2B - The Michigan Daily - SportsMonday - September 26, 2005 ClubSpor t sWeekly Club soccer aims for national title Ate eMiftgaua Name: Christian Vozza Hometown: Traverse City Team: Men's Golf Class: Senior By Colt Rosensweig Daily Sports Writer Men's club soccer at Michigan almost ceased to exist five years ago. In 2000, men's soccer became a varsity sport, which not only stripped the club team of its best players, but also of its coach. But the players who loved the club team refused to let it die, and this year the team has realistic hopes of a national championship. Thanks to an infusion of new blood - this year's club includes two freshmen and fourteen sophomores - the team is looking to improve upon last year's fourth-place regional finish. "Last year was the first time in four years that we didn't go to nationals," said Scott Hol- zwarth, club president and one of two seniors on this year's club. "We had issues with scoring goals - we had five 0-0 ties." Actually, no one ended up going to nationals in 2004. They were to be held in Austin, Texas, but due to flooding of the fields, all the games Red S.ox. lick Orioles, stay n first BALTIMORE (AP) - The Boston Red Sox maintained a share of first place in the AL East with another fine performance at their new home away from home, Camden Yards. Manny Ramirez hit his 41st homer in a five-run first inning and Johnny Damon connected in a four-run fifth, leading the Red Sox past the Bal- timore Orioles 9-3 yesterday for a three-game sweep. A majority of the 46,559 fans in attendance were cheering for Boston. There was no Green Monster in left field, but for a third straight day the seating bowl was filled with fans in red and the Orioles' home stadium sounded very much like Fenway Park. The victory enabled the defending World Series champions to remain tied atop the division with the New York Yankees, who beat Toronto 8-4. New York opens a four-game series in Baltimore on Monday, and Boston plays four home games against Toronto before closing with three against the Yankees at Fenway. It was the fifth homer in five games for Ramirez, who moved into a tie with former Ori- ole Cal Ripken for 34th place on the career list (431). David Wells (14-7) allowed three runs and six hits in 6 2-3 innings before leaving with a minor injury. The left-hander received a lengthy stand- ing ovation as he walked off the mound, and the noise grew even louder after he acknowledged the cheers. Melvin Mora and Miguel Tejada homered for the Orioles, whose eight-game losing streak matches a season high. Tejada was guilty of two mental blunders and a fielding error that fueled Boston's two big innings. The Red Sox got all the offense they needed in the top of the first. After rookie John Maine (2- were cancelled. This year nationals will be in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, from November 18-21. "Our goal is definitely to go undefeated, win regionals, and definitely win a national cham- pionship," Holzwarth said. "We have a really young team, but we have a good future ahead of us." The time commitment for club soccer, while not as consuming as varsity, is still consider- able. The team practices three times a week and plays two or three games each weekend, all against different teams. Sometimes games are played up to 5 1/2 hours from Ann Arbor. The team maintained its unbeaten record this weekend. After defeating Ferris State 6-0 and Indiana-South Bend 4-0 on Saturday, the team returned home at 1 a.m. Eight hours later they played a friendly match against a tough Illinois team. Though the team was exhausted and play- ing without three of its four starting defenders, they gutted out a 1-1 tie. The game won't count in the standings, but both teams played as if it did. Freshman Carey Hynes scored an early goal when the ball rolled between the Illinois keeper's legs. Illinois equalized at the beginning of the second half with a perfect header off a corner kick. It domi- nated the second half, but didn't score, thanks to Michigan's gritty defense. The team began the season with three straight wins over Loyola-Chicago, Western Illinois and Indiana, outscoring its opponents 19-2. Eleven different players contributed goals in the first weekend. "Our offensive attack is very strong this year," Holzwarth said. "We're multi-dimensional and don't rely on one player. We have many players who can score this year." Despite their early success, the players aren't relaxing. Instead, they will continue to work on improving all aspects of their games. "High pressure on the ball and pressing up top is something we need to improve on," Holzwarth said. "We need to win the ball in their defensive end to produce goals. That's the main thing we should work on, keep shaping the defense." Why: Vozza led the Wolverines to their first tournament victory since 2001 at the Wolverine Intercollegiate. He shot under par in all three of his rounds (67-69-69), finishing in first place with a total score of 205. I I M' SCHEDULE Date Event Location 9/29 M Soccer at Dayton 9/30 W Cross Country-Notre Dame Invitational 9/30 M Cross Country-Notre Dame Invitational 9/30 Field Hockey vs. Indiana 9/30 W Soccer at Indiana 9/30 Volleyball at Iowa 10/1-2 W Golf-Wolverine Invitatiorral 10/1 Football at Michigan State 10/1 W Rowing vs. Ohio State 10/1 Hockey-Blue/White Intersquad 10/1 Volleyball at Minnesota 10/1 M Soccer at Saint Louis 10/2 Field Hockey vs. Penn State 10/2 Hockey vs. Toronto 10/2 W Soccer at Purdue College Football Top Eight Dayton South Bend South Bend Ann Arbor Bloomington Iowa City Ann Arbor East Lansing Belleville Ann Arbor Minneapolis St. Louis Ann Arbor Ann Arbor West Lafayette Time 7:30 p.m. 4:15 p.m. 5 p.m. 4 p.m. 48 p.m. TBA 12 p.m. TBA 7 p.m. 8 p.m. 8 p.m. 1 p.m. 4 p.m. 1 p.m. 01 Miciga Dalys 2. Texas (3-0) " Dear Vince Young, You're welcome for the hype. Signed, The Michigan defense 2. St Louis (97-60) " With a Cy-young contender in Chris Carpenter and the ever- consistent Albert Pujos, these Cardinals should size those rings. 4. Louisiana State (1-0) * After weeks of frustration, the Tigers finally return home tonight. Good luck, Tennessee. 4. Atlanta (89-67) "Jeff Francoeur, Ryan Langerhans and Kelly Johnson. Yeah, no one knew who these guys were before the season. AP PHOTO David Ortiz and the Boston Red Sox are in the middle of a red-hot pennant race, fighting with the New York Yankees and Cleveland Indians for two American League playoff spots. 6. Georgia (4-0) D.J. Shockley finally has the team to himself. Bulldog 6. Houston (85-71) Carlos Beltran is happy in New York. right? 3) retired the first two batters, he walked David Ortiz and Ramirez homered to straightaway center, a shot estimated at 424 feet. Trot Nixon singled and Jason Varitek walked before John Olerud hit a 3-2 pitch to shortstop. Tejada leaned toward second to cover as Vari- tek broke on the pitch, even though there were two outs and no steal was possible. The ball bounced through the vacated hole, and Varitek came around to score while Tejada held the relay from the outfield too long. Olerud took second on the late throw home, and Bill Mueller followed with an RBI double. Mora hit his 23rd homer in the bottom half and Tejada drove Wells' next pitch over the right- field wall to make it 5-2. Boston pulled away in the fifth against James Baldwin. Successive doubles by Nixon and Vari- tek brought in a run, and Mueller hit a sacrifice fly before Tejada booted Tony Graffanino's two- out grounder. Damon followed with his 10th homer, ending a 1-for-15 slump. Pinch-hitter Walter Young singled in a run for Baltimore in the seventh. 8. Florida State (3-0) "Dear NCAA, We hateAyou. Signed, the REAL SEMINOLES. A) I 8. Chicago White Sox (94-61) * "Shoeless" Joe Jackson and the Black Sox would be proud of a team choking down the stretch. UM1 NOTE Young Michigan harriers make appearance in first scoring meet Despite poor weather conditions leading into Saturday's 20th annual Roy Griak Invitational at Falcon Heights, Minn., the No. 22 Michigan men's cross country team finished with five individuals among the top-50 in the 8000-meter race. The Wolverines took fifth out of 27 teams, accumulating 197 points. Leading the way in the first scored event of the year for Michigan was sophomore Mike Woods, who crossed the line in 23rd place with a time of 24:54. Woods fin- ished just 1:11 behind the race's winner, Wisconsin's Simon Bairu. Redshirt freshman Victor Gras followed Woods, finishing nine spots later in 32nd place, with a time of 25:02. Rounding out the top five for the Wol- verines were freshman Justin Switzer, redshirt junior Andrew Bauer and freshman JohnhBlack, who finished consecutively at 46th, 47th and 48th. The Roy Griak Invitational was the third event of the sea- son for Michigan, who previously competed in non-scoring races at the Michigan Open and Spartan Invitational. Finishing ahead of the Wolverines in the team competition Saturday were Brigham Young with 117 points, Wisconsin with 151 points, Iowa with 157 points and Cal Poly-San Luis Obispo with 190 points. Ohio State, Minnesota, Kansas, Arizona State and Providence rounded out the top-10. The Wolverines compete next at the Notre Dame Invita- tional in South Bend, on October 30. - Justin Letter CHECK OUT THE DAILY SPORTS BLOG. APPS.MICHIGANDAILY.COM/BLOGSiTHEGAME ., 7 , . 11 -1& 7-1 5,J joV' DOWNLOAD 'EM NOW AS EASY AS A TEXT MESSAGE TEXT MICH5 TO 64OOO TEXT MICHO >< TO 64000 w .R ~TEXT MICR] TO 64000 m i I