MEN'S SOCCER: THE SPORTSWEDNESDAY COLMN: MEN'S GOLF
Kickers walk the plank Tune in to Nick GAS for nostalgia and Everything's not OK at the
and still end up scoreless. the pinnacle of televised competition. Oklahoma Intercollegiate.
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October 18, 2006SP RT
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Penn State 10
KO.
Varsity avoids trip-up, tops PSU
By Kevin Wright
Daily Sports Editor
STATE COLLEGE - Saturday could
have been that game.
At least it had all the elements.
The revenge factor from the Wolverines'
infamous last-second win in Ann Arbor last
year clearly remained a prominent topic of
conversation in State College.
No. 2 Michigan, still undefeated, had yet
to be really tested in a hostile environment
By the numbers:
3
Quarterbacks Penn State used
7
Sacks the Michigan defense made.
-14
Rushing yards Penn State had
under the lights.
And there was the personal vindica-
tion of Nittany Lion quarterback Anthony
Morelli trying to prove he was the better
than high school rival Chad Henne in the
battle between the two Pennsylvania signal
callers.
Still, with the upset looming large, the
Wolverines, who were last undefeated this
late in the season during the 1997 national
championship campaign, did their job.
They won, and more convincingly than the
17-10 score would have you believe.
The defense knocked out two Penn State
quarterbacks - defensive tackle Alan
Branch leveled Morelli in the third quarter
while defensive end LaMarr Woodley ham-
mered backup Daryll Clark in the fourth.
Penn State (2-2 Big Ten, 4-3 overall),
second in the Big Ten in rushing yards per
game, didn't even break even in that cat-
egory. The nation's No.1 run defense held
the Nittany Lion ground attack to minus-14
See LIONS, page 5B
19' line' kindness stops at gametime
STATE COLLEGE - threw the ball. I didn't know if he threw back against the Wolverine front.
ichigan's defensive line has ai it or not, so I gave him a little shot" "We keep coming, we keep hitting you," Taylor
serious case of Dr. Jekyll and Then Branch summed up Morelli's said. "If you stand back there, we'll keep hitting you,
Mr. Hide-your-quarterback-if- unpleasant situation. we'll keep coming, we're not going to let up. It'll
you-want-him-to-survive syndrome. "And he was down;' Branch said be 60 minutes, four quarters and we're gonna keep
Take defensive tackle Alan Branch. matter-of-factly. coming. We're gonna hit you."
"Gentle giant" is the phrase that best Or take sophomore defensive tackle These guys aren't playing dirty, and they're not
describes the good-natured, always-smil- Terrance Taylor, whose jovial nature aiming to injure their opponents. But if that's the
ing, 331-pound New Mexico native. usually earns him the adoration of natural consequence of their bone-crushing hits,
But ask Branch about his punishing teammates, coaches and journalists don't expect any apologies from Michigan's fierce
third-quarter blow that knocked Penn MATT alike. defensive linemen.
State starter Anthony Morelli out of the SINGER When asked about the two signal- And that's just the way it should be.
game with a concussion, and he suddenly Spittin' Fire callers Michigan's defensive line dis- However cordial it is off the field, the Wolverines'
doesn't seem so nice. posed of on Saturday, Taylor launched defensive front is straight up nasty on it. And on
"I hit him," Branch said, cackling. "I mean, he into a tirade about the dangers of playing quarter- See SINGER, page 5B
Rookie
scores
big for
Blue
By Robert Kaltz
Daily Sports Writer
A gift of a goal capped off
the offensive surge that led to
two crucial Big Ten wins for the
Michigan women's soccer team
this weekend.
In the
65th min-
ute of a 1-1
game against
No. 24 Illinois, senior striker
Judy Coffman fired a routine
shot toward the Illini net. The
ball slipped through goalkeeper
Lindsey Carstens's legs and
sophomore midfielder Katie
Miler found herself in a perfect
spot to deposit it into an empty
net for the go-ahead tally. It was
her second game-winning goal of
the weekend, after netting one in
a 2-1 victory over Iowa on Friday
night.
Miler is the team's biggest sur-
Blue's easy win turns sour
By Amber Colvin
Daily Sports Writer
Ready to cap off a weekend of
easy wins, No. 5 Michigan got
so comfortable with its 6-0 lead
it decided
to sit back CNETCT 5
and enjoy a
parade - to
the penalty box, that is.
And unlike Friday's doormat
opponent, Alabama-Huntsville,
this team bit back.
Connecticut took advantage of
the Wolverines' penalty procession
and turned the cushy lead danger-
ously slim,scoringfiveunanswered
goals in the second and third peri-
ods of Michigan's 7-5 win.
"You could see they got a life"
Michigan coach Red Berenson
said of the revitalized second-
period Huskies. "The penalties
definitely had a role. We couldn't
stay out of the box, and we couldn't
kill them."
What was a sure victory in the
second period suddenly became a
nail-biter in the third.
With the score at 6-5 and 8:47
left in the game, Michigan fought
for another goal. Connecticut
fought for the equalizer.
The teams swapped scoring
chances until a little more than
one minute of play remained.
Then, with sophomores Travis
Turnbull and Mark Mitera serv-
ing time in the box, the Huskies
pulled their goalie for an extra
skater.
Six Connecticut skaters
swirled around Michigan's
zone, ready to strike. Three
Wolverines hovered to protect
sophomore goalie Billy Sauer.
But before the Huskies could
get any shots off, a Connecticut
blue liner got tripped up with
the puck. Junior Chad Kolarik
- already with two goals under
his belt for the evening -
See HUSKIES, page 2B
Freshman Katie Mlier takes on a Hawkeye defender en route to
notching game-winning two goals in Michigan's impressive weekend.
Stickers stand tall in Big Ten
prise, since she played club soccer
last year. In her first season with
the varsity team, the sophomore
has notched three goals - all
of them game-winners. The Big
Ten recognized her remarkable
weekend, naming her Offensive
Player of the Week.
Because of her small, 5-foot-
3 frame, Miler takes constant
punishment from opposing
teams. She took the brunt of a
vicious collision with a Hawkeye
defender that knocked her out of
Friday's game and forced her to
change jerseys. But she returned
and quickly earned the ultimate
revenge with a crucial goal.
"(Miler) is very physi-
cal and gets knocked down
a lot, but it seems like the
more adversity she sees on the
field, the more she gets the
See ILLINI, page 2B
By Colt Rosensweig
Daily Sports Writer
From the beginning of the
season, the No. 20 Michigan
field hock-
ey team
believed in N
itself. Now
it has given
everyone a reason to believe.
The Wolverines came away
from Indiana's John Mellencamp
Pavilion on Sunday with a 1-0
victory and a share of first place
in the Big Ten. The Hoosiers
(3-1 Big Ten, 13-3 overall) left
their Senior Day a little worse
for wear.
Senior midfielder Kristen
Tiner scored the game's lone goal
midway through the first half.
"It was off a corner hit,' Tiner
said. "It was just a straight shot
call. I just put it right through
(the goalie's) hands and right
over her stick."
The way the Wolverines have
been scoring recently - 14
goals in their last three games,
all wins - they thought Tiner's
tally might open the floodgates.
But No. 11 Indiana put up a val-
iant effort through the rest of the
game.
See STICKERS, page 35
y ,.- >
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