2B-The Michigan Daily - SportsWednesday - October 18, 2006
Held scoreless
againmBlue drops
seventh straight
By Jamie Josephson - taking just two total shots in the
Daily Sports Writer first half - Northwestern provided
the dagger just 50 seconds before
Here is the analogy, courtesy of halftime. Kyle Moore converted at
Michigan men's soccer coach Steve 44:50, giving the Wildcats a com-
Burns: If you put a two-by-four on fortable 2-0 lead heading into the
the ground, a player can walk across second half.
it without a "We made two bad mistakes,"
problem. But NORTHWESTERN 2_Burns said. "We gave upballs close to
when you put oMICHIGAN Iour goal, and both of them ended up
that two-by- in the back of the net. Northwestern
four up 80 feet off the ground and ask didn't make a lot of mistakes out of
him to walk across, it's a lot more dif- the back. They wanted to quickly get
ficult. Why? the ball up to their attacking players
The answer: fear of failure. in the front of the field. That is some-
On SundayMichigan was a victim thing we need to do better ourselves."
of this fear - again. The result? Michigan changed its tune in the
Yet another goose egg for the Wol- second half. Going with the Lake
verines. Michigan wind in the second frame,
Continuing to lack scoring confi- the Wolverines picked up their offen-
dence, Michigan failed to tally a goal sive tempo.
against Northwestern and fell, 2-0. Three minutes into the second,
The loss capped off a winless week- senior co-captain Kevin Savitske won
end road trip for the Wolverines, who the ball on the right side of the field
were edged by Wisconsin-Milwau- and sent it to senior Bobby Trybula.
kee on Friday, 1-0. Crossing the half line, Trybula sent it
Held scoreless in five of its last six tofreshman Peri Marosevic at the top
games, Michigan saw its winless skid of the 18-yard box. Michigan's lead-
move to seven straight games. Offen- ing goal scorer found himself isolated
sive woes continued to plague the in aone-on-two situation. Performing
Wolverines' weekend play. what is arguably his trademark move,
"We didn't have good results on the rookie set up with his back to
the weekend,' Burns said. "We have Northwestern's goal,handled the ball,
had not enough goals with way too turned and fired a shot with his right
many minutes. Right now, a lot of it foot. But Wildcat goalkeeper Will
absolutely comes downto confidence Briley prevented Marosevic from
- which is such a fragile thing. With cutting into Northwestern's lead, div-
younger players, when you got it, you ing to make the high save on the ball.
got it. But when you lose it, it's tough "Peri is not a guy who suffers from
to get it back:' a lack of confidence,' Burns said.
Northwestern (2-3-0, 10-5) drew "He has been the one constant force
first blood at 22 minutes with a tally that we have up front. He is the guy
from Wildcat Bind North. who needs to get touches on balls.
While Michigan (0-2-2 Big Ten, He is a threat. Peri can sometirnes be
5-8-3 overall) struggled offensively selfish too, but I don't mind that with
Athlete of the Week
Name: Katie Miler Team: Women's soccer
Hometown: Columbus Class: Sophomore
Miler scored back-to-back game-winning goals against
Iowa and No. 24 Illinois. After her stellar weekend, the
Big Ten named her player of the week. Miler is in her
first year with the varsity squad after competing on the
club soccer team last year.
'M' Schedule
Date Event Location Time
10/18 M Soccer Akron, Ohio 7:30 p.m.
at Akron
10/19 Field Hockey Ann Arbor 3 p.m.
vs. Virginia
Commonwealth
10/19 Ice Hockey Ann Arbor 7:35 p.m.
vs. Miami (OH)
10/19 W Tennis East Lansing TBD
- 24 at Wilson/ITA
Midwest Regional
Championships
10/19 M Tennis at Wilson/ITA Minneapolis TBD
- 24 Midwest Regional
Championships
10/20 W Cross Country Dexter 3 p.m.
at EMU Classic
10/20 M Cross Country Dexter 4 p.m.
at EMU Classic
10/20 M Swim/Diving Ypsilanti 6 p.m.
at Eastern Michigan_____
10/20 Volleyball State College 7 p.m.
at Penn State
10/20 W Soccer Minneapolis 7 p.m.
at Minnesota (CDT)
10/20 Ice Hockey Ann Arbor 8:05 p.m.
vs. Miami
10/21 Football Ann Arbor 3:30 p.m.
vs. Iowa
10/22 Field Hockey' Ann Arbor 12 p.m.
vs. Ohio State
10/22 Volleyball Columbus 2 p.m.
at Ohio State i
10/22 M Soccer Ann Arbor 2 p.m.
vs. Ohio State
10/22 Rowing Boston TBD
at Head of the Charles
4
Freshman Pete Marosevic has scored five goals for Michigan this season.
goal-scoring players:'
Burns said the confidence started
to come back to Michigan's side after
Peri's near-goal. The Wolverines had
a flurry of activity for the next 10 to
12 minutes. Northwestern's defen-
sive shape appeared to break down,
stacking a bunch of players in front of
the net. But the wall of Wildcats pre-
vented Michigan from getting great
looks on the net. Sophomore Steve
Bonnell took a pair of shots, but both
sailed high.
Though the Wolverines combined
for a total of 12 shots in the second
frame, Michigan failed to find the
beck of the net - a target that has
continued to be elusive for this young
group of Wolverines. Northwestern
silenced the Michigan attack and
held onto its two-goal lead.
With just three games remaining
in the regular season, Burns said that
practice will focus on helping make
the players feel more comfortable
taking full swings on the ball.
"When you have that fear of fail-
ing on the soccer field and feel all
that pressure to score goals for your
team, it can be almost paralyzing
at times;' Burns said. "It manifests
itself in players not taking responsi-
bility for the final shot.... I will never
fault a player for shooting. I want
shots all the time, wherever they are
and through any littleseam they can
shoot throutgh because good things
will happen.'
Young Netters earn few
wins but gain experience
By Anthony Oliveira
Daily Sports Writer
Most sports fans will say there are just two
important stats: wins and losses.
But for the young Michigan men's tennis team,
it's more valuable to play the game than win it.
Last weekend in Midland, Texas, sophomores
Peter Aarts and Scott Bruckman and freshman
George Rivas participated in the Racquet Club
Collegiate Invitational. Unfortunately for Michi-
gan, they weren't able to stay in the competition
for long: None of them made it to the final day.
Finishing with a record of 2-8 over two days,
the Wolverines aren't pleased with the results, but
they are satisfied to get in competitive matches.
"It's a learning process," Michigan assistant
coach Sean Maymi said. "It was one of (Navas's)
first tournaments outside of Ann Arbor. Peter and
Scott were able to take away (experience) from
this, come back to practice and find things to
work on."
Seeing their first action since the Wolverine
Invitational two weeks ago, Aarts and Bruckman
dropped their opening singles matches. Aarts took
his match to three sets (3-6, 6-3, 5-7), but Bruck-
man didn't make much of the main draw, losing in
straight sets.(0-6, 4-6). In the consolation bracket,
both were ousted early in the draw.
The two also played together in the doubles
draw, but they couldn't get out of the first round,
losing eight games to four. Maymi knows they are
capable of more.
"They have a very good chemistry but need a
little more discipline with their shot selection,"
Maymi said. "They want to play a hard shot, when
only a simple shot is needed."
Rivas started off well inthe singles draw of 32 players,
winning in straight sets. But his second match, against
96th-ranked Blake Strode of Arkansas, was a learning
experience. Despite dropping the first break, Rivas ral-
lied to win the first set in a tiebreak (7-4). But even as
Strode continued to break early in subsequent sets, Rivas
couldn't establish himself, losing the match in three.
"Being down right away is tough," Rivas said.
"The guy can take more chances, and (it) puts
more pressure on you."
Seeing the raw freshman take a top-100 oppo-
nent to a third set, Maymi feels Rivas is starting
to get used to college tennis.
"(The match) helps him to understand that he's
able to perform a high level," Maymi said. "He is
a very aggressive player. Now it's getting him to
get a little more patient and get used to the differ-
ent level. He's still going through that."
Michigan looks to bring its experience back to
practice to prepare for the Wilson/ITA Midwest
Regional Championships this weekend.
Planning to take the entire team except
seniors Brian Hung and Ryan Heller, who have
already qualified for Nationals, Maymi sees the
team's potential. Now, it's just about making the
improvements.
"We're getting critical on the guys," Maymi
said. "But in the end, it's going to help them."
With experience under their belt and adjust-
ments being made, the Wolverines are now aim-
ing to get the stat they want: wins
ILLINI
Continued from page 1B
adrenaline going and comes back to make something
happen on offense," Michigan coach Debbie Radem-
acher said.
The Wolverines' four goals represented a huge out-
burst for ateam that has been offensively snake-bit for
large portions of the season. These games were just
the third and fourth multi-goal games for Michigan,
and they are now 4-0 on the season when notching
more than one goal.
Senior Day against Illinois featured a tale of two
halves. Though the first half ended scoreless, the play
was wide open and featurednumerous scoring chances.
Michigan senior goalkeeper Megan Tuura was clutch,
making saves on two dangerous shots from just beyond
the six-yard box.
"I was a little nervous because it is my last game
on this field," Tuura said. "I wanted to end on a good
note."
Which is just what she did. Tuura kept the game
scoreless heading into the second half.
The tempo of the game completely changed in the
second half. The finesse and wide-open style of the
first half transformed into a tight, physical game. And
this resulted in back-to-back penalties in the box and
penalty-kick goals.
Michigan (3-2-2 Big Ten, 7-5-4 overall) earned the
first penalty on a nifty play by Coffman. Coffman
approached a free kick in the offensive third with the
intention of sending a cross to the far side. But she
ended up softly chipping a ball over Illini defenders,
sending junior striker Melissa Dobbyn streaking into
the box where she was taken down.
"We practice free kicks and penalty kicks a lot, but
that is a play we haven't actually practiced," Coffman
said. "Dobbyn and I talk alot and have the same mind-
set and creativity."
Coffman converted the penalty kick, scoring her
team-leading fifth goal of the season by barely beating
Carstens to the right side.
But momentum quickly changed. Freshman defend-
er Amy Klippert was forced to tackle an Illinois (5-
2, 9-6) attacker in the box. Defender Mary Therese
McDonnell converted and tied the game at 54:02.
AfterMiler's aforementionedgoal,Illinois wasunable
to generate any consistent offensive pressure. Michigan
earned its third win over a ranked opponent this season.
"We can battle with the best, and we put anything
on the line:' Miler said. "That is what has enabled usto
beat ranked teams"
The weekend started off just as promising for the
home team. Facing Big Ten bottom-feeder Iowa (0-
7, 5-10-1), Michigan out-shot the Hawkeyes 25-9 and
snapped a three-game winless streak with a 2-1 win.
Dobbyn dominated, creating opportunities for herself
and her teammates.
"Since I am having a hard time finishing, I am con-
centrating on getting assists and playing good balls to
other players who can finish," Dobbyn said. "They are
making good runs and doinga great job getting open."
Dobbyn was originally credited with Michigan's
first goal. Junior midfielder Katie Bohard sent a low
cross from the right side that went through a maze of
bodies in the penalty box and found the back of the net
at 35:56. It was Bohard's second goal of the season.
The Wolverines nearly got an insurance marker
early in the second half. Dobbyn sent a deep ball with
her left foot that sprung Coffman on a partial break-
away, where she ripped a shot that hit post and was
cleared out of harm.
Iowa put together a few minutes of offensive pres-
sure, but Michigan added to its lead off another bril-
liant through ball from Dobbyn that sprung Miler
down the left flank. Her shot bent inside the far right
post for a 2-0 lead at 73:59.
Iowa made the game interesting, diminishing the
deficit to one on a beautiful set piece in the 78th min-
ute. But Michigan turned up the pressure and kept the
ball in their attacking third for the remainder of the
game to earn the victory.
The Wolverines now hit the road for the final
three games of the regular season. All of the con-
tests come against teams behind them in the confer-
ence standings.
4
HUSKIES
Continued from page 1B
snatched it away and sent it fly-
ing into Connecticut's empty
net.
"I think the defenseman actu-
ally fell down," Kolarik said.
"It just happened. I just threw
it down. It was a (penalty kill),
so I could just dump it down to
the red line. So I took a chance,
and it went in. It's not the way I
really wanted a hat trick."
And fighting for a victory
with a last-minute empty netter
is not the way Michigan (2-0)
really wanted to end its weekend
at Yost Ice Arena.
"It's just sloppy hockey, and
(Connecticut) took advantage of
it," Berenson said. "I mean, they
were flying, they outworked us.
Billy actually made some big
saves just to salvage the win,
and that's what I would call it
- salvaging."
Any thoughts of hanging on
for a win seemed laughable in
the first period. The Wolverines
jumped out of the gates with
Kolarik's first tally (1:37), an
unassisted power-play goal from
the blue line.
Senior David Rohlfs and
sophomore Jack Johnson fol-
lowed soon after with scores of
their own, followed by another
gem from Kolarik.
The quick lead was eerily
reminiscent of the night before,
when Michigan pounced on Ala-
bama-Huntsville (0-3-1) with
three goals in the first eight
minutes en route to an 8-1 vic-
tory.
Both nights saw the oppo-
nents' starting goalies pulled
after less than seven minutes of
play. Chargers starting goalie
Marc Narduzzi was sent to the
bench after facing just three
shots, two of which found the
back of the net. As for the Hus-
kies' Beau Erickson, three out
of five shots made it behind him
before he got the boot.
The backups didn't fare much
better, with offensive fireworks
coming from linemates T.J. Hen-
sick (three goals,two assists for the
weekend) and Rohlfs (two goals,
two assists for the weekend).
But how the Wolverines
responded to such command-
ing leads on the separate nights
made all the difference.
"We were up 6-0, and (Friday)
night we were up the same," said
sophomore Andrew Cogliano,
who notched a goal and an assist
on Saturday. "We kind of put the
pedal down (Friday) night, and
(Saturday) we let up and thought
we were in the clear. Obviously,
we were not."