The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom
Monday, November 20, 2006 - 3B
Power
play
switch
clicks
By NATE SANDALS
Daily Sports Writer
BIG RAPIDS - After weeks of
struggling to convert on the power
play and a 1-for-9 effort with the
man advan-
tage Friday NOTEBOOK
night, Michi-
gan took out its power-play frustra-
tion on Ferris State during Saturday
night's 5-1 blowout.
The Wolverines tallied a power-
play goal in each period en route to
a 3-for-6 evening.
Michigan changed up its power-
play lines before the weekend, and
on Saturday the new units paid
dividends.
"We put T.J. (Hensick) and Chad
(Kolarik) and me and (Kevin) Por-
ter and Jack (Johnson) together,
so we all see the ice pretty well,"
sophomore Andrew Cogliano said.
"I think when we do that, we're
going to create openings for each
other."
Cogliano, who usually skates as
a second-line center for Michigan,
played the point across from John-
son on the power play.
Michigan's second power-play
linewhich few expected to provide
much offense, scored two goals on
Saturday.
The line, featuring power for-
wards Brandon Naurato, David
Rohlfs and Brian Lebler, tallied one
goal in the first period and another
in the third.
As Michigan moves forward
into a tough stretch of its schedule
(three top-I5 teams in five days),
coach Red Berenson said he was
happy to see the power play gain its
footing.
"The power play is getting a lit-
tle confidence," Berenson said. "We
made some changes, and you never
know if change is good, but I think
it helped some of our guys."
DAWGED PURSUIT: In its past
BULLDOGS
From page 1B
tender Billy Sauer said. "I think
the team's playing together -
we're starting to work together. I
think at the beginning of the sea-
son we struggled on a few games,
and coming into this stretch, this
is where you want to be."
While it's easy to believe that
facing off against an average
CCHA team can't compare to
taking on the ranked opponents
that come next, earning two wins
against the Bulldogs on their own
ice is no small feat.
Not one player on the roster
had won in Big Rapids until this
weekend. It's not an easy place to
play, as the small crowd at Ewig-
leben makes up for its diminu-
tive size with its noise and rowdy
cheers. And although the Bull-
dogs (1-6-1, 3-8-1) aren't stealing
headlines like other teams in the
league, their gritty play can chip
away at an unsuspecting team.
"We needed this, to be able to
come on the road and win back-
to-back games against a scrappy
BELL
From page 1B
played it coy and quarterback
Chad Henne and LaMarr Wood-
ley were both relatively tight-
lipped about the situation.
Then there was Mike Hart.
"You know, it hurts," Hart said
at the beginning of his post-game
press conference. "You want to
beat Ohio State. It hurts. I've got
one more year left, and I'm going
to get them next year."
He may not have to wait for
next year, though. After his com-
ment, he was asked about the
prospect of a rematch.
"Do I think there should be a
rematch? Probably," Hart said. "I
think we're both the top teams in
the country, regardless of what
anybody says. On a neutral site, it
would be a big game."
Would it be any different
though? Ohio State was in control
of most of the game, and most
agreed the three-point Buckeye
margin of victory was a bit mis-
leading.
"I guarantee if we play them
again it would be a whole differ-
ent game," Hart said matter-of-
factly. "We should have got them
the first time around. We didn't.
So if it doesn't happen, that's our
faults. You know, but if we played
them again, it would be a whole
different game. Guarantee that."
And he could be right. Michigan
is still in the National Champion-
ship hunt despite its loss. Michigan
is No. 2 in the AP poll and No. 3 in
the ESPN/USA Today poll.
Most important, the Wolver-
ines held onto their No. 2 spot in
the BCS rankings.
But on Saturday, they could
have skipped the waiting game
and booked their tickets to Glen-
Harriers look to rebound
By MICHAEL EISENSTEIN
Daily Sports Writer
History tends to repeat itself.
And that could be a bad omen
for the Michigan women's cross
country team after its third-
place performance at the NCAA
Great Lakes Regional last week-
end - especially with the NCAA
Championship coming up this
afternoon.
But coach Mike McGuire thinks
his team's poor performance
couldn't be a better sign for how
they'll perform today.
"We expect we'll bounce back
similar to how we bounced back
from Pre-Nats to Big Tens,"
McGuire said. "And if we do that I
think we'll be fine. (We're) putting
behind the fact that we had an off
race. We've managed not to push
panic buttons up to this point."
Following their worst showing
at Regionals since 2001, the Wol-
verines are lookingto bounce back
today with a top-four finish and a
spot on the trophy stand.
"Ourteamjustreally hopesto do
as well as we can," Regional cham-
pion Nicole Edwards said. "We
definitely think getting a trophy
is a possibility for us, so that's top
four.... If we're all having a good to
normal day, I think it's definitely a
possibility for us."
Even though there may have
been doubts after the team's poor
showing, McGuire was quick to
point to the team's woes earlier
in the season at the NCAA Pre-
Nationals, after which Michigan
rebounded to win a Big Ten Cham-
pionship. The disappointing sec-
ond-place tie with Wisconsin at
Pre-Nationals was a low point of
Michigan's season. But just a cou-
ple weeks later, Erin Webster and
Alyson Kohlmeier led the Wol-
verines to a dominating Big Ten
Championship victory, finishing
first and second, respectively.
Even if the team recovers from
last week's performance the way
they expect, the Wolverines still
have an uphill battle to win the
Nationals.
Stanford is the clear favorite to
take home the championship. The
Cardinal is such a good team that
Edwards is careful to regard it as
Michigan's key opponent.
"I don't really know if I'd
call them our main competition
because I think they might really
be a step ahead of the rest of the
field as a team." Edwards said.
"So I think our main competition
could be North Carolina State,
Wisconsin, Minnesota, Colorado,
all people who are in there prob-
ably more equal with us. We're all
going to be tryingto get up there."
At the Big Ten Champion-
ships, No. 10 Michigan defeated
both Wisconsin and Minnesota
by a healthy margin, but the Bad-
gers tied the Wolverines at the
Pre-Nationals and both finished
behind North Carolina State.
Though there may not be much
competition for first place, the
fight to finish in the next three
spots on the podium will certainly
be intense - and Michigan is pre-
paring for just that by doing some-
thing it hasn't done all year.
"We're resting, trying to get a
lot of sleep," said fifth-year senior
Arianne Field, who is cutting
her mileage down from the nor-
mal 60 miles a week to 40 miles.
"We've kind of made an agreement
between all of us that we're going
to go to bed earlier and we're not
doing any morning practice and
we're tapering back a bit. Less
mileage,lower-intensity workouts,
and just trying to rest our bodies."
But in terms of strategy for the
actual race, McGuire is looking to
the same source of inspiration he
has used all week to motivate the
Wolverines - history.
"Our goal is to try to get on the
trophy stand, which is the top
four," McGuire said. "So to do that,
you have an idea of what that's
taken in past years, so you focus
on that.
"We're capable of that, we've
done it, so we just have to go out
and do iton Monday."
-W up
BEN SIMON/D
Senior alternate captain T.J. Hensick helped rev up M ichigan's ailing powser play.
eight trips to Ewigleben Ice Arena,
Michigan was 2-5-1.
Though they managed to collect
a sweep this weekend, the Wol-
verines faced some harsh taunting
from Ferris State's student section,
the "Dawg Pound."
Goalie Billy Sauer was the most
frequent target of jibes from the
Bulldog faithful.
During the third period, stu-
dents in the front row held up a
large poster with a picture of a bull-
dog next to Sauer's girlfriend. The
section also had numerous cheers
questioning the sophomore's man-
hood.
Sauer took the insults with a
grain of salt and laughed about it
after the game.
"That's what college hockey is,
so if you let that get to you, you're
not goingto be going too far," Sauer
said. "I actually really loved it, and
you've got to give them props for
what they come up with."
CLUTCH CLUSTER: With the sweep
of Ferris State, Michigan earned
two important wins against a team
in its cluster.
The CCHA's 12 teams are split into
three groups of four known as clus-
ters. Teams play their cluster oppo-
nents four times during the season,
and other conference teams twice.
Michigan's cluster consists of
Ferris State, Michigan State and
Ferris team," Michigan coach
Red Berenson said. "I'm glad we
got out of here with two wins at
this point. ... We were pointing at
this as being a crucial five games.
So now the five games aren't over,
but the first two are and we're
going in the right direction."
Winning 3-1 in the third peri-
od Friday night, the Wolverines
almost let the first game of the
series slip away. Ferris State had
the pressure on and peppered
Sauer with 20 shots in the final
frame. But the sophomore net-
minder held steady between the
pipes to preserve Michigan's
lead, only letting the Bulldogs
past him on a 5-on-3 with less
than a minute remaining in the
game.
One night later the Wolverines
ensured victory by doing what
they do best - scoring goals.
The team, which leads the
NCAA in goals per game, had five
different players light the red
lamp: forwards Andrew Cogliano,
David Rohlfs, Travis Turnbull,
Chad Kolarik and Brian Lebler.
Three of the tallies came on
the man advantage, often a sore
spot for the squad. But with two
dale, Ariz. right then and there.
And they certainly had their
chances.
Michigan was the beneficiary
of three Ohio State turnovers
- which were all pretty much
flukes, too.
When a team recovers two
fumbled snaps and its 331-pound
lineman intercepts a pass 10 yards
down the field, that's usually a
sign that things are going its way.
Despite those good breaks,
they still couldn't topple the
Buckeyes.
But a three-point game is a
three-point game, and anyone
who doesn't think the Wolverines
are the second-best team in the
nation is wrong. It's that simple.
Let's size up the competition:
Southern Cal? Sorry, losses to
Oregon State aren't exactly what
define champions these days.
Notre Dame? A certain 26-point
loss at the hands of Michigan
pops into mind. Florida? Auburn
has been dominated at home
twice, and it still managed to
beat you. Tough break, guys.
Arkansas? You know where this
is going, you lost to Southern Cal
by 36, be glad your players didn't
quit after that joke of a showing.
Boise State? Try playing a school
with a name I can pronounce.
Suddenly a three-point loss
on the road against the nation's
top team doesn't look so bad any-
more.
But the BCS isn't that simple.
Some people think that a rematch
is bad for college football. Why
should Michigan get a second
chance at the Buckeyes after
losing to them at the end of the
season?
Wolverine fans will argue that
the game was at the Horseshoe,
and that the true test of who is
better could be determined on a
neutral field. That may be true,
Western Michigan. With so many
of the conference games against
those teams, the Wolverines have
put a focus on doing well in cluster
games.
"That's 12 games out of our
28 league games, so that's nearly
half our games are in our cluster,"
Berenson said. "So that's one of our
goals within our goals is to do real-
ly well in our cluster."
Michigan is now 3-1 in its first
four cluster games.
IN AND OUT OF THE LINEUP: Beren-
son and his coaching staff switched
up the lineup this weekend.
After sitting out the three pre-
vious contests, freshman defense-
man Steve Kampfer played in both
games against Ferris State.
On Friday night, senior defen-
seman Tim Cook was a healthy
scratch. It was Cook's first scratch
since the season opener against
Alabama-Huntsville.
Cook returned to the lineup Sat-
urday night, this time at forward.
Morgan Ward was scratched to
open up the spot.
Ward had played in every game
since filling the void left by Jack
Johnson's suspension for the game
at Michigan State two weeks ago.
But the fifth-year senior got a
consolation prize. Ward was the
Michigan Radio Network's first-
intermission guest.
new power-play units, the back of
the net came easy with a Bulldog
in the box.
Fresh off his brick wall impres-
sion from the third period the
night before, Sauer left the home
crowd with little to cheer about
Saturday. The Walworth, N.Y.
native came up big with quick
moves and sharp saves both
on the penalty kill and at even
strength en route to back-to-back
33-save nights.
"Billy Sauer gave us a strong
weekend and he gave us a chance
to win," Berenson said.
As the Wolverines head into
their next three matchups - all
against ranked opponents, with
an intense rivalry thrown in
for good measure - having the
momentum of a five-game win
streak can't hurt. The last time
Michigan pieced together that
many wins was last fall, right
when the team held the highest
ranking in the country.
For now, the Wolverines are
going to focus on finishing the
tasks in front of them.
As for reaching the top spot
in the polls again, that's a whole
other to-do list.
but the players aren't buying that
excuse.
"They played on their home
turf, the crowd energizes them,"
Hart said. "That's no excuse.
We can win here, we can win at
home, we can win anywhere. But
they beat us."
And then there's the tough sub-
ject of Bo.
On Friday, the Michigan foot-
ball family lost legendary coach
Bo Schembechler.
Carr, who coached under
Schembechler, as well as many of
his players, said the team tried its
hardest not tobe affected by the
situation.
"I told our team we weren't
going to use Bo and his passing
away as a motivational deal," Carr
said. "That would have been to
dishonor him."
Even though the style of the
game would have made Bo cringe,
the way the Wolverines continued
to fight would have made the leg-
endary coach smile.
There were six touchdown
passes on Saturday - exactly one
less than were scored during the
10 games played between ground-
game aficionados Bo and Woody
during the peak of the Michigan-
Ohio State rivalry.
And the 41 points Michigan
allowed certainly weren't Bo-
like - in 21 years of coaching at
Michigan, Bo never had a team
that allowed 41 points.
But the BCS isn't Bo-like,
either. It's the farthest thing from
old school you can get, and Bo
was the epitome of old school.
After losing on Saturday, the
Wolverines are left doing one
final thing that isn't Bo-like:
Crossing their fingers in hopes
that they aren't Rose Bowl bound.
- Bell can be reached at
scotteb@umichedu.
Freshman breaks out
with Tankers at TeXas
By MICHAEL EISENSTEIN
Daily Sports Writer
Michigan coach Jim Richardson knew this week-
end would be an opportunity for the women's swim-
ming and diving team to step forward.
And no one did as much as freshman Margaret
Kelly at the Texas A&M Invitational.
In an exciting and stimulating environment at
College Station, compliments of three top-10 teams
competing, Kelly broke out in the pool this weekend,
swimming to career-bst times in all but one individ-
ual race she competed in.
Following the freshman's lead, No. 10 Michigan
(1,048 points) had an excellent meet, beating No. 9
Southern Methodist by 363 points to finish in second
behind the fifth-ranked Aggies (1,282.5 points), who
won the invitational after holding just a 24-point lead
after day one.
"She is just a great racer," Richardson said. "We
knew that she was good, but she's a whole lot better
now than when we recruited her.... When she hits the
water, she leaves it all in the pool."
Kelly had her best race of the weekend in the 200-
yard individual medley (2:00.63), breakingher career-
best time by two-and-a-half seconds.
Kelly also established new career-best times in
four other races: the 50-yard freestyle, the 100-yard
butterfly, the 100-yard backstroke and the 200-yard
backstroke.
And Michigan needed all the help it could get, rac-
ing against a top squad.
"Texas A&M is a powerhouse team," Richardson
said after the second day of competition. "They swim
five where at lea
CRIMSON have recorded do
From page 1B "I can't say
how unselfish w
Amaker said. "W
Senior Courtney Sims contin- 24 assists, that
ued his strong early-season pro- brag about, and
duction with 12 points and six tioned that to t
boards, and seniors Dion Har- standing job that
ris and Lester Abram added 10 The assists cer
points each. And on the shots that ed to the Wolver
the Michigan guards did miss, ing percentage i
freshman Ekpe Udoh provided victory. But per
an additional spark off the bench factor in the be
with his constant hustle to grab stifling Michigan
the loose balls. He finished with team has claimer
five offensive rebounds to go with The Wolverin
his 11 points on 5-for-5 shooting. 25 turnovers am
That kind of balanced output son to 38-perce
is a goal that Michigan coach the night. Throt
Tommy Amaker has stressed games, Michigar
since the beginning of the season, all but one of itsi
and this was the fourth game in than 40-percent
BCS
From page 1B
The ESPN/USA Today poll is the opposite.
Southern Cal grabbed the No. 2 spot on the heels of
its 14-point victory against then-No. 17 California.
Michigan dropped to No. 3 in that poll.
The Wolverines trail Southern Cal by 16 points in
the ESPN/USA Today poll, while they lead the Tro-
jans by nine points in the AP poll.
Following Saturday's loss, most Wolverine play-
ers stayed tight-lipped in terms of their opinion of
the rankings.
"Whatever the polls say, we'll go with it," junior
quarterback Chad Henne said. "But if we get that
like one of the top three teams in the country. ... We
have nothingtobe disappointed aboutin thatregard."
And that is particularly true with Kelly swimming
the way she did. Four of her teammates - junior Jus-
tine Mueller (400-yard Individual medley), senior
Lindsey Smith (200-yard freestyle), senior Kaitlyn
Brady (100-yard butterfly) and sophomore Emily
Brunemann (1,650-yard freestyle) - also swam well,
all finishing with NCAA automatic-qualifying times.
Kelly barely missed automatically qualifying for the
NCAA championships, clocking a time of 54.09 in the
100-yard butterfly.
But Kelly's impressive weekend is not something
new for the freshman. At Ann Arbor's Pioneer High
School, Kelly led her team to three national cham-
pionships and was honored as the Michigan high
school swimmer of the year after both her junior and
senior years.
"I think she's got the body type for a fast swim-
mer," her high school coach Dennis Hill said. "She's
very aggressive and really goes after it. She'sgot really
good strokes. She doesn't really have any weaknesses.
The way she moves in the pool is just amazing."
Hill also noted her ability to swim a wide array of
events, which is evident from Kelly's performance at
the invitational. With this versatility and strong swim-
ming, Kellyfits in perfectlywiththe restoftheteam.
"I think it's easier to swim well when other people
are swimming well," Richardson said. "The swim-
mers just feed off of each other's swims."
And with what Richardson calls "another step-
ping stone" coming up at Eastern Michigan in two
weeks, the Wolverines will wait and see who will
step up this time.
ast three players
ouble-digits.
enough about
e were tonight,"
[hen a team gets
's something to
I certainly men-
hem as an out-
t they did."
tainly contribut-
ines' high shoot-
in their blowout
haps the biggest
atdown was the
defense that the
d as its identity.
e defense forced
d held the Crim-
ent shooting on
ugh its first five
n (5-0) has held
opponents to less
t shooting from
the field.
"Our kids have really bought
into pressuring and making
things really difficult for our
opponents," Amaker said. "Really
what we tried to emphasize is not
to let them run what they've been
practicing. We want to be good
enough and tough enough to be
able to defend the ball without
fouling. And I thought we set the
tone with that very early."
After Harvard (1-2) took a 6-5
lead into the first media time-
out, the Wolverines shut them
down for the rest of the half. Led
by Coleman's hot shooting and a
stingy defense that forced Crim-
son point guard Drew Housman
into five first-half turnovers,
Michigan launched a 26-5 run
that put the game out of reach by
the end of the first half.
rematch, we'll definitely be up for it."
Senior defensive end LaMarr Woodley agreed,
and said the polls wouldn't have been an issue if the
team got it done of the field Saturday.
"We lost today and we put ourselves in that situ-
ation and we have to sit back and wait," Woodley
said. "You know, if we would have won, we knew
right away where we were going to be playing and
what day. All we can do is sit back and wait now."
Florida is fourth in the BCS standings with a
.8838 average. Notre Dame and Arkansas follow at
fifth and sixth, respectively, but are a full tenth of a
point behind the Wolverines.
Arkansas, who is No. 6 in the BCS and No. 5 in
both the AP and ESPN/USA Today polls, faces off
against No. 4 Florida in two weeks for the South-
eastern Conference Championship.
HEY OHIO STATE,
THANKS FOR THE AWESOME TURF. SERIOUSLY, IT WAS JUST
WONDERFUL. ALL THOSE CHUNKS OF SOD FLYING UP AS
PLAYERS SLIPPED? BEAUTIFUL. NO JOKE, GOOD WORK.
SIGNED,
DAILY SPORTS