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."