2B - March 30, 2009 The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom
2B - March 30, 2009
Th Mchga Dil -mihianaiy Io
The real
March Madness
is on ice
J the past two years, six of the But underdogs seem to be disap-
eight No. 1 seeds in the NCAA pearing.
Tournament have made it to Last year, all four No. 1 seeds
the Final Four. made the Final Four for the first
There's still some madness in time in history. This year, just one
March, but not nearly as much as team higher than a fifth seed made
there used to be - in basketball, the Sweet Sixteen - and that was
that is. Arizona, a traditional powerhouse.
If you're looking for something There was no Cinderella to rally
other than straight chalk (for you behind. Whichbrings us back to
non-gamblers, that means the hockey. The hockey tournament
favorite winning), try switching hasn't lost its parity.
over to the In 2007, Michigan State went
other March from the last team in the tourna-
Madness: the ment to National Champions, riding
Division I men's a pint-sized goalie and a few good
hockey NCAA bounces. No one on this campus
Tournament. was happy to see it, but the drama
Three of was undeniable.
the four No. Notre Dame followed a similar
1 seeds in the path last season, narrowly squeak-
16-team field NATE ing into the tournament field, then
got knocked SANDALS making it all the way to the champi-
off in the first onship game.
round this year, This year, the parity and excite-
including Michigan, which lost 2-0 ment have risen to another level.
to Air Force on Friday. This isn't The storybook underdog wins
quite like a 16 seed beating a one would be enough to make this
seed in basketball, but a 14 over a year's tournament must-see TV.
three is a pretty good comparison. That doesn't even include the two
The upsets in hockey have creat- teams that scored last-second goals
ed interesting storylines and given to force overtime, then went on to
the potential for national glory to win in the extra session.
a bunch of schools that don't get A single-elimination hockey
much attention. tournament is an unpredictable
Along with Air Force, Bemidji way to determine a champion. And
State, Cornell and Miami (Ohio) all like basketball, the best team is less
pulled off upsets. likely to win than the hottest team.
Hockey will never have the large The difference is lately, the hottest
audience March Madness does. team and the best team seem to be
Hockey is not as popular as basket- the same thing in basketball. That's
ball, fewer schools are involved and not the case in college hockey.
less money is bet. But the hockey All the upsets won't do much
tournament gives a better opportu- to raise college hockey's profile
nity for small schools to try to make nationwide. It's destined to be a
waves. In this state alone, schools niche sport at best. There's little
like Northern Michigan and Lake local media coverage and even less
Superior State have won national national attention.
championships. Those schools So you might have to dig around
don't even compete in Division Itin on Google a little bit to find out
basketball. more about this weekend's upsets.
Everyone loves an underdog. Just But if you're tired of just seeing
thinkbackto George Mason's excit- favorites win, the extra effort is
ing run to the Final Four in 2006. worth it.
Fans who had never even heard of
the school were pulling for the Colo- - Sandals can be reached
nials for three straight weekends. at nsandals@umich.edu.
Write for Daily Sports.
E-mail
andyreid"-umichedu
I
14
FILC PHOTO/Daily
Senior Andrew Mazlin and the Welvernes split their matches this weekend, losieg to Wisconsin before bouncine bach to beat Northwestern.
'M' enr~d exteni'-%ded 'lointg skid
By MARK BURNS Jung stayed poised as his team-
Daily Sports Writer mates cheered him on from the
nearby courts at the Combe Tennis
Jason Jung could feel the pres- Center in Evanston, Ill.
sure mounting. "I said to myself, 'I have to win
Down 4-1in the third set against this match,' " Jung said. "I just had
58th-ranked Northwestern, the a lot of heart and came through for
sophomore knew it was his time the team."
to help the Michigan men's ten- Jung used his quickness on the
nis team overcome its past per- court to grab the win (3-6, 6-4,
formances. Before Sunday, the 6-2) at the No. 1 position against
Torrance, Calif., native had not the Wildcats' 89th-ranked Marc
won a singles match since Feb. 6 Dwyer. The Wolverines won the
against Vanderbilt. match 4-3.
The 51st-ranked Wolverines (1-3 "It was a good win against a
Big Ten, 7-2 overall) were also in good team on the road," Michigan
the midst of an eight-match losing coach Bruce Berque said. "(North-
streak. western) has made a big jump
But that was about to change since last year. You can throw the
against the Wildcats (1-3, 13-6). rankings out the window in men's
With the match tied at three, tennis this year because anyone
can win."
Berque was quick to note it was
Jung's ability to reduce errors and
compete strong throughout the
entire match that enabled him to
grab the Wolverines' first team
victory since Feb. 20, when they
defeated Harvard 5-2.
The Wolverines' win was a
long time coming. Their last four
matches prior to yesterday's had
been decided by a 4-3 margin.
"This obviously gives us a lot of
confidence," junior George Navas
said. "With the win, we kind of get
the monkey off our back and can
now concentrate on the rest of the
season."
But Michigan's weekend wasn't
perfect. On Saturday, the Wolver-
ines lost at No. 24 Wisconsin.
SeniorAndrew Mazlin saw him-
self in the same situation as Jung
against the Badgers (1-2, 12-5).
With the match knotted at three,
Mazlin lost the deciding match at
the No. 2 position against Wiscon-
sin's No. 37 Marek Michalicka.
Despite Michigan's loss to the
Badgers, any pressure that might
have been on its shoulders has sub-
sided after its win against North-
western.
The losing streak is over, and
that's all that matters for the Wol-
verines.
When they square off next
weekend against Penn State and
Ohio State at the Varsity Tennis
Center, it will have something they
can build on for the rest of season: 1
their first Big Ten win.
Wolverines trump tough BYU squad
By JAKE FELDMAN
Daily Sports Writer
On one sideline stood a group of
Brigham Young lacrosse reserves
in clean uniforms, some without
helmets or gloves. In the biggest
game of their season to date, the
players tossed balls against the
wall of Oosterbaan Fieldhouse and
seemed to wish away the remain-
ing time on the game clock.
The solid wall of fully suited
players in maize jerseys on the
opposite sideline clapped and
shouted for the duration of No. 1
Michigan's 14-11 win over the Cou-
gars on Saturday night.
"We really preach togetherness
and everybody supporting each
other," Michigan coach John Paul
said. "And that's a big part of what
this team is."
"We definitely pride ourselves
on respect and discipline," added
junior attackman Kevin Zorovich.
"We come into each game knowing
that we prepare better than any-
one, and we respect everybody. We
want to represent Michigan to the
fullest."
Such dedication is typical of
the rapidly growing varsity club
lacrosse program. The Wolverines
(9-0) won their 30th consecutive
game, a streak dating back to the
2007 season.
Junior midfielder David Rein-
hard won the first five faceoffs of
the game to help the Wolverines
grab an early 4-1 lead. After a few
costly turnovers, Michigan's lead
dwindled to one goal with 5:19
remaining in the first half.
"We had to gut check a little bit
and outwork them," Paul said.
Zorovich and sophomore attack-
man Trevor Yealy did just that,
combining for five consecutive
goals to put the game out of reach.
Late in the third quarter, Cougar
goalie D.J. Sullivan made a tough
save on a shot fired at the top of the
box. Yealy slyly snatched a rebound
out of Sullivan's stick and scored.
"We're hard to match up with
offensively, and Trevor's a big part
of that," Paul said. "If you slide
from Trevor, you're in trouble. He's
a great target, he doesn't need a lot
of space and he's gonna finish."
Yealy camped out on the crease
for much of the game, taking
advantage of his tall frame and
quick release to tally four goals.
Senior midfielder Anthony Hruso-
vsky added three goals and two 4
assists just one game after his sev-
en-point performance in a 21-4 win
over Central Michigan.
Numerous recruits watched the
impressive victory from the stands
and met with Paul after the game
to discuss the future of the pro-
gram.
"We've taken a lot of pride in the
way we recruit and the kids we're
recruiting," Paul said. "That's
something that a lot of people don't
realize around here. We recruit
like a varsity team."
And having won every game
since 2007, this Wolverine squad
plays like a varsity team, too.
f Yc
- 5 - - ForAT
Date: Thursday, April 2
Time: 4:45 - 6:00 pm
Place: Michigan Union, Pond Room
To Register: Call 734-998-7071 or
visit www.mcancer.org/outreach
Hosted by the U-M Comprehensive Cancer
Center Community Outreach Program