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October 06, 2006 - Image 10

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10A - The Michigan Daily - Friday, October 6, 2006

Blue's freshmen class
has first chance to shine

4

By James V. Dowd
Daily Sports Writer
It has become a Michigan tradition of sorts
- initiating highly touted freshman classes into
the world of college hockey against neighbors
from the north.
For the ninth straight year, the Wolverines
open their exhibition season against a Canadian
opponent. They will face off against the Water-
loo (Ontario) Warriors at Yost
Ice Arena tonight.
It will be Michigan's first
opportunity to observe its five TONIGH
freshmen, a group that won't te (
have to make as big of a splash Michgan
as the 11-member group last
season.
"It really is different (than
having 11 freshman last year),"
Michigan coach Red Berenson
said. "You're hoping they all_
play well, but I don't think we
need them to be impact play-
ers."
Not needing as big an impact is not to say that
Berenson expects them to go unnoticed.
Defensemen Chris Summers, a first-round
draft pick of the Phoenix Coyotes, and Steve
Kampfer will both compete for the sixth defen-
seman's slot.
They will also fill in when the team loses play-
ers to injuries or international play. Sophomores
Jack Johnson and Mark Mitera left for the World
Junior Championships last December.
Having players in the tournament year after
year, Berenson understands the importance of
having dependable defensemen on the roster.
He hopes that this weekend will give Summers
and Kampfer the opportunity to gain some con-
fidence.
"If Kampfer and Summers can add to our

defense in terms of depth and quality, and they
can grow into reliable defensemen, that's going
to take some of the heat off," Berenson said.
"You're going to have injuries and whatever. Last
year we moved a forward (senior David Rohlfs)
up to defense (because the team was short a
defenseman)."
At the other end of the ice, an experienced core
of forwards will face a tough goaltender.
In an exhibition game against Canisius Col-
lege in Buffalo on Wednesday, Water-
loo goalie Jimmy Bernier made 30
saves.
IT Last season, it was Toronto goal-
ari ) at tender Ryan Grinnell's 50 saves that
kept the Varsity Blues within striking
range when Michigan scraped out a 3-
2 victory.
After skating against a much older
Canadian squad on Friday, Sunday's
game against the United State Nation-
al Team Development Program might
seem like a relief.
But nine of the Wolverines are for-
mer members of the program and know full well
that the Ann Arbor-based squad will be excited
for a shot to beat Michigan.
The USNTDP has gone 7-1 this season, includ-
ing an upset of Alaska last Friday.
"(The USNTDP) has already won a Division
I game (against) Fairbanks," Berenson said. "So
you know they're a good team. They had a good
tournament in the North American League -
they were killing teams ... so that will be a good
test for us."
Last January, the Wolverines fell behind 2-
0 and 3-1 against the USNTDP before scoring
three unanswered goals to notch a victory.
Look for Michigan to capitalize on the pro-
gram's loss of No. I draft pick Erik Johnson,
who dazzled last season before leaving for the
University of Minnesota this fall.

4

Curtis Granderson played hero for the Tigers with a go-ahead triple in a comeback over the Yankees.
Guillen, Granderson

SPARTANS
Continued from page 9A
But even if the outlook looks
bleak for the Green and White,
Michigan is prepared for the
99th game between the Wol-
verines and the Spartans to be
a battle.
"(Michigan State is) a team
that has nothing to lose right
now," tight end Brian Thomp-
son said. "They're just going
to come after it. No matter
what the records are, this is
a rivalry game, and it's going
to be a fistfight. I'm going to

expect everything from Michi-
gan State."
A week after bringing the
Little Brown Jug back to Ann
Arbor, the Wolverines will have
another traveling trophy on the
line. Of course, the Paul Bun-
yan Trophy, awarded annually
to the winner of the Michigan-
Michigan State game, doesn't
have the Little Brown Jug's
high profile.
But that doesn't matter one
lick to the Wolverines. Playing
against its in-state rival, Michi-
gan wants to hold onto the Paul
Bunyan Trophy for the fifth

straight year just as badly as it
wanted to take back the Little
Brown Jug.
"Even though (the Paul Bun-
yan Trophy) is the ugliest tro-
phy in college football, you
do not really want to lose it,"
defensive tackle Terrance Tay-
lor said. "Every time you come
to Schembechler Hall, you look
down and see it standing there.
It is pretty big. With our tro-
phies, you really do not care too
much about them until you lose
them. Going into this game, we
want to keep Paul Bunyan right
where he is."

give Ti
NEW YORK (AP) - Justin Ver-
lander and Detroit's bullpen held
downthe New YorkYankees' mighty
offense, bringing just enough 100
mph heat to send the Tigers home
with a split.
Curtis Granderson hit a go-ahead
triple off Mike Mussina in the sev-
enth inning to cap a comeback from
a two-run deficit, and the Tigers beat
the Yankees 4-3 yesterday to even
their best-of-five AL playoff series at
one game apiece.
"I hope in my heart everybody
realizes we are a playoff team,"
Tigers manager Jim Leyland said.
"I'm not sure everybody believed
that"
After the threat of rain caused
a postponement Wednesday night,
the skies were sunny for the rare
postseason day game at Yankee
Stadium. But before a somewhat
stunned crowd of 56,252, the wild-
card Tigers ended a six-game losing
streak that stretchedto the final week
of the regular season.
Verlanderhis pitches reaching tri-
ple-digits on the radar gun, allowed
his only runs on Johnny Damon's
fourth-inning homer, which put New
York ahead 3-1.
"Verlander did one whale of a job,"
Yankees manager Joe Torre said.
Jamie Walker, Joel Zumaya and
Todd Jones finished with one-hit
relief.
Zumaya topped out at 102 mph,
according to the center-field score-
board. Walker got the win, relieving
Verlander in the sixth with a man on
and a 1-1 count on Robinson Cano
and inducing an inning-ending dou-
ble play..
Leyland didn't hesitate to take out
Verlander in the middle of an at-bat.
"I just didn't like the fastball
before that. It was 921" Leyland said.
"I said, 'That's it. I'm going to make
my move now.'"
Said Verlander: "He's a great skip.
When he comes out to take me out
of a ballgame, I never second-guess
him."
Jones pitched the ninth for the

gers first win

save, giving up a leadoff single to
Hideki Matsui. But Jones, a soft
tosser when compared to the Tigers'
other hard throwers, struck out Jorge
Posada,retired Cano on a softfly and
got Damon to fly out.
New York, an overwhelming
favorite with All-Stars at every posi-
tion, won Tuesday's opener 8-4 and
had plenty of chances early in this
one. But the Yankees struck out nine
times and went 1-for-8 with men in
scoring position.
Alex Rodriguez had another
tough day at the plate, going 0-for-
4 with three strikeouts, including
one that ended the first with the
bases loaded.
A-Rod, booed loudly after his
final two at-bats, hasn't driven in a
run in his last 10 postseason games
and is 5-for-40 (.125) in his last 11.
He's 1-for-8 with four strikeouts in
this series.
When the series resumes in
Detroit on Friday night, Randy
Johnson (17-11) will test his balky
back for New York, opposed by
former-Yankee Kenny Rogers
(17-8). Because of the rainout, the
teams lost their travel day.
Damon's three-run homer into
the right-field upper deck erased
an early Detroit lead created by
Marcus Thames' second-inning
RBI single. But the Tigers tied it
at 3 on Granderson's fifth-inning
sacrifice fly and Carlos Guillen's
sixth-inning homer into the right-
field lower deck.
Thames singled leading off
the seventh for his third hit of the
game, took second on Posada's
passed ball and went to third when
No. 9 hitter Brandon Inge sacri-
ficed.
New York moved the infield in
and Granderson fell behind 0-2
and fouled off two more pitches
before lining the ball to the wall
in left-center. With the infield
still in, Placido Polanco lined to
Rodriguez, who made a dive to the
third-base bag and nearly doubled
up Polanco. Sean Casey then flied

out.
"We never give up. That's the
main thing," said Thames, a for-
mer Yankees draft pick.
Verlander, a 23-year-old rookie
who went 17-9 during the regular
season, kept getting in and out of
trouble early. New York loaded the
bases in the first on Damon's sin-
gle and a pair of walks. But, after
a mound visit from pitching coach
Chuck Hernandez, Verlander got
Rodriguez to miss a 99 mph fast-
ball and foul off a 100 mph fastball
before freezing him with an off-
speed pitch for a third strike.
New York got its first two run-
ners on in the second but failed to
score, and Gary Sheffield followed
Bobby Abreu's leadoff walk in the
third by grounding into a double
play.
Then in the fourth, Matsui
singled and Posada walked after
falling behind 0-2. One out later,
Damon turned on a fastball and
sent it into the second row of the
upper deck. After circling the
bases and going to the dugout, he
emerged for a curtain call, waving
his helmet to the crowd.
Derek Jeter followed with a
double, but Verlander rebounded
to retire his next five batters before
Posada's one-out single inthe sixth
brought up Cano.
Verlander allowed seven hits
and four walks in 5 1-3 innings
with five strikeouts. While he
was making his first postseason
start, Mussina made his 21st and
dropped to 7-8.
Mussina's big curveball was
sharp, but he made just enough
mistakes to lose.
Craig Monroe doubled just
fair down the left-field line in the
second and Thames singled to
center on the next pitch. Thames
doubled to left leading off the
fifth, advanced on a wild pitch and
scored on Granderson's flyto short
center, easily beating Damon's
weak throw. Guillen's homer was
his second in postseason play.
6 9 NOTES
Wolverines tip-off
in Crisler for fans
Tomorrow, the Michigan men's
basketball team will hold a practice
open to fans.
After struggling down the
stretch, the Wolverines still made
it to the NIT finals last season.
Michigan finished the season with
another 20-plus-win campaign.
Michigan coach Tommy
Amaker and his squad will get
back on the hardcourt. They will
look to replace their heart and
soul in graduated point guard
Daniel Horton.
They'll take the court before the
football team plays against Michi-
gan State at 4:30 p.m.
Those who want to attend can
enter Crisler Arena through the
tunnel entrance. The practice will
start at 1 p.m.
'A

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