The Michigan Daily - SportsWednesday - October 19, 2005 - 7B
Wolverines fall in rivalry
game, extend losing streak
By Nate Sandals moved the ball crisply and applied pres- after halftime, the offense still cou
Daily Sports Writer sure. sustain pressure in the second half
The Michigan defense finally cracked Michigan's best chance came
EAST LANSING - Men's soccer in the 31st minute when the Spartans' 61st minute, when freshman de
coach Steve Burns has done everything Ryan McMahen fired a shot past Michi- Chase Tennant fired a free kick
possible this season to instill in his team gan goalie Peter Dzubay from just outside the wall and on goal. The shot
the same "Ya Gotta thel8-yard box. The goal was McMahen's have gone in but for a spectacula
uld not
.
in the
fender
above
would
r save
Believe" attitude
employed by the CHA TE
Boston Red Sox,
last year's World Series Champions.
But on Sunday, the Wolverines .didn't
believe and lost the Big Bear game to
Michigan State, 2-0. In doing so, the
Wolverines extended their losing streak
to four.
The score does not tell the tale of a
Michigan team that was once again out-
played despite its ability. Burns said that
the loss boiled down to his team's fear of
losing.
"I tell the team that in soccer - as in
life - there are three important things:
energies, abilities and fears," the six-year
head coach said. "We have the first two,
but right now we are playing with fear.
We are afraid to lose."
From the opening tap, the Spartans
dominated the field of play. Continued
forays into Michigan's defensive zone
had the Wolverines' backline backpedal-
ing as the speedy Michigan State strikers
seventh of the season.
The Wolverines defense, led by senior
captain Ryan Sterba, failed to respond
after that and gave up the second goal
just over 10 minutes later - when Kenzo
Webster chipped the ball over Dzubay's
outstretched hand from 16 yards out.
"I played scared in the first half," Ster-
ba said. "I was afraid to step up to the
ball. It's my job to remain calm and emit
confidence. Instead I played on my heels
and worried about making mistakes.
When I do that, so does the rest of the
defense."
Coach Burns looked to Sterba at half-
time to step up and lead.
"I told Ryan that is was his job to take
a deliberate aggressive approach and get
the team back into the game," Burns
said.
Michigan's defense was a different
unit after halftime. They pressured the
ball and sparked numerous counterat-
tacks toward the Michigan State goal.
While the defense improved its play
by Michigan State goalie Jason Tillman,
who leaped up to tap the shot over the
crossbar.
Burns was disappointed that his
offense did not create the chances it is
capable of.
"The offense needs to play stronger
and have a physical presence in the 18-
yard box," he said. "Our players can't be
scared to make a run in there."
In the end, fear was the story of the
day. Both on offense and defense, Michi-
gan played without confidence.
"It's all about the players believing
that they can win games," Burns said.
"We are a lot better than our record
shows. From now on we have to make
sure we go into each game with a posi-
tive attitude."
Michigan hopes to turn its attitude and
season around when it returns home for
two important contests. The Wolverines
face Wisconsin-Milwaukee Thursday at
5 p.m. at the U-M Soccer Field and hosts
Wisconsin on Sunday at 2:30 p.m.
TOMMASO GOMEZ/Daily
Senior captain Ryan Sterba and the Wolverines couldn't put together an offensive attack to match the Spartans'.
'M' relies on 'big guns' to carry team
By Daniel Bromwich
Daily Sports Writer
The women's soccer team needed a win over
Iowa on Sunday in the worst way.
With a matchup against the No. 1 team in the
country - Penn State - and important confer-
ence games against Minnesota and perennial rival
Michigan State looming, the Wolverines viewed
their game at Iowa Soccer
Complex as a must-win. M0cHIGAN 2
And it showed. 1144N0101
In their final road game
of the year, the Wolverines
immediately jumped on top
of the Hawkeyes (0-4-2 Big
Ten, 2-9-4 overall), and they never let up.
Michigan (3-4-0, 7-6-2) scored two goals in
the first 25 minutes of the game, added two more
in the first 20 minutes of the second half, and
only allowed a late goal to come away with the
4-1 win.
"(This win) is huge for us," coach Debbie
Rademacher said. "We really need these next
four games. Certainly with playing Penn State on
Friday, this is a good build-up to it. We want a
chance to knock off the first team in the country,
and we're excited to be able to do that at home."
Michigan has relied on its heavy hitters for
scoring all year, and that didn't change at all
against Iowa, against whom the Wolverines have
never lost. Leading the team in shots, points,
assists and goals, sophomore Melissa Dobbyn
added to her totals Sunday, recording a goal and
an assist on three shots. Senior Therese Heaton
- currently second on the team in points, goals
and assists - added a goal and two assists on
three shots. And junior Judy Coffman - second
on the team in shots and third in points and goals
- put in two goals on her only two shots of the
game.
"They are the key to our offensive attack,"
Rademacher said. "People know about them, and
they are being marked tight, but they are finding
ways to put in goals."
Dobbyn opened the scoring at 12:42. Heaton
crossed the ball, and Dobbyn was able to control
it behind the Iowa defense, leading to a one-on-
one with Iowa goalkeeper Erin MacIsaac.
Boasting the best range on the team, Dobbyn
blasted the ball into the back of the net to put the
Wolverines up 1-0. With her 10th goal of the year,
Dobbyn bested last year's total of nine goals.
Coffman followed with a goal of her own at
23:27. She was taken down inside the 18-yard
box, resulting in a penalty kick that she put past
MacIsaac for a 2-0 lead that the Wolverines held
going into the half.
But Michigan did not let up in the second half
either. At 56:52, Heaton took a pass from Dobbyn
and was able to beat MacIsaac from the top of the
18-yard box to extend the lead to 3-0. And less
than six minutes later, Coffman tallied her sec-
ond goal of the contest off an assist from Heaton.
It marked Coffman's first career two-goal game,
and for Heaton, her four-point game marked the
second time this season she has accomplished the
feat, with a hat-trick against Western Michigan
earlier in the year.
The Wolverines could not complete the shutout
though. Iowa was able to score at 72:10 on a goal
from leading scorer Stephanie Hyink that rock-
eted past freshman goalkeeper Madison Gates.
"All the scouts on them say that their attack is
the most dangerous part of their team," Radem-
acher said. "They're a team that you just want to
be sure you never let back in the game and never
quit."
Aggressive from the start, Michigan never even
let Iowa in the game. Junior goalkeeper Megan
Tuura pitched a shutout for the 70 minutes that
she played. She recorded three saves and picked
up her fifth win of the year, and the defense was
solid from start to finish.
"I thought we played really well," Rademacher
said. "We tackled well, we did well in the air, and
we were able to win 50-50 balls, which are all
things we focused on before the game."
Michigan's weekend did not go unblemished
though because they could not hold a 2-1 lead on
Friday night at Illinois Soccer Stadium against
the Fighting Illini.
Dobbyn and freshman Danelle Underwood
scored less than four minutes apart in the first
half for the lead.
Fighting back, the Illini tallied two goals in
the first five minutes of the second half and held
the Wolverines scoreless for the remainder of the
game to capture a 3-2 win.
ALEXANDER DZIADOSZ/Daily
Sophomore Melissa Dobbyn powered the Wolverines with a goal and assist on Sunday.
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