6B - The Michigan Daily - SportsMonday - October 3, 2005
St. Louis blues: Road trip disappointing for Kickers
By Jamie Josephson
Daily Sports Writer
Traveling out of the state of Michigan for the first
time this season, the Michigan men's soccer team was
looking to spoil a storied program's homecoming fes-
tivities in Saturday's game against St. Louis.
In this first meeting ever between
the two programs, Michigan came up
just short in a tough 2-1 loss to the .
Billikens.
"It was a good game," Michigan (6-3-1) coach Steve
Burns said. "I admitted to the guys that I thought, unfor-
tunately, we came out with the wrong tactical plan. We
tried to sit up on the ball and absorb their pressure. That
was where St. Louis had an advantage. It wasn't the
right thing to do, especially on the road in front of a big
crowd."
With Michigan battling to absorb St. Louis's coun-
terattack, the Billikens came out in the first half with
the offensive advantage. At 14:03, St. Louis's Dado Slu
Hamzagic beat Michigan goalkeeper Peter Dzubay with
a header from six yards out for the Billikens' first tally.
The Wolverines were able to muster a pair of shots on
goal in the first half, but they were unable to convert.
The second half was a different story for Michigan.
"We pressed them and stepped up a lot higher," Burns
said. "St. Louis struggled to put their combinations
together. Going into this game, I didn't think we were
a good pressing team, but the guys showed me a lot of
character. I learned something about our team - more
than anything - that we can be a team that steps up
and denies a lot of space for the opponent to play. In
hindsight, had we put two halves together like the second
half, we may have gotten the win."
With a surge of intensity, Michigan came out with a
new, aggressive face in the second half. At the 60 min-
utes mark, senior Ryan Alexander received a ball played
in from senior Adam Bruh at the center circle. Alexander
got off a clear shot, but St. Louis goalkeeper Jeff Sack-
man was able to make the save.
Continuing to employ this more aggressive style of
play, Michigan's new tactical strategy proved to pay off.
At 76:56, the Wolverines drew a St. Louis foul, setting
up a free kick from Bruh. From 28 yards out, the senior
captain beat Sackman to tie the game at one.
"When we tied the game, it really felt like we were
going to win," Burns said. "All of the momentum had
shifted to our side."
The Wolverines' celebration only lasted a few min-
utes though. Just three minutes later, St. Louis answered
Michigan's score in a similar fashion - with a little bit
of luck. The Billikens were awarded a 35-yard free kick
after a Michigan foul. St. Louis's Danny Wynn lined up
for the kick, sending the ball into a wall of Michigan
players. The shot just barely clipped one of the Michigan
players, and, with Dzubay committed going one way in
the goal box, the ball changed direction and was deflect-
ed into the net. After what Burns called the "dagger" of
the game, St. Louis (3-4-1) was able to hold onto its lead
for the 2-1 victory.
Besides the bit of bad luck on St. Louis's second goal,
Burns mentioned that Dzubay's strong performance in
the net was crucial. The senior tallied seven saves on
the day.
"Dzubay played great," Burns said. "He's having a
great season. He's kept us in games long enough to win
it, and he kept us in this one with some big saves. Unfor-
tunately, we couldn't figure out a way to win this one."
Sporting the face of a young team was a common theme
for Michigan this weekend. The Wolverines started six
freshmen against St. Louis and five first-year players in its 2-
2 double overtime tie against Dayton last Thursday. Despite
not being able to add a "W" to its win column this weekend,
Burns said that the weekend road trip provided several les-
sons for the team.
"There was a lack of experience (combined with) play-
ing on the road in hostile environments with crowds that
get underneath the skin of their opponents," Burns said.
"If you're the away team, you have to have the experi-
ence to know how to handle that. When we set up the
next road trip, I think (we will use this) experience that
we have to be a bit more aggressive and certain players
have to look to play more forward, penetrating balls ver-
sus just,holding the possession. We will remind the team
of this experience and hopefully get better."
*I
AARONSWICK,Daiy
Senior captain Adam Bruh, right, scored the Wolverines' lone goal in their 2-1 loss to St. Louis on Saturday;
Two one-goal losses
ruin weekend for 'M'
By Katie Niemeyer
Daily Sports Writer
Falling just short.
It seemed to be the theme for the No. 22
Michigan women's soccer team this week-
end.
After Friday's 2-1 loss to Indiana at Arm-
strong Stadium in Bloomington, the Wol-
verines headed into West Lafayette, aching
to end up on the right side of scoreboard.
But, again, they found themselves just shy,
losing 1-0 to Purdue yesterday.
The game between Michigan (1-2 Big Ten,
5-4-2 overall) and Purdue (3-1. 7-5) turned
into a defensive battle early, with each team
pulling off just five shots apiece.
The Wolverines' defense held the Boiler-
makers scoreless in the first 45 minutes led
by defender Brenna Mulholland.
Although coach Debbie Rademacher did
not return phone calls, she made comments
through Athletic Media Relations:
"(Mulholland) had a good first half,"
Rademacher said. "She definitely, in the
first half, shut down No. 5 for Purdue. In
the second half, she played centrally a little
bit. She played tough."
But it just took one defensive breakdown
by the Wolverines' to cost them the game.
At 59:42, Purdue forward Jessica Okoro-
afo put the moves on -- and got by - the
Michigan defense, scoring the game's only
goal on a breakaway that caught Tuura out
of position.
"It was a really tight game, not a lot of
getting behind both defenses," Radem-
acher said. "A lot of shots were from dis-
tance. It was hard to get balls in behind the
defense."
The Boilermakers' late lead gave them
an added spark, and Michigan managed just
three shots on goal following the Purdue
advantage.
The Wolverines had one final chance with
three minutes to play but failed to capitalize
on the late corner.
Michigan didn't fare much better against
Indiana on Friday.
It fell behind the Hoosiers (1-3. 5-6-1)
midway through the first half when Indi-
ana senior Kristen Zmijewski sailed one
past Michigan goalie Megan Tuura from 30
yards out.
"We certainly had our chances," Radem-
acher said. "We outshot them and had some
great opportunities against the run of play.
It wasn't a really pretty game, but (Indiana)
just stuck them in."
Indiana played physically, committing 12
fouls in the first half alone. But Michigan
got revenge at 35:46.
Forward Jamie Artsis scored her first
goal of the season on a dish from junior
Judy Coffman to tie the game 1-1.
"It was good for (Artsis) to get that mon-
key off her back and put a ball in," Radem-
acher said. "It's definitely a confidence
boost."
Indiana came out hard in the second half,
and forward Kristin Radcliff clinched it for
the Hoosiers on a cross from forward Megan
Pipkens.
The Wolverines return to Big Ten play
at 7 p.m. Friday at the U-M Soccer Field
against Northwestern.
GOPHERS
Continued from page 1B
"The things that we were focus-
ing on, we gottbetter at," Cobler
said. "We need to find a way to put
it all together, hopefully it will be
sooner."
Rosen applauded Miller's effort
throughout the match. She tallied
team-high totals of six blocks and
13 kills - eight of them occurring
in the third game - and a .364 hit-
ting percentage.
"She is competing really well and
playing very aggressively," Rosen
said.
Rosen considered sophomore
Katie Bruzdzinski's performance to
be the most valiant, despite her sea-
son-low total of five kills.
After injuring herself in the Iowa
match on Friday, her participation
in Saturday night's match was in
doubt.
"I was proud of the fact that she
gutted it out," Rosenhsaid-."Sl
didn't play well statistically, but I
think she played very well."
On Friday night, the team earned its
second conference win of the season
with a 30-21, 26-30, 30-23, 30-27 vic-
tory over Iowa (11-6, 1-3) at Carver-
Hawkeye Arena in Iowa City.
Rosen said that he watched a team
that was starting to find its identity
at times.
In other instances, Rosen said
that he watched a team that was still
experiencing some inconsistency.
"There were times in that match
where we figured out how we are
going to compete in the Big Ten,"
Rosen said.
"We were a little up-and-down
and need to resolve that."
Junior Erin Cobler spearheaded
the Michigan effort with a career-
high 18 kills. She credited setter
redshirt freshman Mara Martin and
the game plan for her career best
performance.
"(Martin) gave me very good sets
that allowed me to see the block,"
Cobler said.
"I don't think that Iowa had
extremely good defense on the right
side."
After splitting the first two
games, Michigan rallied at the end
of the final two games to win the
match.
In third game, Cobler delivered
three kills to give Michigan a 24-
20 margin. She turned in a similar
crucial kill at the end of the fourth
game to make it 29-27.
"We were more in our zone,"
Miller said. "We got a good feeling
and rolled with it."
0
RYAN WEINER/Daily
Junior defender Brenna Mulholland (12) led Michigan's defensive efforts this weekend.
* WOMEN'S RsWIheaG
Michigan solid in last home mieet of season
By Ari Fink
For the Daily
BELLEVILLE - Sitting on the start-
ing line waiting for the third piece to com-
mence, their legs began to shake. With the
sun in their eyes and sweat dripping down
their faces, the rowers listened anxiously
for the coaches to start the race. Although
they were trailing in the beginning of the
piece, the boat kept its composure and was
able to pass the Buckeyes in the third 500-
meter leg of the contest, which was actually
a scrimmage.
The varsity four was especially remarkable,
sweeping Ohio State in all five of their pieces.
They were able to put their minds over matter
and persevere through the day with the guid-
ance of coxswain Jessica Shanahan.
"We spent a lot of time working on real-
ly attacking every piece as one boat the
last couple of weeks and working on good
rhythm and pressure in the boat," sopho-
more stroke seat Casey Griswold said.
The boat executed its race plan exactly as
planned this week.
Both of the varsity eights held their ground
as well, but because the outcomes of each
piece varied so much, it was unclear as to who
came out ahead overall. Each boat had a first-
place finish in at least one piece, so it's fair to
say that everyone came out victorious.
Michigan coach Mark Rothstein was very
pleased with the effort.
"Rowing against a formidable program
like Ohio State gives us a good idea of
where we stand," Rothstein said
Because this event wasn't a formal compe-
tition, the boats had a limit of 25 strokes per
minute and could race in mixed lineups. In
the real season, the boats will be stroking as
high as 35 strokes per minute and "boating
up" - or setting strategic crews on the boats
- instead of mixing the roster. Although
none of the teams are expected to reach their
peak performance in the fall, this is a good
starting point for the Wolverines.
With the team battling a number of inju-
ries and illnesses, its effort today was noth-
ing less than impressive. Rothstein said that
the injuries are not a big concern at this
point, but he hopes that his team will use
this time to revamp for the season.
Michigan will compete in its first official
competition at the Head of the Charles on
Oct. 23 in Boston. Rothstein said he was
unsure of whether or not he'd keep the line-
ups mixed for that event. The Wolverines
hope to use this competition against Ohio
State as a gauge of what they need to work
on to prepare for that race.
Months of hard work lie ahead for these
young women to get to where they need to
be for the spring. If they keep turning in
impressive performances like this one, the
Wolverines feel they will have less to worry
about on the starting line, and more impor-
tantly, the finish line.
ICERS
Continued from page 1B
total. Grinnell made 50 saves, but it was the
Wolverines' own ineptitude that led to such
a high amount of saves. Michigan was par-
ticularly bad on the power play, scoring once
in ten tries.
"The goalie played tremendously for
(Toronto), but we weren't shooting to score,"
Hensick said. "We didn't get any shots from
the point on the power play, and we need to
The game was surprisingly physical con-
sidering it was only an exhibition. There were
26 total penalties, 15 of which were on Toron-
to. At the end of the first period a near brawl
broke out involving freshman phenoms Jack
Johnson and Andrew Cogliano. Johnson got
involved with several of the Toronto players in
the Michigan offensive zone.
"Some of those (Toronto) players were
trying to take liberties on our smaller more
skilled forwards," Johnson said. "I was just
POWER PLAY
Continued from page 1B
weekend's exhibitions was a new
rule drawn up by Red Berenson
himself. Named "The Berenson
Rule," players did not have to keep
the puck inside the offensive zone
once they crossed the blue line
onside. Instead the puck had to pass
the center line before the offensive
ing was that it was more of a deter-
rent for the offense than the defense.
"We were able to step back a little
more and quarterback it and have some
time," Johnson said. "On the other
hand, you're harder-pressed to get in
tight and get more quality shots."
WHY CAN'T WE BE FRIENDS?: Satur-
day's Blue-White intrasquad scrim-
mage became a bit heated in the
first period when freshman Jason
Ble1v land sePnior transfe'r Adaim