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 Please join Deloitte Consulting LLP Monday, October 9th 6 pm - 9pm Michigan Union Pendleton Room If yo are interesled in learning imoe about wh we tncoirage you to atten d ourSinformatio S see a carer at Deloitte consulting, e ioitte Constin is where the best choos I f.