The Michigan Daily - SportsMonday - October 31, 2005 - 7B
'M' falls
short on
senior,
day
By Colt Rosensweig
Daily Sports Writer
Though senior day for the Michi-
gan field hockey team did not end with
a win, it was quite a memorable game.
After beating Iowa 2-1 on Friday, No. 11
Michigan (3-3 Big Ten, 12-7 overall) lost
to No. 16 Louisville (14-6 overall) 3-2
in overtime.
The Wolverines started the game with
intensity, keeping possession of the ball
and constantly pressuring the Louisville
defense. Just 58 seconds into the match,
Michigan took a 1-0 lead on a goal by
senior forward Katie Morris.
"It was an insertion from the top,"
Morris said. "Someone else initially shot
it, and a rebound came out. It was just
laying there, and I caught the goalie off-
guard. It was a lucky shot, just a quick
shot over the goalie."
Goalie Beth Riley appeared impen-
etrable until Louisville finally broke
through at 15:24 with a goal from sopho-
more forward Casey Diener. Riley had
strayed far from the cage to challenge a
shooter, and Diener was able to snag a
rebound and slip it behind the Michigan
keeper.
Louisville took a 2-1 lead at 29:54 on
a goal from junior forward Carrie Jack-
son which was strangely similar to the
team's first score. But with just two min-
utes left in the half, junior forward Mary
Fox equalized for Michigan.
Fox, who had taken all the corners for
Michigan, had just taken another. After
a few passes near the top of the circle,
junior defender Kara Lentz passed to
Fox at the right side of the goal. Fox shot
the ball in to tie the game at 2-2.
Despite out-cornering Louisville
throughout the game, Michigan was
unable to convert on any other corner
opportunities. The game went to six-
on-six overtime. Still tied 2-2 and with
only about two minutes left, Louisville's
Energy level at
Carlson Center
rivals that at Yost
STEVE TAI/Daily
Senior Katie Morris scored the Wolverines' first goal of the game agains Louisville on Friday.
JAMES V. DOWD
ON ICE HOCKEY
FAIRBANKS - Michigan's Yost
Ice Arena is known for being one of
the toughest college hockey venues
to play in, but the Wolverines got a
taste of their own medicine at the
Carlson Center this weekend.
After the Nanooks opened their
season with a win and a tie against
then-No. 1 Minnesota and a split
with their rivals, Alaska-Anchor-
age, Fairbanks locals came out in
full force for this weekend's home-
opening series. The games had
two consecutive sellout crowds of
4,595.
While their attempts at "They
Still Suck" and "C-Ya" cheers were
feeble, during Friday night's 4-2
Fairbanks victory, the Nanooks'
faithful made sure that the arena
was one of the loudest that Michi-
gan players have played at.
Upon arrival at the Carlson
Center, one of the most noticeable
e differences was the glass that was
more forgiving than the rigid glass
at Yost Ice Arena. Not only did it
amplify the sounds of hard hits in
the game, but it also gave the fans
makeshift drums to bang on in an
effort to distract the visiting Wol-
verines and voice support for their
beloved Nanooks - much like tod-
dlers with pots and pans in their
mother's kitchen. Instead of the
dull thud of harder glass at other
rinks, the Carlson Center's glass is
more like a giant thunderstick with
no volume control.
The pre-game introductions were
a production. Nanook mascots
- the team's name is derived from
the Inupiaq word for polar bear
- dancing all over the ice, arena
rock blaring from the speakers and
the Fairbanks fans chanting "U-A-
F" in unison while banging on the
glass made it tough for anyone to
hear his own thoughts.
Once Friday's game began and
the Nanooks assumed control with
an early goal, it was tough for the
Wolverines to climb back in an
environment that was so supportive
of its home team. Rather than exud-
ing the hostile feeling that oppo-
nents experience in Ann Arbor,
this crowd simply demonstrated
pure love and support for the home
team. And the Nanooks certainly
fed off it.
But come Saturday night, the
Wolverines managed to turn the
tide. With sophomore Kevin Por-
ter's early goal, and a key stop by
Michigan netminder Noah Ruden,
the difference in the crowd was
easily apparent.
"I thought it was a lot quieter
(Saturday night)," senior captain
Andrew Ebbett said. "Once we
got that first goal and as soon as
Ruden saved that penalty shot they
died down. I think it was us get-
ting the first goal and not giving
them anything."
While the fans stayed behind
their team, the feeling was differ-
ent. Fans began to concede that per-
haps Michigan was a better team.
"Man, these Michigan guys
are so much bigger and faster,"
one Fairbanks fan sitting near the
makeshift press box said. "Now I
know why they are No. 1."
But despite the 4-0 lead, fans
stayed until the end to cheer their
Nanooks off the ice, happy to earn
a split against the nation's No. 1
team.
Michigan also had a small con-
tingent of fans at the game. Fresh-
man Jack Johnson's grandparents
made the trip from Las Vegas to
Fairbanks and a dozen members of
the Seattle_ Alumni club came up
and were pleased to see a Michi-
gan victory and take a picture with
Michigan coach Red Berenson on
Saturday night.
Jessica Javelet scored to win the game,
flicking the ball over Riley's head and
into the cage.
"If you look at our penalty corners and
their penalty corners, we just didn't fin-
ish our opportunities," Michigan coach
Nancy Cox said. "You have 14 corners to
their three, and you're counting on con-
verting, at the minimum, 30 percent of
your corners. We didn't get the job done
on our penalty corner opportunities, and
that was the difference in the game. We
made it much harder on ourselves today
than we needed to. We should have won
that game."
Though Michigan easily could have
ended the regular season with a win,
Louisville earned their victory on Sun-
day.
"You have to give credit to the Louis-
ville kids," Cox said. "They played back-
to-back - they played Iowa (Saturday)
and Michigan (Sunday). Those kids have
the mentality that it doesn't matter who
their foe is, they're going to step out
and win the match. They finished their
opportunities, and we didn't finish ours,
and that was the difference."
Before the match, there was a cer-
emony for the team's five seniors: Lori
Hillman, Nicole Lonsway, Lauren Mac-
Millan, Katie Morris and Catherine
Pickard. But senior day itself may have
worked against Michigan.
"It was really emotional for our ath-
letes," Cox said. "I wish we could just
eliminate that because it's a lot for ath-
letes to absorb."
Morris confirmed the significance of
senior day, but didn't think it played a big
role in the match.
"Walking out on the turf and realiz-
ing it's the last time they're calling your
name out here - it's hard," Morris said.
"But the minute the whistle blows it's
just another game. We had a lot of fun
pregame, and emotions were running a
little high. But I'm really proud of the
effort of all the seniors today."
The Wolverines are now confidently
looking forward to the Big Ten Tourna-
ment next weekend.
"Our kids know how to win closely
contested matches," Cox said. "What we
really need to focus on improving this
week is our ability to finish. If the ball's
sitting on your doorstep, it's your job, as
an attacker, (to score). That's what we
need to take away into practice."
Among the players, the recent
improvement in play and ability to deal
with adversity has them optimistic about
their chances in the tournament.
"Our defense is winning games for us
now," Morris said. "I think people are
finally getting comfortable in their posi-
tions. You know where your teammates
are now - I think that was evident in
our passing patterns today. We're excited
to go into the tournament. We had a little
adversity, but we're still as confident as
ever."
Kickers let ties slip away in OT
By Jamie Josephson
Daily Sports Writer
Results from the two Michigan men's
soccer games this Halloween weekend were
eerily similar. Hoping for a road trip full
of more treats than tricks, the Wolverines
returned with a bitter aftertaste instead.
, After a tough 1-0 overtime loss to No. 1
Akron in Ohio on Friday, Michigan trav-
eled to State College, yesterday, to take on
the current Big Ten leaders, the Nittany
Lions. The Wolverines found themselves
yet again in an overtime situation. And for
the second time this weekend, Michigan
came up just short, losing to Penn State,
3-2.
"It was a good game," Michigan coach
Steve Burns said. "It's the best we've been
playing up to this point in this season. In
this game, we scored arguably our best
two goals this season, and it looks like our
forwards are coming alive. We were disap-
pointed but could still take some (positives)
from this."
After being shut out on the offensive end
on Friday, Michigan (2-3-0 Big Ten, 8-8-1
overall) rebounded with a dynamic attack-
ing game against Penn State (6-0-0, 9-6-
2). The Nittany Lions got on the scoreboard
first off of a broken corner kick play in the
32nd minute of the game, but the Wolver-
ines wasted no time responding.
Less than one minute after Penn State's
goal, senior captain Adam Bruh beat a
Penn State defender and sent the ball wide
to senior Ryan Sterba on the left side. Ster-
ba then served the ball to the top of box
where senior Ryan Alexander was waiting.
Alexander collected the ball, dropped his
shoulder and converted his shot to tie the
game at one.
"It was a good build-up goal for us,"
Burns said. "It was one of the better goals
of the season for us. No heads were hang-
ing. Suddenly, we felt the game was coming
back to life for us."
Coming out of halftime with the score
even, Michigan regained the lead soon into
the second half.
In the 53rd minute of the game, the
ball came to Alexander 30 yards up the
field. The senior forward played a one-
touch ball to freshman Jake Stacy. Fac-
ing a two-on-two situation, Stacy took the
ball in stride as the Penn State defenders
were collapsing on him. But from 18 yards
out, Penn State couldn't stop Stacy's left-
footed shot, which regained the lead for
Michigan and gave the freshman his first
goal of the season.
"Jake's first goal of the season came off
a nice counter-attack," Burns said. "Jake's
a guy who really understands the game. I
have said all along that once he gets his first
goal there will be more to follow. We're
hoping he really comes alive."
But the Wolverines' celebration was pre-
mature. With about 13 minutes left in regu-
lation, Penn State scored its second goal.
"Penn State's first two goals were what
I call 'junk goals,' unfortunately," Burns
explained. "The run of play is in the mid-
dle of the midfield and suddenly a ball gets
played out wide. Those balls need to be
cleared by our defenders, but a lot of times
they'll drop and get pinned around, and it
will be an attacking player who ends up
with it.
"Their goals were unfortunate ones,
whereas ours were both quality goals."
Nonetheless, the "junk goals" sent the
game into overtime. And before Michigan
could even blink, the Nittany Lions pulled
out the rug from underneath the Wolver-
ines' cleats. Just 32 seconds into the sud-
den-death period, the Nittany Lions' right
midfielder got the ball into the left flank
space and served it into Penn State's Jason
Yeisley up front. Yeisley stretched just
enough to head the ball into Michigan's
net for the 3-2 win. With the victory, Penn
State extended its current win streak to six
games and remained undefeated in confer-
ence play.
"While our guys played extremely well,
the goal that was scored in overtime was a
quick goal and the result of fatigue more
than anything else," Burns said.
He noted that poor game scheduling gave
Michigan very little rest in between the
Akron game and yesterday's contest.
Losing back-to-back overtime games for
the first time in program history, Michigan
is looking to get back on track to finish the
regular season off strong.
"We're playing well, but we are not
at all satisfied with results," Burns said.
"We have to keep our spirits and heads up
against our biggest rival next weekend,
Ohio State."
RODRIGO GAYA/Daily
Senior Ryan Alexander notched Michigan's first goal In yesterday's losing effort against Penn State.
'M' notches first season shutout
By Katie Niemeyer
Daily Sports Writer
Off the crossbar - that's as close as
anybody came.
Four minutes into the 10-minute
sudden-death overtime, freshman
Danelle Underwood stole the ball in
Michigan State territory, feeding it
down the line to junior Judy Coffman,
who sent it flying. Sophomore Melissa
Dobbyn headed the cross from the
top of the box over a leaping Michi-
gan State goalie Nicole Galas, but the
header just missed, rebounding back
off the crossbar.
And the score remained 0-0.
It didn't change after two sudden-
death overtimes in Friday night's
gle from the beginning.
"Both teams fought really hard,"
Michigan coach Debbie Rademacher
said. "It was ugly at times but excit-
ing at other times. It was a defensive
stalemate."
The Spartans managed just three
shots the entire game - one in each
half and one in the second overtime
- compared to the Wolverines' eight.
Michigan dominated the first half,
notching six shots and keeping Michi-
gan State shotless for over 25 min-
utes.
"I think, as a whole, our defense
played well, it's hard to single out
one person," Rademacher said. "Our
defensive effort was great."
The Wolverines capped the first
After Dobbyn's header off the cross-
bar at the start of the first overtime,
neither team came close until Dobbyn
sent a shot sailing high over the cross-
bar. The Wolverines kept the Spartans
shotless but ended the first overtime
still looking for the elusive game-win-
ning goal.
The goal never came and the game
ended after 110 minutes in a 0-0 tie.
The shutout marked the first on the
season for Tuura and the Wolverines,
and it couldn't have come at a bet-
ter time. It was the last game of the
regular season and just a week before
the Big Ten Tournament. Plus, the tie
allowed Michigan to keep the Chal-
lenge Cup.
"I think we all stepped it up today,"
... .... .