Friday October 14, 2005 sports.michigandaily.com sports@michigandaily.com PRTS'rgan ailg 9 Icers eager to get revenge on Eagles 0 FOOTBALL M' looks to slow By James V. Dowd Daily Sports Writer The game has stuck out like a sore thumb on No. 7 Michigan's schedule since it was released in July. Squeezed between a series against Quinnipiac last weekend and this Sunday's game against at home." Even for players that haven't been around, there are many personal ties between the two teams. Watch- ing the Wolverines coming off the ice at the end of practice as the Eagles went on last night was like a family reunion. Five players on the Boston College roster have played with at least one Wol- verine, and seven Wol- ' "'' ' |verines have skated on < «}>w....... r a team with one of the Merrimack, play- ers and fans couldn't help but notice Friday night's game against No. 5 Boston College. Whenever these two teams have met since Boston College coach Jerry York arrived, there's been a lot on the line - the 1998 NCAA Championship, the 2000 Great Lakes n; It } C :.y :;.i; iY. ~Ml~,sr~ 0. 4~A~ Eagles. "Any time you play against the guys that you played with before Michigan you want to beat them," said alter- nate captain Bran- don Kaleniecki, who Eagles' senior defen- Harrold. "You get the Invitation- played seman with Pater al Championship, a 2001 NCAA Frozen Four matchup, a 2003 GLI semifinal and a 2004 NCAA sec- ond-round game. But this time around, in the Eagles' season open- er, the implications might not be felt until months later when NCAA tournament selections are on the line, or if the two teams happen to meet in the tournament. "This game might be more impor- tant in March than it is now," Mich- igan coach Red Berenson said. "We need to understand how important it might be then. I think it's great for both programs that we play and whether we will meet in the NCAA tournament you never know. It's great to stay in touch with those programs." Even without future considerations, the game has a lot riding on it. For Michigan's upperclassmen, there's the revenge factor. After suffering a heart-breaking loss that eliminated the Wolverines from the 2004 NCAA Tournament, the play- ers who remain from that team are intent on giving this year's Eagles a taste of their own medicine. "I think it's going to be huge for the guys that are still around," senior captain Andrew Ebbett said. "That was a heart-breaking over- time loss, and it's been sitting in the back of our minds for the past year. We've been waiting to get at thei. It'll be good to get them on the ice extra bragging rights. It's excit- ing at the same time. I played with him for two years, and here we are playing four years later in such an important game." On the ice, the Wolverines have been preparing for a Boston Col- lege team that is known for shifting between offensive and defensive modes quickly - making Michi- gan's ability to minimize turnovers critical, because any single mistake might lead to odd-man rushes. "We think we've done pretty well working on the transition game," Berenson said. "But against a team like Boston College, it's uncharted waters. I think this will be a good test for a lot of parts of our game - coming out of our own zone, the neutral zone, the transition game and our special teams." Berenson has decided to start freshman Billy Sauer in goal for the third consecutive game. With a 2.00 goals-against average and 49 saves, Sauer earned a victory in both games last weekend. After facing the Eagles on Fri- day night, the Wolverines welcome Merrimack to Yost Ice Arena. The Warriors will play their season opener at Bowling Green on Friday night before coming to Ann Arbor. Merrimack opens the season hop- ing to snap a 14-game losing streak that dates back to Dec. 31. down By Matt Venegoni Daily Sports Editor Images of Ohio State ,quarterbacks Troy Smith Young dismantling the W4 defense last season still ha Michigan football fans. Thi Michigan fans could be in: when another dual-threat back - Penn State's fifth-y Michael Robinson - comes It's true that Michigan st running abilities of Michig Drew Stanton in the Wolver win, but Stanton has not loo as much as he did last seas ing him to zero yards didn impressive when he refuse But it was still a step in direction for a Michigan de had been criticized for its i stop a mobile quarterback. The Wolverines now hav to show they can stop a mul signal caller - Robinson 1 that he is more than willi the ball and pound out a fev the ground. Through six games this} inson is the Nittany Lion leading rusher, tallying 338 78 carries and chipping in fi touchdowns. But he also h himself to be a competent pa ing nine touchdowns forr 1,100 yards. "He is a great athlete, an like a tailback," Michig Lloyd Carr said. "I think really developed as a throwe In the first four games Robinson had some turno lems. Prior to Penn Stat victory over Minnesota, fumbled and lost the ball f while also throwing six inte speedy B But since then, the dynamic quarter- back has taken care of the ball and led his team with poise. and Texas "He is definitely our leader," Penn and Vince State redshirt freshman receiver Deon Volverines' Butler said. "We definitely look up to aunt many him each time we get into the huddle. s Saturday, He is always so calm and says, 'Hey for a scare guys, we are going to drive this many quarter- yards. We are about to score.' When year senior you get into a huddle with a guy like s to town. Mike, he puts so much confidence opped the into you." an State's Carr and some of the veterans on ines 34-31 Michigan know what Robinson can ked to run do with the ball in his hands. They son. Hold- saw it first-hand three years ago, the i't look as last time Penn State and the Wolver- ed to run. ines played. the right Robinson was all over the field, efense that playing quarterback, wide receiver nability to and running back. He finished with just 36 yards, but he showed his versa- e a chance tility even then. ti-purpose "They have a quarterback who is has shown really a running back with a quar- ng to tuck terback's arm," senior co-captain Pat w yards on Massey said. "He is somebody who can do it all." year, Rob- Robinson has proven to be adept at s' second- running the attack, so it will be up to yards on the Wolverines' defense, especially ve rushing the front seven to stop Robinson and has shown the spread offense attack. The option asser, toss- offense means that defensive ends more than LaMarr Woodley and Alan Branch will have to watch Robinson constant- nd he runs ly and put a hit on him every time he an coach comes to their side. he (has) "When you are dealing with an er." option team, the stress that it puts this year, on the end of the line of scrimmage ver prob- - the perimeter guys up front - they e's 44-14 don't block them on the option," Carr Robinson said. "If they get up the field too far, our times, the quarterback darts inside. So they erceptions. have to be disciplined." Senior captain Andrew Ebbett leads Michigan into a big weekend of hockey. WOLVERINES - EAGLES IN OCTOBER? When Michigan and Boston College face off, there's often a lot on the line. Since 1998, they've met five times, three of which were in the NCAA Tournament. Boston College has won the last four meetings. Date. 4/4/1998 12/30/2000 4/5/2001 12/27/2003 3/28/2004 Result W-OT L LT L LOT Score 3-2. 5-8 2-4 1-4 2-3 Site, Frozen Four Championship Great Lakes Invitational Frozen Four Semifinal Great Lakes Invitational Regional Final FOR MORE FOOTBALL COVERAGE AROUND THE BIG TEN VISIT WWW.MICHIGANDAILY.COM Spi'kers' offense turns around By Lindsey Ungar Daily Sports Writer It started with Megan Bowman. Then Mara Martin. And Katie Bruzdzinski. The offense never stopped for Michi- gan (3-3 Big Ten, 9-6 overall) against Illinois last week, when the team had a .400 hitting percentage and recorded 12 service aces - the most by the Wolver- ines since they tallied 13 more than six years ago. But on a team that had been averag- ing a .245 hitting percentage, where did all the offense come from? "We were firing on all cylinders that night," Michigan coach Mark Rosen said. "We had very good bal- ance to our offense - lots of people were contributing." An unlikely source, Bowman, sparked the offensive onslaught. Bow- man, a junior known better for her blocking skills - she ranks sixth all time for Michigan with 346 rejections - jumped out early in the first game with two kills. "It's been a point of frustration for her and for our setter," Rosen said. "And we worked a lot last week with her offen- sively. And she came out - very first point of the game - and Mara set her on the quick attack, and she just got up and ripped it. Everybody got excited because they know how hard we've been working on it. All day long she was unstoppable. But it wasn't just a balanced offensive attack that allowed Michigan to sweep Illinois. Prior to the match, the Wolver- ines had been averaging 1.33 service aces per game - good for ninth in the Big Ten. Against the Illini, they had 12 over three games. Freshman Martin had four of the service aces. "We've been working a lot with her on being a more attacking setter," Rosen said. "Normally her job is to tip over the ball to other players, but it can be very helpful to our offense if she is an attack- er as well. She doesn't necessarily like to do it, but she knows it's important and we work a lot in practice." Said Martin: "I just was able to run RODRIGO GAYA/Daily Sophomore Mara Martin led a potent Michigan offense last week in Illinois. Our problem is just being so young- especially at the setting position - it hasn't been as consistent as anyone would like. But that's part of the process of development and growing." Rosen has been working with the younger players like Martin in practice not only on offense, but also on defense. He hopes the extra focus will translate into winning on the court. "It's kind of fun to see how hard the girls are working through the week, and nobody else sees that, just the people that are with the team," Rosen said. Junior Danielle Pflum was injured against Illinois, forcing the coaches to switch up the roster in preparation for No. 4 Penn State this Friday and No. 19 Ohio State on Saturday. "We've been pretty comfortable with the lineup we've had for the last month, but now we've got to shuffle it a little bit," Rosen said. The team will look for the return of the high-powered offense against Penn State and Ohio State. Five out of six of Michigan's losses have come to teams that were or are ranked in the top 25. "They're both very good teams, and we'll have to have long rallies - just being able to put the ball where we need to and keep playing, know- ing we're gonna have to take two or three swings to win the point," soph- omore Lyndsay Miller said. I LhEhhIU~UT IlAlIure I n.