The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom Tuesday, October 30, 2007 - 9 ' loose heading into rivalry game By SCOTT BELL Even Michigan coach Lloyd Carr Daily Sports Editor joined in on the fun. When asked about Dantonio's clock, he had a If the pressure of a rivalry game reply similar to that of his players'. is supposed to seep through, the "I think the only clock I'm con- Michigan football team sure isn't cerned with is mine," Carr said. showing it. The laughs weren't just at the Five players faced questions expense of Spartans, though. abouttheMichigan-MichiganState Senior defensive tackle Will rivalry during the Johnson was pinpointed by all of team's weekly NOTEBOOK his teammates as the person who press conference most resembles the Paul Bunyan yesterday, and all of them appeared Trophy. more relaxed than usual. "It just looks like Will," senior One-by-one, nearly every player wide receiver Adrian Arrington had witty things to say both about said of the trophy. "We've been say- MarkDantonio'sMichigan-focused ing that since we were freshmen. clock and about the prize the two He doesn't think so, though." intrastate rivals are competing for Carr came tohis player's defense, - the Paul Bunyan Trophy. though. When Dantonio was hired as "Will doesn't have a beard and Michigan State's new coach fol- Paul Bunyan does," Carr said. lowing John L. Smith's firing, one "Besides, Will's a lot tougher than of the first things he did was put up Paul Bunyan. Smarter, too." a clock that counted down the days One question later, the coach to the Michigan-Michigan State jokingly backtracked from his game for his players. Many com- statement. pared this to what Ohio State coach "I shouldn't be saying all that. Jim Tressel did 'when he took over I didn't know Paul Bunyan," Carr the Buckeye program. said. Don't expect Michigan players STRIKE A POSE?: When areport- to line up for motivational tips from er asked All-American offensive Dantonio just yet. lineman Jake Long about the possi- "You can say it's weird, that's bility of him winning the Heisman cool. We know when the game is Trophy, Long brushed off the mere ,though, so that's fine," junior cor- thought of it being anything close nerback Morgan Trent said. to reality. Most of Trent's teammates had "It's a skill-position trophy," similar things to say about the Long said of the Heisman. "Line- clock, saying they don't need any men don't get recognition for a extra motivation for this weekend's reason, I think. I don't think I've game. done quite enough to be put in that category." His teammate, Mike Hart, was a Heisman frontrunner before going down with an ankle injury two weeks ago. Carr has a policy of usually not commenting on individual players and potential accolades for them. But even though he didn't openly endorse a Long for Heisman cam- paign, the coach did give his two- year captain quite an endorsement. "I'll say this about Jake Long, any discussion of the best football players in this country, if it doesn't include Jake Long, then I think there's something missing from that discussion," Carr said. DEPTH CHART UPDATE: Both Mike Hart and Chad Henne were listed as starters on this week's depth chart. That's good news for Michigan fans, but it also shouldn't be taken as the gospel truth - both were listed as the starters last week, too. Carr gave his typical guarded response when asked about the two stars' status for the weekend. "I have said from day one that the nature is that daily they're get- ting better," Carr said. "So every- thing I say is interpreted one way or the other, so I feel like it's better I don't say anything. I think they're both much better than they were, and yet until we get on that practice field this week, I can't tell you." Hart told The Michigan Daily after Saturday's game he would play this weekend in East Lan- sing. Junior Adrian Arrington jo it defensive tackle Will John! oprty yesterday. Streak snapped, but Big Tens loom Sauer shines in By RYAN A. PODGES For the Daily After tearing through 11 straight wins, the Michigan field hockey team finally stumbled this week- end, suffering its first loss to an unranked opponent all year. The Wolverines finished its regular season Sunday by beating Stanford, but not before losing to California Saturday.. No. 4 Michigan (14-5) played back-to-back games in California and suffered its first shutout loss, losing 1-0 to the Golden Bears. Just one day later, the Wolverines came back from the setback by defeating Stanford (9-7-1) in a 6-0 shutout. Last week, Michigan clinched the Big Ten Championship outright when it completed its perfect 6-0 conference playby defeating North- western. Before Saturday, Michi- gan had won 11 straight games. Its last loss came on Sept. 9 against No. 3 Connecticut. Although California was unranked, Michigan coach Nancy Cox called the Golden Bears (10-5) a "formidable opponent" and said the Wolverines' performances over the weekend were different from each other. "We had a lot of quality oppor- tunities, but we were never quite able to finishup whatwe had to do," Cox said. "We had difficulty get- ting going in the first 20 minutes of the first half of Saturday's game, and in the second half, we turned the match around, but we had dif- ficulty setting up a goal. Sunday, we got much better, but these games just showed the difference of a full effort for 70 minutes." Michigan's top performers dur- about character and her charac- ing Sunday's shutout game were ter has always been all about the senior co-captains Lucia Belassi team from the time she came in as and Kristen Tiner and sophomore a freshman to her time as a team Kelly Fitzpatrick. captain." Belassi and Tiner each tallied With its regular season now goals. Fitzpatrick had two goals complete, the team will begin the and two shots on goal. Fitzpatrick Big Ten Tournament this Friday in also scored the game-winning goals Columbus. The top-seeded Wolver- against Central Michigan in over- ines were granted a first-round bye time and against Northwestern to and will play against the winner of help the team earn the outright Big ' the Penn State-Ohio State match Ten title. Friday. "Kelly has been finishing more For much of the season, Michi- opportunities and getting stronger gan has tried to approach games with every game," Cox said. with an underdog attitude, but that Belassi's contributions this sea- attitude will not work this week- son and over her entire career can't end. be understated. She has now played "The California game taught us in 84 games and made 49 consecu- that your reputation doesn't win tive starts for Michigan. you games, and we have to remem- "She is a warrior on and off the ber that for the tournament," Fitz- field," Cox said. "Our program is patrick said. Phillips could be the key to Blue's revival By ALEX PROSPERI Daily Sports Writer At 6-foot-6, Krista Phillips is taller than more than half the men's basketball team, a rarity for a female hoops player. The sophomore center used her height along with her talent to lead all Wolverine freshmen in games played (29), points (8.0), rebounds (4.3) and blocks (37) last season. Michigan's new coach Kevin Borseth, who likes to push the ball up the court, needs Phillips to complement her low-post game by becoming more of a presence on the fast break. "Obviously, her ability to run the floor and become more ath- letic is going to be very critical as she moves forward," Borseth said at Michigan Media Day. This off-season, the addition of Borseth and four new assis- tants gave the Michigan women's basketball program a fresh start - one it needed desperately after four straight losing seasons under former coach Cheryl Burnett. Borseth's enthusiasm and lively spirit should bring new energy to a program that needs a positive season. But some of that respon- 9ibility also rests in the hands of Phillips. There's no time to waste, though - last year's team finished with a 10-20 overall record and was just 3-13 in Big Ten play. Luckily for Phillips, Borseth understands the importance of her progression and the need for patience. "I don't think we can drop the whole boat on her shoulders and say 'Ok, you go do it,"' Borseth said. "I don't know that Krigta, at this point, is capable of doing that. But at some point in the coming years, I think she is going to have to be, and I think she's capable of doing that." Borseth's style of play features a lot of shooting, and he de-empha- sizes vigorous time trials or weight room tests that others do to focus his team's attention toward on- the-court work. "We've put a lot of time in shoot- ingthe basketball, and we've asked them to spend time on their own (shooting) - a significant amount of time, with numbers, to try and make shots," Borseth said. "That's probably the biggest thing that's going to be a challenge for them." Phillips should play heavier minutes this season, and combined with an emphasis on shooting, she should be more productive in the assist category after recording just 10 last season. And this season, Phillips won't have to worry about the naggingM cartilage injury that plagued her last year. She underwent surgery over the summer to fix the prob- lem in her knee. With five returningstarters and four seniors on the roster, the Wol- verines have plenty of experience, but ultimately, Phillips is the key to this team's success. "Our last coaches thought this was the season," Phillips said. "And our new coaches think this is going to be the season, so we're going to go with it." the early stages of season By COURTNEY RATKOWIAK that allowed Michigan to keep the DailySports Writer momentum and two-goal lead. And Sauer's only glaring mis- Billy Sauer has been often criti- take of the weekend happened cized for being inconsistent. after the Wolverines had already But this weekend, he consis- established their dominance. tently made About a minute and a half into big saves the second period, Michigan was against Bos- shorthanded, and Sauer left the ton Univer- crease to chase the puck behind sity. the net. He sprawled out, trying Sauer had to trap the puck, and Boston Uni- a -3.31 goals versity forward Jason Lawrence against aver- drilled a shot on a nearly empty age while f net to tally the team's first goal of allowing 19 SAUER the game. Sauer was still on the goals during ice. last year's 4-2 start. Going into But the goal didn't matter. our this weekend's first home series, minutes later, Sauer was credited Sauer had a 2.73 goals against with an assist on freshman Carl average. After allowing just two Hagelin's quick wrist shot off a goals per game both nights, his breakaway that made it 3-1, and numbers are markedly better than three unanswered Michigan goals at this time last year. in the first part of the third period Statistics aside, Sauer has gave Sauer more security than in looked calmer and more in control the weekend's first game. of his game. He's stuck with the After Saturday's game, Bos- puck and rarely looked confused ton University coach Jack Parker on the ice - and his steadiness focused more on his team's inad- this season has been necessary equacies than Sauer's strong per- with a defense composed almost formance this weekend. entirely of freshmen. "I thought he played very well On Friday, Boston University's (Friday) night, and he didn't have quick start and Michigan's slug- anything to worry about (Sat- gishness meant the responsibility urday)," Parker said. "We had a fell on Sauer to keep the Wolver- couple of opportunities, but in ines in the game. Sauer successful- general, that game should've been ly handled the Terriers'barrage of 8-1,10-1." shots in the first period by adjust- And following this week- ing quickly. Six minutes into the end's strong performance, Sauer game, he fell as he blocked a Bos- didn't see much that he'll need to ton University shot but still made improve before next weekend's another save on the rebound. The games at Nebraska-Omaha. score was 0-0 after one, despite "Just trying to make things a the Terriers dominating the shots little bit simpler, just kind of read- column 15-6inthe first period and ing plays a little better," Sauer 23-7 after 25 nminutes of play. said. "Ins battling well and n'm His performance was good seeing the puck well. I jst kind enough for the student section to of have to see a few more options start the "Billy Sauer" chant after that I'm not really seeing right just a little more than 20 minutes now, but that's it." of playing at Yost Ice Arena this Sauer also allowed four goals season. against in last weekend's two "If Billy hadn't had a much bet- games against Northern Michi- ter than average game, then we gan - one on Friday and three wouldn't be talking about a vic- on Saturday - but Berenson said tory," Berenson said Friday. "The Sauer responded better to this whole game would have taken a weekend's faster pace and having different direction. He was the to make more saves in back-to- difference." back games. Michigan's two early goals in "It was like the first period in Saturday's game meant Sauer was (Friday's game) was really the under less initial pressure to per- turning point in his weekend," form flawlessly. Sauer said his best Berenson said. "He was rock solid. save of the weekend was when he ... He made a couple mistakes that denied a Boston one-tinser in the cost us, but he's given the team a first period immediately follow- lot of confidence in the last two ing.Michigan's two goals, a stop weeks." El ' E I Jung does double duty in 'breakthrough' weekend By NICOLE AUERBACH Daily Sports Writer He's not the biggest guy on the tennis court, but Michigan fresh- man Jason Jung sure had a large presence there two weekends ago. The 5-foot-10 Torrance, Calif, native played big, winning seven total matches between singles and doubles play at the Wilson/ITA Midwest Regional Championships at the University of Minnesota Jung paired up with sophomore teammate Mike Sroczynski to win five straight doubles matches and reach the tournament final. Jung and Sroczynski lost to the No. 7 Ohio State duo of Drew Eberly Justin Kronauge 8-5 in the championship. But the weekend was a break- through tournament for Jung. He found a compatible doubles partner in Sroczynski. And more signifi- cantly, he went deep into the tour- nament in both singles and doubles against some of the best competi- tion in the nation. Jung also earned his first col- legiate singles victory in his first- round win over DePaul's Austin Doerner 6-3, 7-6(6). Jung followed it up with a convincing win over Northern Illinois' Alex Friesen 6- 3,6-4. In the round of 16, Jung lost to No. 6 Ohio State's Bryan Koniecko. Koniecko won the first set quickly, 6-1, but Jung bounced back in the second set. After a back-and-forth battle forced a tiebreaker, Koniecko squeaked out the win with a 7-3 advantage. Jung never gave up, a quality which impressed his coach. "Jason is playing a lot better now than he was a few weeks ago," Michigan coach Bruce Berque said. Three weeks ago, Jung played singles in the All-American Cham- pionships in Oklahoma but was knocked out in the first round. He's worked hard to prepare himself for tougher opponents. "The level of competition in col- lege is definitely higher," Jung said. "It's a big step up from Juniors. Most of the guys playing are a lot bigger and stronger, so you have to compensate for that." Jung plans to get stronger and put on some weight over the course of the season to add even more power to his strokes. With a long, promising season ahead, Jung has set high goals for himself. The freshman is currently ranked No. 124 in the nation. "I want to earn a high individual ranking, maybe in' the top 20 or higher," Jung said. Improvingeachweek, Junglooks to have an impressive first year.