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For swimming, tennis and track coverage, visit www.michigandaily.com
j The Michigan Daily michigandaily.com I February 4, 2008
MICHIGAN 3, NORTHERN MICHIGAN 3
Knotted
Pep alk
inspires
comeback
By RYAN A. PODGES
Daily Staff Writer
Michigan men's swim coach Bob Bowman's
face was scarlet and his mood was gray.
His team had just lost the first two events to.
its biggest rival and despite a field of four Big Ten
teams, Bowman, saw just one opponent - Ohio
State.
No. 4 Michigan needed something to get back
on track. It was a short but fiery speech from Bow-
man that pumped them up.
"A pretty censored version would be, 'The fact
is that if Michigan swimming against Ohio State
can't get you going, then I don't think anything
can,' "junior Bobby Savulich said.
Whatever words Bowman actually used, they
worked. After the pep talk, Michigan didn't lose
a single event.
The Wolverines not only finished the meet with
a 194-140 victory over the Buckeyes (10-1, 3-1 Big
Ten), but also handed them their only loss of the
season. Duringthe two-day meet, Michigan faced
a competitive field of Big Ten opponents. In addi-
tion to beating Ohio State, the Wolverines com-
pleted their Big Ten Conference regular season a
perfect 8-0 by defeating No. 18 Northwestern by
136 points and No.16 Penn State by 158 points.
Despite a slow start to the meet Saturday,
Michigan (10-1, 8-0 Big Ten) won several close
and exciting races. Sophomore Scott Spann came
from behind in the last lap of his 100-yard breast-
stroke to win with a time of 55.17. Sophomore
Chris Brady won the 100-yard butterfly (47.84)
and the 50-yard freestyle, that race by a margin
of about a quarter of a second. Savulich edged out
two Ohio State swimmers in the 100-yard free-
style (44.29).
As if the speech from Bowman wasn't enough,
there was even more pressure on the shoulders of
co-captain Alex Vanderkaay. The senior wanted to
perform well since it was his final regular-season
meet at Canham Natatorium. Vanderkaay's first-
place finish in the last leg of the 800-yard free-
style relay helped his team win the meet. It was
particularly important for Vankerkaay because it
allowed him to end his regular season career with
a win.
"That relay is our bread and butter here at
See BUCKEYES, Page 38
ZACHARY MEISNER/Daily
The Michigan hockey team tied Northern Michigan 3-3 both Friday and Saturday night. The pair of draws, coupled with a tie against Michigan State last weekend, marks the first time in pro-
gram history the Wolverines have tied three consecutive contests.
Disappointing ties extend winless streak
By MICHAEL EISENSTEIN ence standings with Miami idle for the for granted, and they took it to us." FROSH KICKED 4FF TEAM
Daily Sports Writer weekend. Said freshman Max Pacioretty: "We
--- -- - Instead, Michigan gained just two know we should beat that team 10 out of Freshman Kevin Quick was dismissed from
Four players on one tiny penalty-box points on the RedHawks and remains 10 times, and tonight, we came outslow, the Michigan hockey team Friday afternoon.
bench. one point behind. and it really showed that we weren't
It's safe to say this wasn't anything The referees handed out 53 penalty prepared to play." Michigan coach Red Berenson revealed
close to what the No. 2 Michigan hock- minutes, both teams found themselves Perhaps further distracting the Wol- few details as to why Quick is no longer a
ey team expected this weekend. in countless man-advantage situations verines, freshman defenseman Kevin part of the team, but said what Quick did
Facing off against the conference's that could jumpstart their offense. Quick was dismissed from the team was "a total violation of our team trust and
ninth-place team, the Wolverines want- Instead, the penalties just slowed Friday afternoon for a "total violation rules," Berenson discovered the extent of
ed a four-point weekend against North- the game's tempo, and the Wolverines' of our team trust and rules," according the recurring situation Thursday and made a
ern Michigan with No. 1 Miami (Ohio) sixth-ranked power play missed numer- to Michigan coach Red Berenson. final decision within a day.
waiting in the wings. ous game-changing opportunities, con- Michigan came out of the gates
Instead, Michigan tied the Wildcats, verting at a paltry 12 percent. stronger Saturday, with more focus, The physical tension in the game
3-3, in both contests and its winless Senior Chad Kolarik's frustration energy and control than Friday. But nei- even overflowed onto the bench. Half-
streak grew to four games, the team's after Friday's game applied to Satur- ther squad could overcome a combined way through the first period, a scuffle
worst string of the season. day's tie as well. 21 penalties. between junior Tim Miller and Wild-
The Wolverines struggled through a "We didn't come prepared," the In one three-minute span, 23 penalty cat Ray Kaunisto in front of North-
loss and tie against Michigan State last alternate captain said. "We were too minutes were handed out, including ern Michigan's bench erupted into an
weekend, but they still had an opportu- loose in the locker room. Our team likes a 10-minute misconduct on freshman intense shoving battle between Miller
nity to reclaim first place in the confer- tobe loose, but not that loose. We took it Matt Rust. See WILDCATS, Page 3B
First-halfmomentum is missing in new year
F or all the confidence the Michi- time to start doubting themselves. those key qualities have gone missing. For all their efforts, the Wolverines
gan hockey team exuded during The nations top-ranked team, Miami It's time to start a full-scale search. earned just two ties that left the team
the first half of the season, it's (Ohio), awaits them in Oxford. The Michigan hockey team that seeming anxious and a bit confused.
hard to have anything but doubts after This will be Michigan's biggest earned its No. 1 ranking was last seen Making the weekend more dis-
the past two week- test of the season, and it appears to be at the Palace at Auburn Hills, sweep- heartening was freshman Kevin
ends. - arriving at the worst possible time. ing Notre Dame a little more than Quick's sudden and mysterious dis-
No sooner than The most anticipated matchup of two weeks ago. Now the Wolverines missal from the team,
the Wolverines got the season could turn into the most appear lost along what looked like a Quick had just four points in 21
off to the best 24- overhyped. The Michigan team that straight path to the Frozen Four. games, but was a solid defenseman.
game start in pro- showed up this weekend won't even First came a hard-fought but disap- More importantly, he was one piece
gram history, they come close to touching the Red- pointing weekend against archrival of a close-knit locker-room. This team
put together four Hawks. Michigan State - one in which Michi- has a chemistry unlike past year's that
consecutive games But there's one team that can give gan was lucky to come away with a carries it through difficult games and
of anxiety-ridden NATE Miami (Ohio) a run for its money: The single point. gives it confidence despite the naysay-
and often unin- SANDALS Michigan team that went 22-2 to start This weekend it got worse, both on ers.
spired hockey. the season. and off the ice. No one outside the team knows
Michigan was Sure, they didn't win pretty and Playing against a Northern Michi- what Quick did to be kicked off the
supposed to be proving itself. Instead they definitely made their share of gan team that's ninth in the CCHA squad. But considering Michigan
it's showing that you can never be too mistakes, but the Wolverines were standings, Michigan showed none of coach Red Berenson hasn't taken this
sure. confident and resilient until two its usual confidence, momentum or action in nearly 10 years, considering
But the Wolverines don't have weeks ago. Since then, it appears puck luck. See SANDALS, Page 3B
Quarterback Eli Manning hoists the Vince Lombardi
Trophy after winning Super Bowl XLII.
The perfect
upset: Giants
shock Pats
GLENDALE, Ariz. (AP) - Oh well, nobody's
perfect. Except maybe Eli Manning.
A masterful magician when the stakes were
highest, Manning engi-
neered one of the best GIANTS 17
drives in Super Bowl PATRIOTS 14
history yesterday to
help the New York Giants squash the New Eng-
land Patriots' run at history-making perfection
with a 17-14 victory.
In a game, and a finish, that showed precisely
how the Super Bowl has become America's favor-
ite spectacle, Manning led the Giants 83 yards in
just more than two minutes. He capped it with a
13-yard touchdown pass to Plaxico Burress with
35 seconds left, to win what easily could go down
as the best Super Bowl ever.
"An unbelievable game and an unbelievable
See GIANTS, Page 3B
I