I
a
6B - October 22, 2007
The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
WOMEN'S CROSS COUNTRY
Four Wolverines
finish in top10
With its season coming to a
close, the No. 6 Michigan women's
cross country team notched anoth-
er impressive performance to its
belt at this weekend's EMU Classic.
Four Wolverines finished in
the top 10 with redshirt freshman
Rachel Severin leadingthe charge
in fourth place. Trailing closely
behind were redshirt junior Nata-
sha Luppov and redshirt freshman
Alysha Valencia.
The non-scoring event served
as good preparation for next
weekend's Big Ten Championships
in Columbus, where Michigan will
look to secure its sixth consecutive
conference title.
MEN'S CROSS COUNTRY
Freshman leads the
way at EMU Classic
Before headingto the Big Ten
Championships next weekend, the
No.10 Michigan men's cross coun-
try team participated in the EMU
Classic - a non-scoring event - on
Friday.
Pacing the Wolverines was
freshman Craig Forys, who fin-
ished in second place overall,
despite running unattached.
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M' locks up first
title in three years
4
EMMA NOLAN-ABRAHAMIAN/Dz
Senior Melissa Dobbyn ended a four-game scoreless drought for the Wolverines in their 21 win over Wisconsin yesterday.
Dobbyn cu,.res drought
By H. JOSE BOSCH
Daily Sports Editor
Just two days after she became
the Michigan women's soccer career
leader in shots, senior Melissa Dob-
byn had just one thought running
through her head as she took her
306th attempt on net.
"Please don't miss."
Dobbyn got her wish. The Livonia
native hit the back of the net and gave
the Wolverines (1-4-3 Big.Ten, 2-8-4
overall) a much-needed 2-1 win over
Wisconsin Sunday at the U-M Soccer
Field.
Dobbyn's tally with11minutes left
snapped a nine-game winless streak
and sparked the Wolverines in their
first conference win of the season.
"(We feel) so relieved," Dobbyn
said. "We haven't won in a while, so
it felt great just to put two goals in
the game. We haven't done that in a
while either, so it was a good accom-
plishment."
Senior Sarah Banco opened the
Wolverines' scoring in the 13th min-
ute. Setting up just to the left corner
of the goal box, Banco launched a
shot toward the far post and past the
outstretched hands of Badger goalie
Jamie Klages.
The goal was the first for the Wol-
verines in 469 minutes of play, a span
of two losses and two scoreless ties.
Michigan's last goal, also tallied by
Banco, came in a 1-1 tie against Indi-
ana Oct. 4.
On Friday against Northwestern,
Dobbyn broke the all-time career
shots record previously held by first-
year assistant coach Abby Crump-
ton. Despite her effort, neither
Dobbyn nor her teammates could
score in a 0-0 tie. Needing a win to
keep Michigan's postseason hopes
alive, Dobbyn had no intention of
letting her team come away empty
handed again.
"She gets it done," Banco said.
"She's a big-time player. ... I know it
was a sense of accomplishment for
her and a relief to score her first (con-
ference) goal. Now more are going to
come for her. I know it."
Tied at onethe Wolverines attacked
in Wisconsin territory when they
momentarilylostpossession.Butjunior
Kristin Thomas quickly regained con-
trol of the ball and noticed Dobbyn
streaking down the right side of the
field. The pass hit Dobbyn in stride,
and she fired a shot that went into the
back left corner of the goal.
Yesterday's win gives the Wolver-
ines three crucial points in confer-
ence play and keeps their postseason
tournament hopes alive. The top
eight teams advance to the confer-
ence tournament, and before the vic-
tory, the Wolverines were one spot
out from qualifying.
Michigan needed to break free
from its offensive struggles against
Northwestern and Wisconsin, two
teams in the bottom half of the con-
NOTEBOOK g
From page 1Ba
a
h
a
were taking a lot of penalties, soP
we needed to capitalize on a powerA
play sooner or later." f
Kolarik said Michigan will needm
to work on moving the puck better B
during power plays. He added too
many shots were blocked by the e
Northern defense.n
With two power-play goals each c
game this weekend, Michigan can a
hardly complain - its power-play s
unit has started to provide con-m
crete results. C
"It's not that we weren't play- p
ing well on the power play, we just
couldn't finish it," said Michigan d
coach Red Berenson of Porter's f
ference. But on Friday, the Wolverim
couldn't score against the Wildca
despite seven corner kicks andl
shots. Captain Lindsey Cottrell w,
visibly upset following the game.
"The numbers are there, we ju
need to finish," she said. "It does g
frustrating. It's really discouragin
but we need to just keep shootinga
keep pounding away."
Michigan responded with 13 tot
shots and six corners against t
Badgers, once again providing plen
of opportunities to break the team
scoreless streak.
Prior to her game-winning go
Sunday, Dobbyn hit the crossbar ot
shot from seven yards outside of t
goal box.
Earlier in the second half, Ama
da Bowery also had a prime scori
opportunity when she had a brea
away along the right side of the fie
but her shot was denied on a spraw
ing save by Klages.
And not long after Banco's ope
ing goal, senior Emily Kalmach w
denied by Klages when she punch
the shot up and over the net.
"We've had a lot of games whe
we've outshot teams," Banco sa
"We're getting six, seven corn
kicks a game so we weren't tens
We were just ready to come out au
play."
Following the weekend's actio
Michigan trails Northwestern by t
points for the final spot in the po
season tournament. The Wolverin
have two more conference games1
play and the Wildcats have three.
Should Michigan miss the tou
nament, it'd be the first time in t
program's 14-year history.
oal. "You need to get a goal to get
little bit of confidence.... You're
hoping you'll collect, but you don't
lways collect right away."
ANOTHER FIRST FOR FRESHMEN:
Michigan's 12 freshmen got their
irst taste of CCHA fans with this
weekend's energetic crowd at the
Berry Events Center.
Before both games, North-
rn Michigan skated through the
mouth of a giant, inflatable Wild-
at head, complete with spotlights
nd billowing smoke. The Wildcat
tudent section, the Puckheads,
was clad in neon-yellow vests and
onstruction helmets with hockey
rucks drilled into the top.
In the first intermission of Fri-
lay's game, Northern Michigan
fans went human bowling. A Puck-
By RUTH LINCOLN
For the Daily
Aggression served Michi
gan well en route to securin
sole share of the 2007 Big Te
Championship. Michigan
physical offense was too muc
for Northwestern's defense.
With fewer than two min
utes left in regulation, sopho
more Kelly Fitzpatrick lifted
shot into the net, giving Michi
gan a 3-2 win over Northwest
ern on Sunday.
The win capped off a per
feet conference season fo
Michigan (6-0 Big Ten, 13-
overall) and clinched the Wol
verines' first conference titl
since 2004.
ily "We are the first team in
number of years to outwardl
sweep the Big Ten," Michi
gan coach Nancy Cox said. "I
says a lot about the depth o
our program. It's great for ou
seniors, great for our team an
it's good for the future."
It was clear early on th
es Wolverines were the instiga
ats tors, collecting eight shots o
19 goal in the first half.
'as Senior Ashley Lenningto
started the scoring when sh
tst found the back of the North
et western cage, givingMichiga
g, a1-0 lead just more than thre
nd minutes into the game
"Getting the first goal wa
tal very important because it go
he
ity
a's
WILDCATS
al From page 1B
n a
he our two key players and the
wanted to make this happen
n- I don't know if they though
ng they'd score a goal, but it wa
k- the biggest goal of our shot
ld, season."
vl- Emerging from the locke
room, Kolarik's smile sa
n- more than the words comin
'as out of his mouth.
ed "It feels good, it feels good,
Kolarik said. "(Associate hea
re coach) Mel (Pearson) acuall
id. called it and said, 'Let's try t
er get a shortie,' before we wen
se. out there because we were
nd going to be shorthanded th
entire overtime (from Rust
n, penalty) so it would be toug
wo for us to score a goal."
st- While the Wolverines wer
es thrilled with the weeken
to sweep and the 2-0-confer
ence start without overtim
or- one freshman was particu
he larly relieved after hearingth
news over the speakers. Rus
head was slingshot in a tube across
the ice at larger-than-life, foam
bowling pins.
Though veterans like captain
Kevin Porter said the crowd "wasn't
too big of a distraction," fresh-
man Matt Rust felt the opposite in
Northern's loud, hostile arena.
"The (students) were pret-
ty rowdy, sitting behind Billy
(Sauer)," Rust said. "You can
hear it loud and clear, especially
when you're sitting on the bench.
I mean, you can't help but look
over a couple of times and see the
fans with their ensembles on and
everything, going nuts and bang-
ing on the glass."
LOOKING BACK: Just nine players
on the current Wolverine roster
remember Michigan's last game in
Marquette on Nov. 12,2005.
And to them, Saturday's game
felt familiar.
Michigan won both games in the
series, 4-3, in the final seconds.
Junior Travis Turnbull received
a 10-minute misconduct in the
the momentum going pretty
fast," senior co-captain Lucia
Belassi said. "(The goal)
i- helped the whole team play as
g one and keep the'momentum
n for ourselves."
's The Wolverines' forceful
h style of play helped establish
the tempo of the match early.
- Unlike previous games this
- season, Michigan didn't have to
a play from behind or need over-
i- time.
t- The Wolverines' assertive
defense held the Wildcats in
- check, limiting their chances
ir for much of the game. With
4 sophomore Paige Pickett in
I- goal, Northwestern (0-5 Big
e Ten, 4-11 overall) was held to
just eight shots,
a "Defense did awesome
y today,"Fitzpatrick said. "Their
i- outletting was great, and they
it influenced how the midfields
f and forwards were moving."
r Lucia Belassi took advan-
d tage of the third of back-to-
back-to-back corner shots late
e in the first half to regain the
- lead with more than five min-
n utes left in the first half.
With the Big Ten season
n complete, Michigan will head
e out west for its final two games
- of the regular season. The Wol-
n verines will play California on
e Saturday and Stanford on Sun-
day, and then head to Colum-
s bus on Nov. 1 for the first round
et of the Big Ten Tournament.
thought the Wildcats won.
"It went from poor Rust, he
was so worried he had let the
team down," Berenson said,
y "to total jubilation from every-
. one else. And that's college
t hockey. That's how momen-
s tum can change."
t But Rust's major penalty
was just the tip of the penalty
r iceberg. In two games, there
d were a combined 30 penalties
g (15 per team) - an average
of five a period. Half of the
series' periods had 12 or more
d penalty minutes.
y Eventually, Michigan's pen-
o alties caught up with them and
t it surrendered its first man-
e down goal of the year.
.e None of that fazed the
's young Wolverines. They dis-
h played the gritty play that led
them to a strong performance
e last weekend at the Ice Break-
d er Invitational.
- "It's not strategy," Berenson
e, said. "It's just having to deal
- with what's going on in the
e game and that's really what
t our team did."
second period of Saturday's game,
a penalty similar to the five-min-
ute misconduct/checking-from-
behind penalty that he received as
a freshman in the second period of
the 2005 meeting.
And Kolarik's shorthanded
game-winner Saturday with 22
seconds remaining saved the game
for the Wolverines, similar to now-
junior Brandon Naurato's overtinle
winner two years ago.
"Actually, we were just talk-
ing about that in the locker room,"
junior Mark Mitera said. "(In
2005), Naurato just kind ofgot that
break and shot it from the blue line,
and (it was) an overtime win for the
sweep."
The Wolverines haven't lost to
the Wildcats in Marquette since
2002.
Note: Through four games, 10 dif-
ferent players have scored at least
one goal and just three players
(Porter, Rust and freshman Carl
Hagelin) have notched multiple
goals for the Wolverines.
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