The Michigan Daily I michigandaily.com I September 28, 2009
SAID ALSALA
Freshman Tate Forcier leaps into the air for a go-ahead touchdown in the fourth quarter. In four starts, Forcier has led the Wolverines to two come-from-behind wins ncluding Saturday's 36 33 victory over Indiana.
BACK TOREALT
More ofa wake-up call
than afeel-good win
The feeling of a glorious come-from-behind win
should have been familiar - after all, it had oniy
been 14 days since it last happened. But this one
just felt a little sour.
Many students were already heading to the exits before
the clock hit zero. The postgame
rendition of "The Victors" was
disjointed, with some singing the song
and some already chanting "Beat the
Spartans." The Wolverines seemed -
to breathe a collective sigh of relief
instead of celebrating as they kept
their 4-0 record intact.I
That's because the 38-34 win over
Notre Dame on Sept. 12, complete COURTNEY
with a rousing rendition of the fight RATKOWIAK
song and a packed, screaming crowd,
seemed to convince fans that Michigan
was back. Saturday's win over Indiana
only seemed to pose the question of when the Wolverines'
luck will run out.
"Winning solves everything," punter Zoltan Mesko said
after the Notre Dame game.
See RATKOWIAK, Page 3B
MICHIGAN 36
Forcier's heroics
lead Blue inugly'W'
By RUTH LINCOLN
Daily SportsEditor
With his team down by four with less than five minutes
to play in regulation, Tate Forcier dove for a first down and
stood up like nothing was wrong. Seconds later, the freshman
quarterback fell to the ground, clenching his hand in pain.
Teamtrainers attended to Forcier's shoulder and he made
his way off the field. But before he stepped on the sidelines,
he met up with his teammate at midfield.
With his good arm, Forcier pulled fellow freshman quar-
terback Denard Robinson close.
"He smacked him on the head and told him, 'Let's go. It's
on your shoulders now, "sophomore Mike Shaw said, de-
scribing the moment. "It got me pumped up."
Robinson responded by running for a first down and ex-
tending the drive to the Indiana 26-yard line. Getting the
first down may have been Robinson's job, but winning the
game was up to Forcier.
To everyone's surprise but his own, Forcier came back to
lead Michigan four plays later and immediately helped ev-
eryone forget about his bruised shoulder.
See HOOSIERS, Page 3B
SAID ALSALAH/Daily
Sophomore Martavious Odoms catches the game-winning touchdown pas against the Hoosiers.
WOMEN'S SOCCER
Own-goal dooms'M'
in conference opener
By TIM ROHAN
Daily Sports Writer
Sometimes even when you play your
best, the ball just doesn't bounce your
way. And the Michigan women's soccer
team felt the agony of bad fortune yester-
day in possibly the most painful way to
lose a soccer game.
The Wolverines fell 1-0 to No. 21 Ohio
State (8-1-1 overall, 1-0 Big Ten) yesterday
in Columbus - with the only tally an own
goal.
In the 19th minute of the first half,
Buckeyes junior midfielder Laura Steuer
crossed the ball into the box. Michigan
junior defender Sarah Stanczyk tried to
clear the ball out but hit it wrong. The
ball spun off the side of Stanczyk's foot
and beat unsuspecting redshirt freshman
goalie Haley Kopmeyer.
"It was just one of those bizarre own
SAID uLsALAH/Daiy goals that occur sometimes," Michigan
Michigan women's soccer coach Greg Ryan coach Greg Ryan said.
said his team fought hard in its 1-0 loss. See BUCKEYES, Page 2B
HIGH-FLYI.NG BLUE
* The Michigan volleyball
team started the Big Ten
slate on the right foot,
sweeping Purdue and
Indiana Page 2B.
REID: TAILGATIN'
a Mitch Albom says
tailgating has gotten out
of control. Andy Reid
respectfully disagrees.
Page 2B3.
FIELD HOCKEY
Wolverines topple Big
Ten champion Penn State
By AMY SCARANO
Daily Sports Writer
Coming off of two overtime losses last
weekend, the Wolverines (3-10 overall,
1-1 Big Ten) lost to Iowa on Friday after
Hawkeye senior Meghan Beamesderfer
scored in the last five minutes of regula-
tion to make the score 3-2.
But when Penn State (2-7 overall, 0-1
Big Ten) came to town yesterday, the
Wolverines were determined not to lose a
fourth straight game. The Michigan field
hockey team snapped out of its losing
streak yesterday when it shut out defend-
ing Big Ten conference champion Penn
State 2-0.
Michigan coach Marcia Pankratz was
optimistic about her team's competitive
attitude heading into the rest of Big Ten
play.
"We have been through an awful lot of
good preparation," she said before yester-
day's game. "And I think they are excited
to rise to the challenge."
"We have been
through an awful
lot of preparation,"
Pankratz said.
The Wolverines did just that, play-
ing aggressively throughout the game on
both offense and defense.
The effort was obvious everywhere.
Junior Zara Saydjari chased a Penn State
player down the turf and recovered the
ball as her opponent's stick went flying.
Junior Meredith Way took a tumble,
rolled over and popped back up smiling
after being tripped trying to snatch the
ball away. Senior goalkeeper Paige Pickett
See NITTANY LIONS, Page 2B
I #