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