6B - The Michigan Daily - SportsTuesday - September 6, 2005
Spikers
can't
shuck
Hu skers
By H. Jose Bosch
Daily Sports Writer
The Michigan women's volleyball team
had its best performance of the season
Saturday night, but that wasn't enough to
defeat No. 1 Nebraska.
The Wolverines fell to the Cornhuskers
in three games (30-22, 30-19, 30-21) at the
Sports Imports Invitational in Columbus
dropping to 0-3 for the season.
Michigan proved resilient against the
nation's top team, evident by its unwilling-
ness to back down when trailing.
Down 2-0 in the match and 18-8 in the
third game, the Wolverines rallied back
- thanks to senior Megan Bowman's five
kills - before eventually losing 30-21.
The Wolverines fell behind early in the
second game and trailed 20-10 at one point
before sophomore Lyndsay Miller's three
straight kills sparked a 5-0 Michigan rally
that helped pull the team within seven, 23-
16. But a 7-3 Nebraska run put an end to
any chance of a Wolverine comeback.
The beginning of the match was promising
for Michigan. The Wolverines surprised the
Cornhuskers out of the gates and led throughout
the first half of the first game until Nebraska tied
it up at 18. Thanks to a .409 hitting percentage,
the Cornhuskers ran away with a 12-4 run to fin-
ish it off.
Junior Danielle Pflum led the team in kills with
her season-best of 12 while Miller added nine of
her own.
"(Michigan coach Mark Rosen) said he
did this for a reason and (the game) showed
us how (good) we can be," junior Danielle
Pflum said. "If we play how we played
against Nebraska, specifically in the Big
Ten tournament, the title is ours."
Michigan fared better against the Cornhuskers
than two of its Big Ten counterparts. No. 6 Min-
nesota and No. 12 Ohio State have both lost to
Nebraska and neither team was able to score 20
points in a single game.
On Friday night, the Wolverines dropped
their first game of the tournament to No.
24 Long Beach State. Sophomore Katie
Bruzdzinski had a team-high 13 kills while
Miller tacked on 10 kills in the three-game
N WOMEN'S SOCCER
Blue squeaks out tie
in double-OT game
0
By Scott Bell
Daily Sports Writer1
After all of the excitement following a Friday
night thriller, it was hard to imagine a scenario
where the Michigan women's soccer team could
outdo itself on Sunday. But it did just that.
Just two days after a back-and-forth 3-2 winl
over the visiting Texas Longhorns (2-1-0), the
unranked Wolverines topped themselves with
a comeback against a top-tier team, eventuallyI
tying No. 6 Texas A&M 1-1 in a double-over-
time game that was not for the faint of heart.
"It was exciting. It was end to end," Michi-l
gan coach Debbie Rademacher said. "The girls
fought really hard. It was a tie, but it was a posi-1
tive result. We came back, so it's a positive." ;
After a first half where they were visibly out-
matched and outhustled by the favored Aggiesi
(2-1-1), the Wolverines (1-0-2) finally got the1
spark they needed in the 62nd minute. Senior for-
ward Therese Heaton capitalized on a rebound
on Michigan's sixth corner kick of the match1
to score the tying goal. Junior midfielder Judy]
Coffman took the kick, serving a left-footed
ball to the head of sophomore midfielder Jamie4
Artsis. Artsis's shot was saved by Aggie keeper
Julie Spearink. But Spearink couldn't cleanly
save the ball, resulting in a rebound. The carom
was quickly corralled by Heaton, who finishedE
the ball into the open part of the net.
"(That was a) Therese Heaton-type of goal,"
Rademacher said. "She seems to be in the right1
place at the right time. She gets in physicallyj
and knocks balls in."
Physical play and aggression were certainly1
major components in Sunday's contest. Texas
A&M (2-1-1), which had only allowed one goala
in its previous three games, came out with a veryi
aggressive gameplan. The Aggies grabbed an
early lead in the fourth minute when MadisonI
Gates - Michigan's freshman keeper who wasI
making her collegiate debut - failed to securei
a high ball in the box. The ball proceeded to roll
~ NOTE
Young and old compete forj
harriers in season opener
The Michigan men's cross country team 1
began its season on Monday at the Michigani
Open, an impromptu race on the Michigan
outdoor track.I
Former Michigan star and current assis-
tant coach Nate Brannen won the race with
a time of 19:35. Michigan freshmen Lex
around in the box where Texas A&M players
fought for possession and fired it into the open
net. Gates saved the first two attempts, but it
was Aggie forward Ashley Pistorius who broke
the tie, making their third shot the charm.
By taking the lead, the Aggies were also able
to take control of the pace of play early on. The
larger and much more physical Texas A&M
squad - which collected seven yellow cards
and one red card during the contest - seemed
to overmatch the smaller Michigan team. But
after Heaton's goal, everything changed.
"They are very physical, and we don't play
like that," Artsis said. "We are more of a con-
nect and possession type of team. We just tried
to stay calm, stay composed and play our game
and play around their physicality."
The remainder of the game was a back-and-
forth affair, with both teams' keepers making
big saves to keep their respective teams in the
game. Gates - who didn't allow a goal in the
final 106 minutes of the game - made back-
to-back reflex saves in the second overtime to
keep her team alive in sudden death overtime.
She finished the game with five saves, and the
defense grabbed two more saves of its own for
a total of seven.
"(Gates) really held strong," Rademacher
said. "To get scored on early, as a freshman, it is
easy to get shaken and have your confidence get
waned. But she held tough."
It was junior keeper Megan Tuura who got
the win in Friday's contest, as a record 1817 fans
packed Varsity Field for the first night game in
school history. Sophomore forward Melissa
Dobbyn grabbed three points on the night with
a goal and an assist. She scored the first goal of
the game and assisted on a Heaton goal, add-
ing to her impressive early-season point total,
which now stands at five. Freshman midfielder
Danelle Underwood scored the game-winning
goal - her first collegiate score - a finish
inside the box off a pass from Artsis to seal the
deal for Michigan.
Williams and Justin Switzer both finished
14 seconds behind Brannen to take the
next two spots. The three all raced unat-
tached. Top finishers for the Wolverines
were Andrew Bauer and Victor Gras, who
finished fourth and fifth, respectively. They
both clocked in at 19:50 for the four-mile
race, 15 seconds behind Brannen.
Seth Thibodeau, who led the race at the
two-mile mark, finished in seventh place,
with Andrew Ellerton and Rondell Ruff
rounding up the Wolverine runners who
finished in the top 15.
Senior Megan Bowman's five kills couldn't save Michigan in its three-game loss to No. 1 Nebraska.
loss (30-20, 33-31, 30-25).
In the second game of the match, Michigan
trailed early, but Pflum's seven kills helped the
Wolverines take a 28-27 lead after a Bowman
block with help from senior Erin Cobler. Michi-
gan had an opportunity to win the game, but the
49ers tied it up at 29 and would eventually take
the game 33-31.
The Wolverines looked to be on track to
win their first of the season until they lost
the lead at 15-14 and never gained it back.
The Wolverines are far from the same
start they had last season - Michigan won
its first eight games and 14 of its first 16
last year - but Rosen believes that the
team is much better than what its record
indicates. At the same time, Rosen is a lit-
tle disappointed that his team hasn't been
able to win games.
"Certainly I'm not pleased with not win-
ning matches," Rosen said. "From that
standpoint, I'm disappointed. Because I
think our team is very good, and I think
we'll be able to compete with anybody as
the year goes on. -
"We're a very young team, and we have
to keep that in perspective. So I'm a little
torn both ways: I do like the direction we're
going and the progression we've made, but
I'm not satisfied by any means."
Minutemen march past Mic
By Jamie Josephson
and Anne Ulble
Daily Sports Writers
EAST LANSING - Fall is the
season for transitions, and the
Michigan men's soccer team (2-1) is
no stranger to this lesson.
After suffering a 2004 season
scattered with devastating setbacks
- including injuries and forma-
tion changes - the Wolverines have
experienced the sometimes-harsh
reality of adjustment.
Michigan suffered its first loss in
the regular season to Massachusetts
at the Michigan State Invitational in
East Lansing yesterday afternoon,
falling to Minutemen 3-1.
"It's a transition from where we
were last year as a team, and, with
that, it unfortunately takes some
time for a team that plays that way
to find its form," Michigan coach
Steve Burns said. "Early in the sea-
son, you can make a couple of mis-
takes and lose games like this. We
don't want to make anymore, that's
for sure."
The Wolverines entered the game
confidently after defeating Denver
in the first game of the tournament
on Sunday, 1-0.
Michigan came off on the attack
right away against the Minutemen,
employing a strong midfield to cre-
ate several early scoring opportuni-
ties.
At 42:02 in the first half, fresh-
man Jake Stacy served the ball from
the right side to senior Ryan Alex-
ander, but his shot on goal missed
wide to the left.
Though the Wolverines created
several openings to the net early in
the game, they were unable to con-
vert. By the end of the first half,
Michigan had attempted 16 shots on
goal.
"I thought we carried the run of
play and had more dangerous chanc-
es," Burns said. "(Massachusetts)
finished their chances early out in
the beginning of the game, (and we
didn't)."
At 6:49, the Minutemen's Oral
Bullen led the team's first offen-
sive attack of the game. Bullen ran
the ball down the right side of the
field and served it to junior Michael
Donnelly, whose shot sailed over
the outstretched arms of Michigan
goalie Peter Dzubay.
While Michigan continued to
control its offensive end of the field,
the Minutemen were able-to sneak
in another successful conversion on
just their second shot on goal. Mas-
sachusetts' Stuart Wagner broke
away from the Michigan midfield,
sending the ball to Bullen, who
snuck the ball in the lower right cor-
ner of the Wolverines' net, bringing
the score to 2-0.
"Bullen had a great second goal
to be able to score on a toe poke
in stride like that," Burns said.
"Whenever you're shooting and it's
unorthodox with your toe the goalie
is never set. Here, he was on the full
run, and it was a nice finish."
Hoping to turn around the flow of
the game, Burns made several sub-
stitutions.
Junior Bobby Trybula entered
the game with just a few minutes
remaining in the first half and was
able to take advantage of fresh legs,
putting Michigan on the scoreboard
with under a minute left to play
before halftime.
"The ball was played into my
feet," Trybula said. "I turned into
the defender and brought it into
(senior captain) Adam Bruh, and he
just laid it back into the space, and I
took the shot."
Heading into the second half
down by just one goal, Michigan
hoped to rely on its ball movement
to even the score.
"We felt real comfortable espe-
cially after Bobby scored that goal,"
Burns said. "We are a team that is
going to be effective when we play
within our system and move the ball
quickly. We are a more technical
team that isn't reliant upon special
players to break the game open."
But none of the Wolverines, their
10 second-half shots on goal found
the back of Massachusetts' net. Sit-
ting on a one-goal lead, the Minute-
men were able to secure the win by
adding an insurance goal at 78:42.
"In the final 12 to 13 minutes of
the game, we were just hoping and
praying that we could pick balls up
that were dropping,". Burns said.
"But they did a better job picking
them up, and the game was theirs at
that point."
With new faces on the Michi-
gan squad replacing familiar ones,
Burns acknowledged that the team
is undergoing a transition that will
take time - more than anything else
- to develop into its new form.
"(Massachusetts) scored its goals
on a couple of breakdowns and lack
of discipline with our overall team
shape early," Burns said. "They did
the smart thing-they tried to sit on
a two-goal lead and they did it, and
we weren't able to crack them."
Even with the loss, Burns is con-
fident that the team can bounce back
from this early defeat.
"We are a young team that has to
learn from its mistakes," he said.
"We'll have to learn from the experi-
ence of dropping a game like this."
0
TOMASSO GOMEZ/Daily
Michigan's Kevin Hall fights for a ball in the Wolverines 3-1 loss yesterday.
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