakaway eight minutes into the second half that denied a tying goal. Keller also made several fine stops in the first half on Stern John and Dwight Yorke, playing his first official game for T&T since June 2001. Less than three weeks ago, the Ameri- cans didn't even know if they would have their top players or would send a team of minor leaguers because of a labor dispute. But an interim settlement ensured the regulars would be on the field through 2005, and the 11th-ranked U.S. team imposed its will on Trinidad and Tobago, ranked 61st, until tiring in the final minutes. "It's massive," Keller said, "especially with all the drama that's gone on around the team. The guys came together and got a great victory." Until Angus Eve scored in the 89th minute on a cross that went in off Keller's hand, the home team didn't have much to cheer for. The United States, which plays its next qualifier at Mexico on March 27, is 23-0-7 against North and Central American and Caribbean rivals since a September 2001 loss at Costa Rica. The Americans haven't lost to a Caribbean opponent since a 1994 defeat in Trini- dad. "When you write the story of this game, there were a bunch of reasons why we couldn't be successful today," U.S. coach Bruce Arena said. "We never agreed with that. I think the way our BURKE continued from page 8A And sure, to be fair, some of Crisler's problems have come from the fact that Michigan hasn't been to the NCAA Tournament since 1998. The sanctions after the Ed Martin scandal no doubt turned people away. It takes wins to keep people excited about a team. But if the Crisler crowd from team pulled together over the last couple of weeks to be ready to play this garde under difficult conditions - travel, field conditions, the heat, everything else - it turns out to be a fantastic result." In other World Cup qualifiers in tlN region, Guatemala and Panama played to a scoreless tie in Panama City, while Mexico won 2-1 at Costa Rica. Ash Wednesday usually is a bealfi day in this Caribbean nation, where the Carnival celebration that ends the previ- ous night is huge. But the steel and samba drums were sounding for the Soca War riors in the searing 90-degree heat at the Queen's Park Oval, with T&T hop- ing to continue the celebration and exact revenge for the November 1989 loss to the Americans that denied it a berth at the 1990 World Cup in Italy. Johnson struck in the 30th minute, just as Paul Caligiuri did 15 years ago in the famous qualifier at nearby Hasley Craw- ford Stadium, a game that put the United States in soccer's top event for the first time since 1950. Coming down the right flank of the 80-yard-wide field, Steve Cherunoldo crossed the ball into the penalty area and the 20-year-old Johnson, with no defend- ers near him on the near post, headed the ball into the net from 12 yards out. Goalkeeper Neil Shaka Hislop had nq chance. "The weight was already on the ball," Johnson said. "It was just about me redi- recting it, and I thought I caught the keeper off guard." He has six goals in just four interna- tional appearances and became the first player to score in each of his first four games with the U.S. national team. He matched William Looby (1955) and Brian McBride (2001) as the only player to score in four straight games and with six goals in qualifying already has tied Willy Roy for third on the career scoring list in qualifying behind Earnie Stewart (nine) and McBride (seven). Tuesday carried over to every game of the season, Michigan would chalk up plenty of victories. Chris Burke thinks that any Michi- gan season ticket holder who sells his/her ticket for Saturday's game to a Michigan State fan should bi forced to pay a fine. Checks for these fines can be made out to Chris Burke and delivered to The Michigan Daily. Chris can also be reached at chrisbur@umich.edu. DURHAM, N.C. (AP) - Duke slowed the pace and made North Carolina play a halfcourt game. Under those circumstances, nobody plays better defense than the Blue Devils. J.J. Redick scored 18 points, freshman DeMarcus Nelson added 16 and No. 7 Duke forced 23 turnovers to hold off the second-ranked Tar Heels 71-70 yester- day night. North Carolina squandered a chance to win in the final seconds, never getting a shot off after inbound- ing with 18 seconds left. David Noel dribbled the ball out of bounds just as the buzzer sounded and the Cameron Crazies raced onto the court, celebrating the Blue Devils' 15th victory in the past 18 games in this Tobacco Road rivalry. Daniel Ewing finished with 15 points and helped the Blue Devils (18-2, 8-2) move into a first-place tie with North Carolina in the Atlantic Coast Conference. Wake Forest trails both by one-half game. Duke finished 21-of-22 from the free throw line and made 10 3-pointers. All but one of the Blue Devils' baskets in the second half were 3s - only a layup by Nelson with about 10 minutes left came from inside the arc. Sean May had 23 points and 18 rebounds for the Tar Heels (19-3, 8-2), who couldn't overcome their shoddy ball control. Point guard Raymond Felton had eight turnovers and May added five, and the top assist team in Division I finished with only 10, 11 below its average. Felton scored 13 points and freshman Marvin Wil- liams had 12 for North Carolina. But Nelson was the better first-year player in this one. He came up big when it counted, swishing two 3-pointers in a span of about 90 seconds in the second half to help Duke take a 49-42 lead. Williams helped the Tar Heels rally, powering over Shavlik Randolph for a layup that turned into a three-point play to tie it at 53 midway through the second half. Ewing connected on consecutive 3s, Nelson added four free throws and Redick had another 3-pointer to give the Blue Devils a nine-point lead. Still, North Carolina didn't give up. Felton scored six quick points to offset two more free throws for Nelson, and May knocked down two at the line to bring the Tar Heels within three. Randolph increased the lead to five with Duke's final points - again coming on free throws - and it was 71-66 with less than two minutes left. May worked inside to tip in a miss by Rashad McCants, and Williams stuffed a layup by Nelson to set up McCants's layup that cut the margin to one point. Redick then was forced to launch a shot from about 28 feet with the shot clock winding down, and the Tar Heels took possession with the game on the line. Felton passed up an open shot to look down low for Williams or May, and he finally passed to Noel. But with time running out, Noel couldn't get off a shot, and Duke survived. McCants, the leading scorer for North Carolina, was only 3-of-13 from the field and had 11 points. k UeMASU aU ./ Laii Duke _and UNC battled to the final seconds last night. Ever have those friends who always u m p oth eF b .dw a oF?.' sT. ump~~~~~~',Fb mETRbEdaonT nT nHnrag~ilg B e at. 1 Join 1/ agon! .ketball Mott Children's Hospital If we break 4,611 attendance record, $1 for every ticket sold will be donated to Mott February 17th vs. Purdue 7 PM ETERTRLJIHT HEHI T.IL D, TNNKTUN .EEIII:omomEn~ i aD-m an X - Box Game System ' - - .'F .~O .