The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com Thursday, October 11, 2007 -- 9A A Texan who came north reigns for 'M' Fast start, no goals-for 'M' By NICOLE AUERBACH For the Daily High school football is king in Texas, but for Tex McCullough, the other football captured his attention. "My dad was a ,football coach and always wanted me to play football," McCullough said. "But I used to have seizures' when I was younger, so I couldn't McCULLOUGH play any con- tact sports. So I started playing soccer." The seizures eventually stopped as he grew older, but his passion for soccer didn't fade away. And as one of seven freshmen on the Michigan men's soccer team, McCullough has been an impact player in his limited time on the field. Playing behind sophomore standout and United States Nation- al Team athlete Peri Marosevic has given McCullough, a forward, the opportunity to learn before being pushed into a full-time starting role. "I'm kind of training for when he leaves," McCullough said. "Since our team is mostly domi- nated by sophomores and juniors who are starters and play a lot, the freshmen are learning and getting experience." When Marosevic received a red card against Wisconsin on Sept. 23, the coaches gave the freshman the opportunity to start three days later. In the eighth minute against Oakland, McCullough scored his first goal as a Wolverine. It turned out to be the game-winner, in Michigan's 2-0 victory. "I haven't gotten to score in awhile," McCullough said. "I loved it. I was so glad to finally be able to contribute to this team." Michigan has suffered tough losses recently, including a disap- pointing shutout to No. 3 Notre Dame. But the 21st-ranked Wol- verines are optimistic they can finish strong in the final six games before the Big Ten Tournament in early November. McCullough knew the team would be very competitive this year, which is one of the reasons he chose to come to Michigan. "It's not like there are lots of strong Division I soccer schoola down south," McCullough said. "There's only one sport down there, anyway. I went far away from home so I could be a part of'a good program." Fortunately for the Wolverines, this Southerner took a chance at a sport that was unusual in his native state. Now he looks to help his new team conquer the Midwest and the Big Ten. By ANTHONY OLIVEIRA Daily Sports Writer A flash of arrogance is all it takes. And last night, that one moment for the No. 21 Michigan men's soccer team proved costly. In what seemed like a harmless throw-in, St. John sophomore Ryan Soroka tossed it to a unsuspecting Michi- gan defense. Catch- MICHIGAN 0 ing the Wolverines ST. JOHN'S 2, off guard, Red Storm midfielder Nelson Beccera took the ball and sent the game-winner past Michigan' goalkeeper Patrick Sperry. The Wolverines would fall in their second straight shutout, 2-0. "They capitalized on the mistakes we made, and we didn't capitalize on the mistakes they made," Michigan coach Steve Burns said. ' OnItalian Ice night at Belson Stadium, Mich- igan (8-3-1 overall) went cold after the opening minutes of each half. The Wolverines pushed aggressively on offense and even tougher on defense. Through the first 23 minutes of play, they tallied three shots-on-goal. But Beccera's score suddenly stifled the Michigan attack. The Wolverines didn't let off another shot in the stanza. St. John responded with a storm of its own - six straight shots to close up the half. Michigan came out of the locker room equal- izing the intensity of the game's opening min- utes, controlling the ball and putting it on net. The Red Storm (6-4-2) were outshot 3-1 in the first 10 minutes of the second half But with nothing working for Michigan, frus- tration set in as junior captain Alex Morisset and sophomore Peri Marosevic each earned a yellow card. Five minutes after the second yellow, Red Storm senior Omar Alfonso danced past Sperry on the right side and trickled in the dagger. The Wolverines put on a series of desper- ate attempts but only gained a red card against them in the 85th minute. As Morisset sailed one of many balls over the net, a scuffle broke loose between St. John's Joel Gustafsson and Michigan junior Michael Holoday. Unfortunately, Holoday was on the wrong side of it. But it seemed fitting that an altercation ended the rough affair. With most shots at the keeper, the hardest from Marosevic late in the match, the Wol- verines didn't make St. John goalkeeper Jason Landers work hard for his fifth shutout of the year. With its second-consecutive blanking, Michigan is receiving some payback for shutting out six of its opponents earlier this season. "Here's a theme: A good team makes you pay," Burns said. "With that theme, our back half of the field, we've gottoswallowour pride abitand say, 'You know what, maybe we're not as good as we think we are in these situations.'" * Ohio State stands alone, but tough tests loom ahead By MARK GIANNOTTO Daily Sports Writer It didn't hit me until about 10:30 p.m. last Saturday as I sipped on my mixed drink pitch- er at Scorekeeper's. Southern Cal was in the process of losing to lowly Stanford, and Louisiana State was scrapping to come back against 'defending BCS Cham- pion, Florida. At that moment, I had an epiphany: if the Trojans and Tigers lose, Ohio State would move up to No. 2 in the country. Well, after the slew of upsets in the past two weeks, the third- ranked Buckeyes are sitting pret- ty, in control of their own destiny in the Big Ten. Now, they're no longer under the radar. Ohio State is back in its familiar posi- tion as conference favorite and must get used to having a target squarely on its shoulder pads. And with the Buckeyes rolling, teams like Wisconsin and Michi- gan State must get off the losing schneid or else risk being left in the dust at season's end. Kent State (1-2 MAC, 3-3 overall) at No. 3 Ohio State (3-0 Big Ten, 6-0) - Noon, Big Ten Network So much for Purdue being a Big Ten contender. The Buckeyes were impressive last week, easily dispatching the Boilermakers in a 23-7 win. Defense has carried Ohio State all season, allowing more than seven points just once - in a 33-14 victory at Washington. The Buckeyes have the nation's top scoring defense. But only the Harlem Globe- trotters have a softer schedule than Ohio State has had so far. The win over Purdue was its first over a ranked opponent in 2007 and the 16-point margin of vic- tory was the closest game yet for the team. Luckily, Kent State presents another opportunity for the Buckeyes to get any leftover kinks out of their game before the meat of the schedule begins. From here on out, nothing will come easy for Ohio State. It finishes the season with games against Michigan State, Penn State, Wis- consin, Illinois and Michigan. Don't expect the Golden Flash- * es to make this one unexpectedly exciting, though. They are an average MAC team at best, and must travel to Ohio Stadium. No. 3 Ohio State 38, Kent State 6 No. 19 Wisconsin (2-1, 5-1) at Penn State (1-2, 4-2) - 3:30 p.m., ABC Nobody really knows what to expect from Penn State this sea- son. Some said the Nittany Lions had a shot at a BCS Championship, or at least, a Big. Ten crown. Oth- ers predicted the same old enigma. of a football team that looks good against teams it should beat, and terrible when faced with a team that's better on paper. If Wisconsin is fully healthy, it isn't a team Penn State should beat on paper. But Saturday's matchup is in State College, and the Bad- gers will be missing their No. 1 receiving option. Wide receiver Luke Swan suffered a possible career-ending hamstring injury in Wisconsin's upset loss to Illinois last week and will miss the rest of the season. It couldn't have come at a.worse time for the Badgers, who saw their ranking drop 14 spots when their 14-game winning streak came to a surprising halt. There's no time for Wisconsin to sulk, . because a second straight loss would potentially end its chances at winning the Big Ten. Without Swan, the Badgers become one dimensional, allowing Penn State to load the box against running back P.J. Hill. The Nit- tany Lions will win this game, but without Swan, it shouldn't be considered an upset or a sign of change in Happy Valley. Let's not forget that they have the symbol of mediocrity- Antho- ny Morelli - under center. Penn State 17, No.19 Wisconsin 14 Quick hits Expect Michigan State to end its two-game slide by surpris- ing Indiana at home. Don't be shocked if Iowa's defense keeps it close, but upstart Illinois will grind out the win, following up on the biggest victory in Ron Zook's career. Minnesota officials'fired coach Glen Mason after last sea- son because they were dissatisfied with .500 seasons, but when los- ing to Northwestern is a given, maybo it's time to second-guess the move. ra 207 Goup FDitne ss Aiati cs lasses Now Availale: boot Cam Hip Hop Mastenr ##Swarm Y o 12 5 6 C C R B 7 3 4 .764 13 4 2 TAUB ER INSTITIIT FOR GLOBA L U 'LHIN E IU LOPERATIONS BUSINESS ENGINEERING aLEADERSHIP is .