6B - November 5, 20b7
The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com I
First conference
victory eludes 'M'
By COLT ROSENSWEIG
Daily Sports Writer
At halftime of yesterday's game,
the
Michigan MICHIGAN 1
men's PENN STATE 2
soccer
team seemed well on its way to
recording its first Big Ten win of
the year in its final regular season
match.
The Wolverines had seized a
1-0 lead against Penn State in the
35th minute on a goal by sopho-
more forward Peri Marosevic.
Junior forward Jake Stacy passed
to Marosevic on the edge of the
18-yard box as the Penn State goal-
keeper, Conrad Taylor, came out to
intercept the ball. But Marosevic
beat him to it, earning a wide-open
shot on net, and he easily scored.
After the goal, the Wolverines
(0-4-2 Big Ten, 10-6-2 overall) had
every rightto believe a BigTenvic-
tory was finally within reach.
Before Sunday, when Michigan
scored first in games this season, it
had never lost.
Junior Patrick Sperry, recently
named Big Ten Defensive Player
of the Week and owner of a Michi-
gan-record eight shutouts this year,
was in goal.
But in the 67th minute, Penn
State's Frank Costigliola put the
Nittany Lions (2-2-2, 6-8-3) on
the board, breaking through the
vaunted Michigan defense to tie
the game. And with fewer than 10
minutes to go, the Nittany Lions'
Drew Cost put his team ahead. The
late goal proved to be the game
winner, propelling Penn State to
a 2-1 win - just its second confer-
ence triumph.
"Peri was very good for us on
the day, but I think everybody else
played at or below their potential,"
Michigan coach Steve Burns said.
"And ultimately, Penn State was
able to find a couple of weaknesses
on our left-hand side."
Michigan had chances to get
back in the game, but couldn't
find the back of the net. Down 2-1
with 90 seconds to go, junior co-
captain Mike Holody found him-
self in a one-on-one confrontation
with Taylor. The big defender shot
low, thinking the keeper might not
be set, but Taylor got down and
smothered the ball, along with
Michigan's hopes for an equalizer.
"It's the first time we've felt that
kind of disappointment, where we
felt we were able to win the game
(and didn't)," Burns said. "I think
more than anything when Penn
State started to get the momen-
tum on their side, we were unable
to make a big play. We were unable
to provide on-field, inspirational
MAVERICKS
From page lB
It didn't take long. Just more
thanfive minutes into the firstperi-
od, Porter drilled a cross-crease
pass from freshman Chad Langlais
past Nebraska-Omaha goalie Jerad
Kaufmann for Michigan's first goal.
The score was Porter's eighthof the.
season and he finished with four on
the weekend.
After being scratched Friday for
missing a team event - an absence
that Berenson called a "misunder-
standing" - freshman Louie Capo-
russo quickly redeemed himself
by scoring the Wolverines' second
goal three minutes later to give
Michigan the two-goal cushion.
The Wolverines secured their
fast start, but again, all momentum
was lost in the second period.
"You're disappointed, but some-
times you can't do anything about
it," Berenson said. "You look at
their record so far, and the second
period has been far and away their
best period. We knew that would
happen. We tried to stop it and we
couldn't."
Two Nebraska-Omaha goals and
a 14-3 drubbinginthe shots column
left Michigan flailing in the second
stanza. The Wolverines had off-
target passes and couldn't make
plays, but Billy Sauer's strong saves
- including two glove stops on
breakaways - kept Michigan in the
game going into the third period.
Sauer was credited with 28 saves
on the night, but he appeared to
face more shots than the box score
indicated.
"I knew I was having a pretty
good game, and I just wanted to
keep it going," Sauer said. "That's
really the biggest opportunity of
the game, when they get a chance
like (a breakaway) right after a goal,
to shut them down. I know that's
huge for the team. "
Sauer didn't allow another goal,
and with fewer than three minutes
remaining in the game, freshman
Carl Hagelin dumped in a rebound
from a Travis Turnbull corner shot
for his second game-winning goal
of the season. E
Though the Wolverines ' left
Nebraska with a sweep, they know
that the second period can no lon-
ger equal a letdown.
"We're just trying to keep guys
focused," Porter said. "It's great to
win seven games out of eight, but
you've got to realize, we've played
a few good teams, but (Nebraska-
Omaha) was an average team in
the CCHA and we were lucky to get
two wins."
Goalie Patrick Sperry couldn't keep the Nittany Lions out of the net yesterday as
Michigan lost its final chance to win a Big Ten regular season game this year.
leadership to swing it back to our
side."
The Wolverines will enter the
Big Ten tournament, which begins
on Thursday, without a confer-
ence win. Michigan State, which
trounced Michigan 5-0 earlier this
season, will host the tournament.
And in the first round, the Wolver-
ines will face an Ohio State squad
that beat them on a controversial
overtime goal earlier this season.
A strong performance this week
could soften the memories of the
tough losses and ties Michigan
has suffered this year in confer-
ence play. Should the Wolverines
win the tournament, none of those
games would matter - they would
earn an automatic bid to the NCAA
Tournament at the end of Novem-
ber. Without a conference tourna-
ment championship, the chances of
the team receiving an at-large bid
to the NCAAs are extremely slim.
"The pressure is truly on us,"
Burns said. "You can use any clich6
that you want - this next (game) is
a game that decides whether we're
going to be in the NCAA Tourna-
ment. I'm glad it's going to come in
the-Big Ten tournament."
SANDALS
From page 1B
understatement.
"When I saw it I was like, 'Oh,
boy, this could go one way or
the other.' "junior goalie Billy
Sauer said. "I was excited for the
challenge, but as much as you're
excited, you've stilligot 12 freshman
under your belt that you have to get
excited."
But as it heads into the second
weekend of November, Michigan
has already proven most of the
doubters wrong with its 7-1 record.
After losing three players from
last year's team to NHL rosters,
and three more who will skate
in the league soon enough, why
would anyone have expected this
from Michigan?
For starters, there's senior cap-
tain Kevin Porter.
Porter has been the epitome of
a senior leader this season. His
nation-leading eight goals don't
begin to tell how important his
presence has been to this team.
"That's your captain, he plays
hard every shift," Michigan coach
Red Berenson said. "He's leading
this team by example. That's what
a captain should do."
Porter plays more minutes than
any other forward and for good
reason. He's proving to be one of
the best two-way forward in the
country. Along with his 11 points,
there are countless examples of
Porter backchecking, blocking
shots or making crisp passes that
go unaccounted for in the box
score.
It's well-documented that Por-
ter came back to lead this team,
but saying you wantto be a leader
and actually leading are very dif-
ferent things. Porter is doing both.
Then there's the freshmen. All
12 of them.
Porter and his alternate cap-
tains, senior Chad Kolarik and
junior Tim Miller, deserve credit
for bringing the new Wolverines
into the program and helping
them produce right off the bat.
All six of Michigan's first-year
forwards have goals, and the four
freshmen defensemen have played
a crucial role in the team's success.
Two freshmen, Carl Hagelin and
Louie Caporusso, scored in Satur-
day night's 3-2 win over Nebraska-
Omaha. A third first-year player,
Chad Langlais, contributed two
assists in the game.
The third pillar of this great
start has been Sauer.
When the freshmen have made
mistakes, Sauer has been thereto
cover them.
The junior has overcome incon-
sistency in his first two seasons to
keep Michigan in every game this
year, and Saturday night may have
been his best effort.
"He's been unbelievable all
year," Porter said. "He held us in
the game. The way we played, they
could have scored four goals in the
second period."
Instead, the Mavericks man-
aged just two, and Sauer played a
solid final period to complete the
weekend sweep.
No one could have known how
this team would gel before the sea-
son began. Not in June at least.
But by September, those in the '
know had a hunch things wouldn't
be too bad, even with a tough early
schedule.
"After watching them on the ice
early, they did lead ustobelieve
thatthis team was capable of win-
ningsome hockeygames," Michi-
gao"assistant coach Billy Powers
said.
Buteven Powers admitshe
didn't expect the Wolverines to
win seven of eight.
"It would be fair to say that
you'd have to be more thanpleased
with that kind of a start," Powers
said.
Now that's an understatement.
- Sandals can be reached
at nsandals@umich.edu.
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