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Haven't been to a night game? You don't know what you're missing. Page 2
The Michigan Daily I michigandaily.com I October 22, 2007
MICHIGAN 27,
'NJ' can't
finish off
'Cats,
takes tie
By COLT ROSENSWEIG
Daily Sports Writer
Heading into overtime against
No. 9 Northwestern on Saturday,
the Michigan men's soccer team
wasn't apprehensive.
It was
raring to MICHIGAN 0
go. NORTHWESTERN 0
"I
reminded them that everything
they've done, all the work they've
put in, all the sacrifices they've
made, is for moments like this,"
Michigan coach Steve Burns said.
"When you get in overtime, there's
a lot of luck involved. As long as
you're putting the work in, maybe
it comes your way. The more you
work, the more luck you have."
Junior goalkeeper Patrick Sper-
ry - who had his seventh shutout
of the season on the line - was
confident in the defense that had
worked seamlessly with him all
night.
"I felt pretty clicked into the
match, and I wasn't worried about
giving up a goal," Sperry said. "I
was excited because I thought we
were going to get the win. I thought
we were goingto find a goal."
The Wolverines didn't find that
elusive game-winning goal, but
neither did the Wildcats. In a game
where Michigan was outshot and
outcornered, it still fought its way
to a satisfactory result.
Besides the lack of offense, the
game marked a return to better
times for the Wolverines (0-2-2 Big
Ten, 9-4-2 overall) made especial-
ly meaningful because of the tough
Big Ten opponent.
Sophomore forward Mauro
Fuzetti returned to the pitch and
played more than half the match.
Fuzetti, along with fellow cata-
lysts sophomore Peri Marosevic,
junior Steve Bonnell and redshirt
freshman Cam Cameron, created
many of the Wolverines' scoring
chances.
And Michigan's discipline paid
dividends for the second game in a
row - only Wildcats received cau-
tions on Saturday.
The Wolverine defense overly
compensated for its counterpart.
The offense didn't record its first
shot on goal until well into the
second half. Sperry made six saves
and at one point smothered the ball
in a crowd of players like a foot-
ball player pouncing on a fumble.
Michigan also enjoyed a fair bit of
luck, as a number of Northwestern
(2-2-1, 9-2-2) shots went just wide
of the goal.
"This certainly was a game that
See SOCCER, Page 3B
BEN SIMON/Daly
Junior wide
receiver Mario
Manningham
had two touch-
downs along
with 109 yards
to lead Michi-
gan to a 27-17
win against
Illinois.
Openplaybook should be
the norm, not the exception
Henne shuns injury,
keeps 'M' in Big Ten race
By JACK HERMAN
Daily Sports Editor
CHAMPAIGN - Leading up to Satur-
day's game, Michigan football discussion
centered largely on whether or not run-
ning back Mike Hart would return.
The senior captain didn't. But another
Wolverine did come back from injury,
and, in doing so, saved the game.
In a performance that left his coach-
es grasping for superlatives to describe
it, Michigan quarterback Chad Henne
battled through an in-game injury to
lead the Wolverines to 27-17 road victory
over Illinois. With every other Big Ten
team save Ohio State saddled with two
losses, Michigan remains in control of its
own destiny, and with its sixth straight
win, continues to turnaround what once
looked like a lost season.
By fighting off Illinois' bid for a tie for
second place, it appears as if Michigan
(4-0 Big Ten, 6-2 overall) has officially
turned the Big Ten Championship into a
two-team race.
Although, in typical fashion, Michigan
coaches would not disclose the nature of
Henne's shoulder injury, their response
after the game - and the sling Henne
wore when he exited - suggested it was
fairly severe.
Michigan football coach Lloyd Carr
called Henne "courageous." Offensive
coordinator Mike DeBord said it was one
of the "guttiest" performances he'd seen
in a long time. Runningbacks coach Fred
Jackson - well, let's just say he left noth-
See ILLINI, Page 4B
CHAMPAIGN -
ver the past season and a half,
the oft-
maligned
Mike DeBord has
taken his fair share
of criticism since
becoming Michigan's
offensive coordinator
- and rightfully so.
Following the
announcement of
his promotion from SCOTT
Michigan's spe- BELL
cial teams coach, ----
DeBord's past fail- Too
ures as Central Mich- Soon?
igan's head coach led
many to wonder if he
was the right guy for the job.
Late last season, his failure to go to the
shotgun outside of two-minute-drill situ-
ations kept the Wolverines from staying
with such high-powered offenses as Ohio
State and Southern Cal.
And during his entire tenure as offen-
sive coordinator (this is his second stint),
his tendency to begin nearly every game
with his now-patented zone left running
play made fans roll their eyes in unison.
So when Illinois brought a safety
down in the exact spot everyone knew
Carlos Brown would run on Michigan's
first offensive play and the Wolverines
still ran right at him, it looked like
another wing in the DeBord Shaky Job
Stability Center would have to open to
house exhibit D- excessive predictabil-
See BELT,, Page 4B
Late goal silences
crowd, caps win
By MICHAEL EISENSTEIN
Daily Sports Writer
MARQUETTE - In a matter of
moments, the Berry Events Center
went from the loudest to the quiet-
est place in Michigan's Upper Pen-
ninsula.
And there's a lot of untouched
wilderness to compete against for
that degree of silence.
But,
the MICHIGAN 4
person- N. MICHIGAN 3
person - -
strong
hush wasn't bad for the Wolverines.
Silencing the crowd was the biggest
cheer the Michigan hockey team
(2-0 CCHA, 3-1 overall) could have
hoped for in its 4-3 win at North-
ern Michigan Saturday night. The
Wolverines also won its conference
opener the night before, 3-1, for the
series sweep.
But atthe end ofSaturday'sgame,
the age-old saying was reversed -
the storm came before the calm.
With 40 seconds remaining, the
decibel level of the crowd exploded.
No. 6 Michigan led the Wildcats 3-
2 when Northern Michigan's Matt
Siddall sent the puck flying off his
stick from the top of the rightcircle.
Redshirt freshman Phil Fox redi-
rected the pass past goaltender Billy
Sauer's stick forthe game-tyinggoal
as the neon-vested students cheered
uproariously behind him.
At the time, Northern Michigan
had a two-man advantage - the
Wolverines were killing a five-min-
ute Matt Rust checking-from-
behind penalty (and ejection), and
the Wildcats pulled goalie Derek
Janzen.
Senior Chad Kolarik let the fans
celebrate - for 21 seconds.
Northern Michigan was still on
the power play when the puck came
loose at the Wolverine blue line.
Kolarik beat the Wildcat defender
to the puck and sent the short-
handed shot to the back of the net
to the tune of a deafening silence for
his fourth point on the weekend.
"Our team was tired (from kill-
ing penalties)," Michigan coach
Red Berenson said. "And you look to
yourseniors, andPorter and Kolarik
See WILDCATS, Page 6B
Michigan solid
on power play
By COURTNEY RATKOWIAK
Daily Sports Writer
MARQUETTE - This streak is a rough one for
Michigan.
Freshman Matt Rust's five-minute checking from
behind penalty with 2:02 left in the
third period on Saturday marked the NOTEBOOK
third straight time that the Wolver-
ines have had to be shorthanded for the remainder of
a game.
Rust was called for holding with 2:01 left in last
weekend's game against Minnesota, which left the
Wolverines fighting a 6-on-4 while down by one goal.
The late-game trend had been extended Friday with
sophomore Brian Lebler's roughing penalty with 1:37
left.
"You have to battle through," senior Chad Kolarik
said. "We took a lot of stupid penalties tonight, and we
got to get through that. We have a lot of freshmen, a
lot of young guys."
But when the Wolverines weren't taking penalties,
they were capitalizing on them. Michigan went 4-for-
13 on the power play and notched its first power-play
point of the season on a Kevin Porter goal in the sec-
ond period of Friday's game.
"Chad (Kolarik) tried stuffing it in and then slid
it over - it was kind of bobbling a bit and I was just
standing there, so that was a bit lucky," Porter said
Friday. "We were struggling a bit before that. They
See NOTEBOOK, Page 6B
PETER SCHOTTENFELS/Dail
Senior Chad Kolarik and the Michigan Wolverines swept Northern Michigan this weekend to taly two
big CCHA victories in the opening weekend of conference play.