No PLACE LIKE HOME The Michigan men's golf team makes the most of hosting the Wolverine Intercollegiate. PAGE 3B September 26, 2005 IAN HERBERT: Is Michigan transforming from a powerhouse team to mediocrity? PAGE 3B The SportsMonday Column PERSERVERENCE IN BLUE Fate dealt Ashley Buckingham an unfortunate hand, but the former volleyball star rolls with the punches. PAGE 8B SPORTS C7 AY 1B able firotoun ]DAU Wviscc Michigan 20 sour Calhoun runs wild, tramples over defense By Stephanie Wright Daily Sports Editor MADISON - Michigan officially lost when Chad Henne slipped on the wet turf as time expired. But the game was over long before that. The Badgers called a timeout from the Michigan four- yard. line with 38 seconds left on the clock. After the pause, quarterback John Stocco threw two incomplete passes - the second of which Michigan cornerback Leon Hall nearly intercepted in the back corner of the end zone. But Stocco made up for those miscues with a four-yard quarterback draw that put the Badgers ahead for good. Michi- gan lost to Wisconsin 23-20 - the first time it opened the Big Ten season with a loss since 1981. "It was hard-hitting football," Michigan coach Lloyd Carr said. "It was a great football game, but from our standpoint, it's certainly a great disappointment." Seconds after Stocco crossed the goal line, fireworks shot up from the southeast corner of the end zone, in spite of Wisconsin's impending extra-point attempt. As it turns out, the Badgers' celebration was premature by just 24 seconds. Michigan's offense sputtered in its last-sec- ond comeback attempt, culminating in Henne's stumble on fourth-and-20. "It's hard," Michigan nose tackle Gabe Watson said. "You always try to keep your 'head up and think that if the offense is not doing it, the defense is going to pull it out, and then if the defense is not doing it, the offense or special teams ... We're always looking for- ward for the best. But it's hard to see. They haven't beat us in the last eight years, and it's tough just to lose to them." Stocco wouldn't have been in position to make the play if tailback Brian Calhoun hadn't chipped away at the Michi- gan defense throughout the second half. In the final 30 min- utes, Calhoun gained 111 yards on 23 carries and caught five passes for 48 yards. See BADGERS, page 5B JASON COOPER/Daily (From left to right) Roderick Rodgers, Allen Langford and Jack lkegwuonu of Wisconsin celebrate over Michigan tight end Tyler Ecker during Saturday night's loss to the Badgers. The game officially came to an end the very next play when quarterback Chad Henne slipped and fell when trying to convert on fourth-and-20. N WOMEN' SOCCER High-octane Wolverines sink Buckeyes By Daniel Bromwich Daily Sports Writer In college athletics, there are some rivalries that transcend their original sport. Duke-North Carolina, UCLA-USC, and Florida-Florida State ' H A come to mind. But there might be none G o bigger than Michigan-Ohio State. Case in point: the Michigan women's soccer team. The two teams fought to a draw during the regular season in 2004 and in the second round of the Big Ten Tournament, the Buckeyes (0-2-0 Big Ten, 3-4-2 overall) topped the Wolverines (1-0-0, 5-2-2) 5-2. But on Sunday Michigan avenged its oust from last year's tournament with a convincing 4-2 win. "Last year in the Big Ten Tournament they really handed it to us," coach Debbie Rademacher said. "We were motivated and excited to have a chance to redeem ourselves. Everybody remembers how they felt after a big loss last year, so we were definitely up for this game." In the Big Ten Tournament, the Buckeyes started the game off hot, scoring three goals in the first 20 minutes of the game. And on Friday - even with most of the game being played in Ohio State's end - it was beginning to look like ddja vu. From 10 yards out, Ohio State sophomore Lara Dick- enmann headed a free kick from teammate Melissa Miller past Michigan junior goalkeeper Megan Tuura for the first goal at the 9:57 mark. But Michigan continued to dominate possession of the ball, and, when all was said and done, they came out with a vengeful win. Michigan could not convert any oppor- tunities to open the game, failing to score on six corner kicks in the first 20-plus minutes. But at 24:07, junior Judy Coffman passed the ball from the left sideline to senior Therese Heaton, who turned and quickly crossed it to sophomore Melissa Dobbyn. The forward then placed it in the lower right corner of the net to tie the game at one. T1hP Wn1L-d ne enntinne r to~ not nre zp e nn the Rncee On muddy field,'M'inches past Wildcats By Jamie Josephson Daily Sports Writer Torrential downpours. Mud-stained uniforms. Crater- sized puddles. U-M Soccer Field turned into a water war zone. This was yesterday's scene at the Michigan men's soccer team's Big Ten home opener against Northwestern. With the clock winding down, emotions running high and players slipping and slid- ing all over the soaking-wet field, Michigan - in addition to the elements - rained on Northwestern's parade with a 1-0 drowning of the Wildcats. "Last year, Northwestern gave us a beating at the Big Ten Tournament," sophomore Tolu Olowolafe said. "It was on our home field, and (we suffered) a 5-0 loss. It was horrible. We just wanted to rebound from that and pay them back. Luckily, we did." With a few minutes remaining in the heated contest, Michigan coach Steve Burns sent in Olowolafe off the bench in hopes of trying to break the 0-0 stalemate. With just a little over one minute remaining in the game, freshman Jake Stacy served the ball ahead of Olowolafe on the right side of the goal box. It looked as if the ball was kicked just out of Olowolafe's reach when Northwestern's goalie came out of the goal to grab the loose ball. But with a little help from the elements - and a little bit of "luck" - the ball slipped out of the goalie's hands, and Olowolafe tapped it in for the game- winning goal, his first tally of the season. "This was unfortunately a game that, based on the condi- tions, was probably going to be capitalized on by someone's mistake," Burns said. "Luckily, we held tight and found that mistake. And Tolu capitalized on it." With about five minutes left in the game, Burns hoped to inspire his drenched and exhausted players by shouting from the sidelines, "Do it for the seniors!" And the Wolverines did just that. "We've got five seniors who have been through a lot," Burns said. "Their record against Northwestern is 3-3. We really challenged all of our non-seniors to play for those ALl OLSEN/Daily A group of Michigan players attempt to block a free kick against Northwestern during their 1-0 win over the Wildcats on a rainy Sunday afternoon. guys, who have done so much to pull this team together and so much in terms of leadership. And it was done." For most of the first half, Michigan (6-2-0) was able to control the possession time and momentum of the game. But the Wolverines couldn't get on the scoreboard. "While it looked good, and we did have some good combi- nations, we never really got in behind Northwestern," Burns said. "With that, they were setting up their counterattack - which is very good. We could never get around or behind their defense to create anything real dangerous. Even though we (controlled) the possession, Northwestern was still look- ing very dangerous, and the game could have been anybody's at that point." Northwestern's David Roth was one such dangerous play- er for the Wildcats (4-3-0), finding holes in the Michigan defense several times. But Roth was unable to convert. In the middle of the first half, mother nature unleashed See WILDCATS, page 3B N FIELD HOCKEY Goalie Riley surpasses all-time win mark