Edwards claims
regional title as
Harriers get bid
VOLLEYBALL 3B

Herman hypes
The Game
SM COLUMN 2B

SportsMonday
THE MICHIGAN DAILY

Monday, November 13, 2006


michigandaily.com

MICHIGAN 34,NDA
APOCALYPSE NOW
Undefeated
Blue has one
more task

BLOOMINGTON -
everal Wolverines raised one finger in the air
as they jogged off the field toward the locker
room on Saturday, fresh off their 11th straight
win.'7
Some were pointing to the ____
crowd, thanking the maize-and-a
blue-clad fans who had essentially
taken over Memorial Stadium.
Others held their finger straight
in the air, reminding those around'
them of the one challenge stand-
ing between them and the Nation- -
al Championship game. a
And maybe, just maybe, a few
of the players were foreshadowing BELL
where Michigan will stand withinwt
the college football world this time Too Soon?
next week.
If Saturday's 34-3 drubbing of Indiana was any
indication, the latter may end up being a fulfilled
prophecy. f
Finally, after weeks of prognosticating, over-ana-
lyzing and excessive hyping, there's no need
to wonder what will happen,
~4 or if it will eve apn
if l Dres rehearsal has
officially ended
The rea test is in
sight. The Game.
Ohio State versusZa
Michigan. No. 1
against No. 2.
Now, the one
thing on Michigan RODIGO GAD aiy
players' minds is Senior LaMarr Woodley makes a tackle as Michigan dominates Indiana and moves on to play undefeated Ohio State next weekend in Columbus.
that matchup.
After Saturday's Steve Breaston, David Harris, Leon Hall, Chad classes - thoughts of Ohio State really didn't creep The defense? Yeah, Michigan got that bad taste
game, the Wolver- Henne and LaMarr Woodley: Please enter the press into their minds. from the Ball State game out of its mouth. The Wol-
ines,who were under room in a single-file line. Keep your arms and legs in Don't want to take their word? Just re-watch Sat- verine defense allowed just three points against an
strict instructions to the car at all times, and enjoy the ride. urday's game. Indiana team whose high-powered offense gives it
avoid any Ohio State With the now famous Michigan gag order no lon- The offense dominated early on. Two drives, two the ability to put up a lot of points.
x talk all season, ger in place, the players could now be candid. scores. On the ground and through the air, Michigan No, Kellen Lewis isn't Troy Smith. But it's a good
finally received One by one, each player maintained what the Wol- was determined to get its offense back on track. And omen when Michigan completely shuts down an
free rein to talk verines have said all year long: They actually took it did. If the Wolverines could have invented a new offense with a mobile quarterback that tried spread-
about their the season one game at a time. way to move the ball to show the Buckeyes they were ing out the Wolverines like the Buckeyes will do in
upcoming foe. In the training room, in the library, in between ready, they'd have done that, too. See BELL, Page 5B


Cagers win, start season 3-0

M' eliminated from
NCAAs on five PKs

By MARK GIANNOTTO
Daily Sports Writer
They called it a Challenge, but it wasn't
much of one for Michigan.
The Wolverines cruised to three easy
wins,
including CENT.CONN. ST. 40
an 80-51 MICHIGAN 60
drubbing
of Eastern DAVIDSON 68
Michigan
onCHSGAda7,
on Sunday,
as they
opened EASTERN MICHIGAN 51
the regu- 'MICHIGAN 80
lar season
with the John Thompson Challenge this
weekend at Crisler Arena.
Michigan started Sunday's contest with
an 11-2 run and ended the first half with a
34-7 streak, which built an insurmountable
30-point lead.
Senior Courtney Sims led the way for the
Maize and Blue, scoring 17 points and grab-
bing 4 rebounds.
There was a little extra motivation head-
ing into last night's contest against an
Eagles' team coached by former Michigan
assistant coach Charles Ramsey.
"We really wanted to come out and make
a statement against (Eastern Michigan)
because they come and play open gym with
us all the time in the summer," Michigan
senior guard Dion Harris said. "I think a lot
of adrenaline was flowing, so we came out
with a lot of energy."
The game itself looked like something
you would see at an open gym. The Wolver-
ines set the tone early with their intensity
on defense. They parlayed careless turn-
overs by the Eagles into dunks on the other
end of the floor. Senior Brent Petway capped
off the early run with an alley-oop dunk.
"Defense is what got us started off," Pet-
way said. "We were able to get in the pass-
ing lanes, get out in transition and get easy
buckets."
And defense was the theme of the round-
robin tournament for the Wolverines. On
Friday night, Michigan held Central Con-
necticut State to just 15 first-half points, and
cruised to a 60-40 win over the Blue Dev-

By ROBERT KAITZ
Daily Sports Writer
SOUTHBEND-TheMichiganwom-
en's soccer team's season came down
to penalty kicks, but the Wolverines
came
upjust MICHIG AN 0 (5)
short. UWMILWAUKEE 0 (3)
Wisconsin-Milwaukee and Michi-
gan played scoreless through regula-
tion and overtime in the first round
of the NCAA Tournament before the
Panthers emerged victorious with a 5-
3 score in the penalty-kick round.
"Every single player on the field gave
it everything they had," senior co-cap-
tain Katelin Spencer said. "Some days

you just get unlucky."
Senior goalkeeper Megan Tuura
- whose phenomenal play allowed
Michigan to make it to extra time -
could not come up with the timely save
in the shootout.
The teams traded goals in the first
two rounds, and Wisconsin-Milwau-
kee made it 3-2.before junior defend-
er Lindsey Cottrell's shot sailed just
inches over the crossbar.
Panther Bailey Briggs's conversion
in the fifth round sealed the game.
It was a tough pill for the team to
swallow after a hard-fought and physi-
cal game.
"It is sad to see a game end that way,
but we fought for 90 minutes and two
See PANTHERS, Page 6B

Senior Courtney Sims leaps to grab a rebound. The Boston native was named tothe All-Challenge team,
and averaged 15 points and 5.3 rebounds over the weekend.

ils. Saturday night saw more of the same as
Davidson shot just 40 percent from the field
in a 78-68 Wolverine victory.
"It's nice to be 3-0," said Michigan coach
Tommy Amaker following Sunday's game
with Eastern Michigan. "I thought our
defense was the story for us. We forced
them into taking some tough shots, and held
them to very low field goal percentage. And
that's something we've been able to do thus
far this season."
Those bad shots resulted from.the pres-
sure defense that Michigan hopes to con-
tinue throughout the 2006-07 campaign. In
past years, the team has preached discipline
and aggressiveness on the defensive end,
only to see it wither away as the season pro-
gresses.
But according to the Wolverines, that
is about to change. Just three games into
the season, there are already motivational
posters in each player's stall instilling the
importance of defense.

"(Amaker) wants our identity to be (that
of) a good defensive team," Sims said.
"We're trying to let defense win games for
us. We're getting opportunities because
we're playing good defense."
The three wins this weekend gave Michi-
gan a good chance to take stock of what type
of team it has, as it inches closer to the meat
of its nonconference schedule. So far, the
returns have been good.
"Since the first game, we've really
improved," Sims said. "Everybody's playing
well right now."
Following Sunday's win over the Eagles,
junior Ron Coleman and senior Courtney
Sims were named to the All-Challenge
team, and Harris was named the most valu-
able player.
The Wolverines hope to find more of a
challenge Wednesday night, when they face
University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, a team
that qualified for the NCAA Tournament
last season.

Get your brooms:
Icers sweep Mavs

By NATE SANDALS
Daily Sports Writer
After Friday night's 6-4 comeback
win over Nebraska-Omaha, many
members of the Michigan hockey team
agreed
the N EBRASKA-OMAHA 4
key to MICHIGAN6
sweep-
ing the NEBRASKA-OMAHA 1
seriesM
would
be coming out with high intensity and
a fast start in the second game.
On Saturday night, Michigan did

just that, scoring two goals on Nebras-
ka-Omaha freshman goalie Jeremie
Dupont in the first 11 minutes. The
Wolverines never looked back in a 5-1
thumping,recordingtheir first sweep at
Yost Ice Arena since similarly dispatch-
ing ofthe Mavericks last December.
On Saturday, the Wolverine offense
was powered by the third and fourth
lines, which contributed three goals,
including two from fourth-line left
wing Brandon Naurato.
"(Danny Fardig) and I were talking
before the game about how our line
See MAVERICKS, Page 6B

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