Friday November 4, 2005 sports.michigandaily.com sports@michigandaily.com PRe MicTSotgnBailg 9 0 U FOOTBALL Week off is chance, for a look ahead By Stephanie Wright " Daily Sports Editor Aren't coaches always telling their players not to look past their next opponent - even when the biggest game of the year looms in the dis- tance? Seemingly unconcerned with such conventional wisdom, Michigan coach Lloyd Carr decided to bend that rule a little bit. The Wolverines have a week off before they face Indiana on Nov. 12, and Carr said on Monday that he would use part of that week to prepare for Ohio State. "We still have a normal week of preparation for our next opponent," Carr said. "I think, obviously, there is time in there that you are trying to prepare for both (Indiana and Ohio State)." Carr insisted there is nothing out of the ordinary about readying for more than one team at a time. As he point- ed out, any time a coach sits down to watch film there are two teams on the tape, and coaches tend to take note of how both teams play. Still, there is little doubt that this week's prepa- ration for the 12th-ranked Buckeyes was a bit more intentional than that. According to Carr, he and the rest of Michigan's coaching staff spent * Tuesday and Wednesday studying film on Indiana and Ohio State and then working on both opponents with the players at practice each day. From there, the bye week schedule varies. The coaches spent yesterday recruit- ing, which they will continue to do today. The players came in to lift yesterday, and then they are off until practice on Sunday night. So what are the players' big plans for this rare weekend off? Not too much, if you believe freshman safety Brandon Harrison. Carr told the play- ers not to go home, so Harrison said his plans include watching film on Indiana with some of his teammates. Right tackle Jake Long said he might head to Hillsdale on Satur- day to watch a friend play for Wayne State. But most of the redshirt sopho- more's plans involve hanging around Ann Arbor and getting additional treatment on the leg injury that kept him out of the Wolverines' first seven contests. With the extra rest, Long said he expects to be back to 100 per- cent for the Indiana game. Both Harrison and Long stressed how much their team needs a week off to get healthy for the final stretch of the season. "We're all a little beat up," Long said. "This week is absolutely going to help us." Carr couldn't agree more. In fact, the large number of banged-up play- ers on Michigan's roster is the only reason Carr is glad to see this bye week come. "Under, normal circumstances, I think we would prefer to continue to play because we do have some See FOOTBALL, page 10 MICHIGAN 3 (4), Penn State 3 (2) - 20T Women's soccer topples undefeated Penn State By Katie Niemeyer Daily Sports Writer Everyone thought No. 1 Penn State was unbeatable. Last night at U-M Soccer Field, the No. 8 seed Wolverines proved everyone wrong. With 6:25 to play in regulation, Michigan senior for- ward Therese Heaton put the Wolverines ahead 3-2 on a flick from freshman Danelle Underwood on a Michi- gan corner kick. Michigan held the lead for the next six minutes, and it looked as if it had achieved the impos- sible and beaten undefeated Penn State (10-0-1 Big Ten, 19-0-1 overall). But with just 24 seconds remaining in regulation, Penn State forward Tiffany Weimer scored on a penalty kick to tie the game 3-3 and send the first- round game of the Big Ten Tournament into sudden death overtime. "The calls, maybe they didn't go the way we thought they should have, but we didn't let that get in the way of us fighting hard until the end," Heaton said Michigan (3-6-2, 7-8-4) fought off the Nittany Lions for two 10-minute sudden-death overtimes and, finally, the Wolverines won the game on penalty kicks, outscoring the Nittany Lions 4-2. Michigan started out strong, winning balls in the middle of the field, but, four minutes into the game, the Nittany Lions soon showed the crowd why they are the nation's top-ranked team. Penn State fresh- man Sheree Gray carried the ball from one end of the field to the other, finally crossing it from the far side- line. Weimer headed the ball toward the right side of the net and Penn State midfielder Ali Krieger was there to dump it in. With nice touches and major speed in the midfield, Penn State kept the pressure on. But just when it looked like the Nittany Lions' speed and skill were too much for the Wolverines to handle, sophomore Melissa Dobbyn gave Michigan a glimmer of hope. Stuck on the right sideline, Dobbyn lifted the ball into the air, and it sailed just over the outstretched hand of Penn State senior goal keeper Erin McLeod, crossing the goal line inches below the crossbar to tie the game at one. "OK, that first shot was sick, first of all - unbe- lievable," said junior Brenna Mulholland, who scored Michigan's final penalty kick to seal the victory. "(Dobbyn's goal was) crucial. That sets the tone for the rest of the game. It gets the momentum going." The goal raised the Wolverines' intensity, but Penn State quickly responded to regain the lead 3- 2. Freshman Allie Long carried the ball down the field and dished it out wide to Weimer, who sent a cross into senior Carmelina Moscato. Moscato cashed in, sending the ball over diving Michigan goalie Megan Tuura. "We knew at halftime, we were in the game," Hea- ton said. "The goals they scored weren't anything special. They were things we could clean up defen- sively. And we knew - this was it, this was our sea- son. If we lost, we were going home. We were done. And the seniors weren't ready to be done; our team- mates weren't ready to be done. We weren't going to hang up the cleats tonight. So we fought to the end." Michigan looked like a different team in the sec- ond half and put pressure on the Penn State defense from the start. Three and a half minutes into the half, Heaton found herself with the ball at her feet at the top of the box. She turned and shot, notching her first goal of the game and tying the game at two. Michigan will face No. 4 Illinois at 7:30 p.m. today at U-M Soccer Field in the semi-finals of the Big Ten Tournament. Because yesterday's game was recorded as a tie, the Wolverines must beat Illinois and win the Big Ten Cham- pionship game to raise their winning percentage above .500 and become eligible for the NCAA Tournament. EMMA NOLAN-ABRAHAM IAN/Daily The Wolverines celebrate after senior captain Therese Heaton tied the game at two 3:54 into the second half. New coach looks to change losing ways for Irish By H. Jose Bosch Daily Sports Writer Many events have happened around the sporting world since Jan. 2, 2005. But until Oct. 30, a win for the Notre Dame hockey team wasn't one of them. Last Saturday's 2-0 victory over Princeton snapped a 22- game winless streak for the Fighting Irish (1-3-0) - a streak in which the team went 0-20-2 (0- 17-2 CCHA). Despite that, the No. 3 Michigan hockey HrS : team will not take Notre Dame lightly going into tonight's game in South :3r.. Bend. at heJy "We don't look at 7n pw. (the Fighting Irish) as atv s < a weak team," junior r Brandon Kaleniecki said. "We look at them as a team that can beat us any night. That's the thing about the CCHA and every college hockey team - (a team) can beat you no matter what if you don't come ready to play. We know we have to come out ready to play and that's the bottom line." The Wolverines (1-1-1 CCHA, 5- 1-1 overall) are very aware of what can happen when a highly touted team faces off against an underdog. Ranked No. 1 in the nation, Mich- igan visited Alaska-Fairbanks last weekend and proceeded to drop the first game of the series, 4-2. The Nanooks' win was their second of the season over a top-ranked team. The first time was on opening week- end against then-No. 1 Minnesota. Also last weekend, No. 14 Ohio State dropped two games to pro- jected CCHA cellar dweller West- ern Michigan in Kalamazoo. And although No. 8 Michigan State isn't considered a weak team, it still had to face then-No. 2 Cornell on the road last weekend. But the Spartans were able to steal a victory and estab- lish themselves as a national threat. These and other games across the nation have proved that top teams ,EKEND can fall to opponents of rys lesser quality, especially ) 2 early in the season. tIa Although the Wolver- L Cnrte~r ines have already played torrow fitwo games on the CCHA schedule, tonight will mark the conference opener for Notre Dame and its new coach, Jeff Jackson. But Jackson is no stranger to the CCHA. In his six seasons as head coach of Lake Superior State from 1990 to 1996, Jackson won four CCHA playoff championships (1991, 1992, 1993 and 1995), two CCHA regular season championships (1991 and 1996) and two National Cham- pionships (1992 and 1994). There is no doubt the new coach is looking to revitalize a foundering program that, after qualifying for the NCAA Tournament two years ago, went just 5-27-6 last season. "They're a hard working team and we saw that last year when we played them in the playoffs," Kaleniecki said. "Those were tough games. TOMMASO GOMEZ/Daily Juniors T.J Hensick (above) and Matt Hunwick lead the Wolverines with three power-play goals each. (Jackson) is experienced, he knows what's going on and he's going to have them ready to play against us. I think it's going to be a big differ- ence." The last time Michigan faced off against the Fighting Irish was dur- ing last season's CCHA playoffs. In front of a home crowd, the Wolver- ines won a 1-0 battle in overtime just one night after embarrassing Notre Dame 10-1. That resiliency is proof that there is more to the Fighting Irish than what's on paper. According to Kaleniecki, to jump on Notre Dame early, Michigan must focus on getting the puck deep into the offensive zone and using the forecheck to keep it there and cre- ate turnovers. The Wolverines must also continue their recent success on special teams. Through seven games this season, Michigan opponents have scored just four power-play goals while the Wolverines have scored 17. Michigan is led by juniors T.J. Hensick and Matt Hunwick, who have notched three power-play goals apiece. See IRISH, page 10 I STAFF PICKS Predictions against the spread for 11/5/05 Baylor (+28) at No. 2 Texas No. 4 Alabama (-16) at Mississippi State Gabe Edelson Stanford Texas Virginia Tech Alabama Ian Herbert n"s Stephanie George Wright Washington Stanfords th l No ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ LV 7 CA(9 tAiaULA Tennessee (+9) at No. 8 Notre Dame Notre Dame N thC r ina 61 t te (+.1 at~1 NoV 1U 4 9 1 *F<: d ft .Z>rida St ate No. 14 Wisconsin (+11) at No. 10 Penn State Wisconsin Vanderbilt (+19) at No. 13 Florida Florida Stanford Tex as Virginia Tech Alabama UCLA Tennessee Florida State Wisconsin Ohio State Florida Matt Venegoni Southern Cal Texas Virginia Tech Mississippi state UCLA Notre Dame Florida State Wisconsin llriois Florida Texas Texas Virginia Tech -VUSiiaE h Alabama Mississippi State -,UCLA UL Thefather of all celebrity prognosticators George Washington was once a president and a general. Today, he has a new title - Daily Celebrity Betting God. Washington led his troops in one of the greatest upsets in world history - the upstart Americans' defeat of Great Britain. This week, the father of our nation hopes Mississippi State will be inspired by his memory to take down mighty Alabama - or at least cover the spread. Still, Washington's not gonna lie; he knows it's hard to pick Notre Dame Notre Dame Florida State Florida State Wisconsin II Ino s Florida Wisconsin thio ~ Florida I,: ............................. ..................................... ...... ......................... .........................................