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," ... .... .