2B - October 26, 2009
The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
2B - October 26, 2009 The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom *
Footballfans
can learn from
West Virginians
SOCCER STRUGGLES
There are few instances
in American society
where 100,000 diverse
people can come together for a
few hours with the same goals in
mind.
That's one
of the great
things about
the big ol' bowl
that is Michi-.
gan Stadium -
people from all 7
different slicesA
of life don't ANDY
even think A
twice about REID
high-fiving the
stranger next
to them and celebrating a Wol-
verine touchdown.
It's something I have always
loved about the Big House, some-
thing that always seemed unique
about the history and tradition
of Michigan football. But on
Saturday, the unity felt between
Michigan fans on the corner of
Stadium and Main didn't even
come close to the powerful mes-
sage sent by the fans in Morgan-
town, W. Va.
While Michigan fans were
throwing their traditional boos
down to Penn State players and
coaches as they trotted onto the
field, West Virginia fans were
actually applauding their oppo-
nent - a standing ovation, in fact
- for the Connecticut Huskies.
Six days before the Huskies
took on the Mountaineers, one of
their own, Jasper Howard, was
stabbed to death outside of a Uni-
versity-sanctioned dance. When
Saturday rolled around, it was
obviously difficult to suit up. The
Huskies' uniforms now included
a memorial sticker to honor their
fallen teammate.
"It was hard," Connecticut
safety Robert Vaughn told the
Hartford Courant after the game.
"But at the same time, in a game
like that, you've just got to forget
about the last play and go on to
the next play, and we did. We
played four quarters."
But the Mountaineer faithful
made the day a little easier. As
TERRIERS
From page 1B
Four minutes after Terrier goal-
tender Kieran Millan bobbled the
puck into his own net to give up
the shutout, Rust streaked down
the left side and shot a backhand
into the upper right corner of the
net to tie the game at two with 5:30
remaining in the game.
"One thing I've been working
on lately is taking the puck more to
the net and not veering off wide,"
Rust said. "I tried to take it to the
net and saw a spot top right and put
it there. Normally I don't actually
put it there, but I put it there this
time."
After the goal, the small Wolver-
ine contingent of fans in the east
corner cheered for the first time
all night as the momentum com-
pletely shifted in Michigan's favor.
Thoughts of beating the Terriers
on their own ice for the first time
in 19 years crossed the Wolverines'
minds.
But the satisfaction for Michi-
gan (2-2-0) was short-lived.
Just three minutes later, junior
goaltender Bryan Hogan made
another puck-handling mistake
behind the net. Hogan went out to
play the puck with a man on him,
and an errant pass found its way to
Boston forward Joe Pereira's stick.
Pereira quickly wrapped around
the net and buried the puck, beating
the Huskies exited the tunnel
together, with Howard's jersey
and helmet, everyone inside
Milan Puskar Stadium stood and
cheered.
The class that West Virginia
fans showed on Saturday is one of
the main reasons college football
is so great.
Sometimes it's hard to see
through the face mask - to real-
ize that behind all the padding
and athleticism, there are kids
on that field, some as young as
18. But on Saturday, the helmets
came off and Connecticut players
saw just how powerful the game
of college football can be.
The strength and courage it
took for Connecticut to take an
unfamiliar field so soon after
such a loss is a feat definitely
worthy of the Mountaineers'
warm welcome.
"A couple of tears started com-
ing out right there," Connecticut
wide receiver Kashif Moore told
in the Courant.
It reminded me of the moment
of silence observed in Ohio Stadi-
um in 2006, the day after Michi-
gan football's greatest coach, Bo
Schembechler, passed away.
I had spent the entire day
being mercilessly and terribly
heckled by scarlet-and-gray clad
drunkards, and I was fully con-
vinced that these people could
not - and would not - show any
class at all when they memorial-
ized Schembechler before the
game.
But while the fiercest rivalry
in college football was just
minutes away - and the teams
were rated No. 1 and No. 2 in the
county - not a peep was heard
throughout the 102,329-seat sta-
dium. Not even an accidental cell
phone ring.
When you put things in per-
spective, football is just a game,
and there are more important
things in life than a game. That
was proved in Columbus that
day - and in Morgantown on
Saturday.
- Reid can be reached at
andyreid@umich.edu.
Hogan's last-second stick lunge.
"He's anticipating the puck is
going to move better than it did,"
Berenson said. "His decision was
not good and his execution wasn't
good either. It was a bad goal. It's
too bad because he had a good
game, but you can't hide it."
Despite allowing three goals,
the defensive zone was a strong
point for the Wolverines, especially
when compared to the seven goals
the team surrendered to the Ter-
riers last season. The defensemen
were able to get sticks on attempted
passes in front of the net, especial-
ly in the first two periods, when the
Terriers were carryingthe play.
After allowing34 shots to Niaga-
ra two nights earlier, the defensive
unit cut that down to 22 against
Boston. Boston's inability to get
the puck out of their own zone in
the third period caused the Terri-
ers to register only four shots in the
final stanza, and they were outshot
for the first time all season as the
Wolverines launched 35 shots at
Millan.
But of those 35, too many ulti-
mately fell short.
"We worked a lot on it in prac-
tice, just honing in on the defensive
zone, making sure we're doing our
responsibilities," senior captain
Chris Summers said. "I think it's
starting to showe. We're not quite
there yet, but it's still early in the
season and hopefully we can put
some things together here."
SAID ALSALAH/daily
The Michigan women's soccer team recorded two more ties this weekend due to staunch defense and a quiet offensive attack.
'D' keeps Wolverines in ties
By ZAK PYZIK on the penalty kick," Michigan
Daily Sports Writer coach Greg Ryan said. "I was just
looking for somebody to take it. I
One of the Michigan women's looked out at a couple people and
soccer team's most irritating situ- they said they didn't want it, but
ations is when it can't seem to Alex stepped up. She buried it, but
find anyone to step up in a crucial in a million years I wouldn't have
moment, picked Alex to take it. But a penal-
especial- WISCONSIN 0 ty kick is psychological, and Alex
ly for a MICHIGAN 0 wanted it."
penalty This weekend, the team wanted
kick. But MINNESOTA 1 its first win since Sept. 20, but it
Friday's MICHIGAN 1 only managed to force Minnesota
reluctant and Wisconsin into draws. Michi-
surprise salvaged the weekend. gan (0-2-5 Big Ten, 5-7-5 overall)
Midway through of the sec- effectively held two high-scoring
ond half of Fridays game, senior offenses to collectively just one
midfielder Alex Jendrusch flaw- tally in 1-1 and 0-0 ties, respec-
lessly netted a penalty kick after tively.
an unintentional handball. The The games told similar stories.
Wolverines continued to play very On Friday, the Golden Gophers
conservatively to preserve a 1-1 (3-3-2, 10-5-3) got off to a quick
stalemate. start by scoring in the first 45 sec-
"I didn't tell them anything onds of the game.
"As a defense, we need to play
tight," Michigan coach Greg Ryan
said. "It was a simple breakaway
for them."
With a young defense - and
helped by a lot of rain - the Wol-
verines prevented Minnesotafrom
scoring for the rest of the game.
On Sunday, the Michigan
defense held the Wisconsin
offense scoreless. Redshirt fresh-
man Haley Kopmeyer recorded
her fifth shutout of the season,
to tie Michigan's rookie shutout
record.
The Badgers (4-1-4, 8-5-5) are
just one of two teams in the Big
Ten that rank lower than Michi-
gan in goals scored, but, Wiscon-
sin's offense played much more
aggressively.
In the first half, it put up 10
shots against the Wolverines. The
Badgers missed one opportunity
off of a free kick when a Wiscon-
sin forward took a shot about six
yards back, but Kopmeyer was
there for the save.
Junior forward Amanda Bow-
ery couldn't capitalize on her
two scoring opportunities, and
both looked like great chances to
take advantage of a weak Badger
defense that is second-worst inthe
conference in goals allowed. But
both times, Bowery was forced
to take a shot from about 25 yards
out of range and in traffic.
Just like during the rest of the
season, the offense did not play
aggressively enough.
"They played a 4-2, and when
they get to a certain distance you
can't really play through ball,"
Bowery said.
"You have to pass or you have
to shoot, and shooting was the
only option."
0
0
0
M' falls just short in comeback bid
Fuzetti's would-be
game-tying goal
erased by sight of
blood on upper lip
By JAKE FELDMAN
Daily Sports Writer
It was a classic case of outplay-
ing your opponent but falling just
a little too short.
Yesterday in East Lansing, as
the Michigan men's soccer team
domi-
nated MICHIGAN 1
the Spar- MICHIGAN ST. 2
tans but
lost the battle for the Big Bear
Trophy 2-1.
"Overall, you tend tobe a little
disheartened by a loss like this
to a big in-state rival," Michigan
coach Steve Burns said. "We felt
like this is a recurring theme for
our team where we feel like we're
the aggressor, we feel like we're
the better team, but we're not
getting the wins."
Late in the second half with
the score tied 1-1, it appeared that
senior forward Mauro Fuzetti
might change the story's ending.
In a bizarre sequence of events,
Fuzetti shrugged off a blow to
the face from a Spartan defender
before slicing through Michigan
State's back line.
He ripped a shot into the net,
but the referee negated the goal
after spotting blood on Fuzetti's
upper lip. Under such scenarios,
the official normally waits for a
neutral possession to blow the
play dead.
"I think that kind of showed
that it wasn't going our way,"
Burns said. "I've never seen a call
like that, and I don't know why
he would make a call like that."
Regardless of the question-
able call, the Wolverines (1-3 Big
Ten, 9-5-1 overall) had numerous
opportunities to close out Michi-
gan State (2-3 Big Ten, 9-4-1
overall). The Wolverines outshot
the Spartans 19-7 and controlled
the possession battle, but repeat-
edly failed to execute.
Twice, the Wolverines sent
shots past junior goalkeeper
Avery Steinlage that were cleared
by Spartan defenders as the ball
approached the goal line. Junior
forwar
team's'
the sea
"We
instinc
turninl
tain D
have ai
and sea
is right
Afte
the W
d Matt Schmitt netted the conduct throughout yesterday's
lone goal, his first score of match, a byproduct of aggressive
son. play and a whistle-happy refer-
were lacking the killer ee. Junior and senior defenders
t when the game was Adam Keller and Chase Ten-
g," fifth-year senior cap- nant were both ejected from the
aniel Gray said. "We don't game, leaving reserves to fill the
nyone that pushes the pace left side of the defense. Each will
als the deal when the time serve a one-game suspension
." when the Wolverines face North-
r starting the season 7-1, western next Sunday.
olverines have won just Michigan will also face the
Wildcats without junior defender
Jeff Quijano, who left the game
on crutches after injuring his
W e felt like ankle. Without those three start-
ing defenders, the shorthanded
this was a Wolverines will be forced to
"4
resort to a more conservative
recurring theme strategy.
f u a"With new players in the back,
for our teamn. there's a relationship that all of
your backs need to have with
one another and there's a trust,"
Burns said.
two of their past six games and "It takes a while to develop
need victories over Northwest- that trust. We won't take as many
ern and at Ohio State in the next chances moving forward with
two weeks to even be considered our wide players gettinginvolved
for an at-large bid to next month's in the attack. We'll probably hold
NCAA tournament. those guys at home and focus on
The Wolverines received a being astrong defense inthe back
season-high seven cards for mis- half of the field."
Core four lead Michigan to third-place finish
0
M-Note: Muresan
reaches ITA quarters
By ZAK PYZIK Wolverine's top four finishers for
Daily Sports Writer the last four fall events.
Georgia Tech won the tourna-
They should be called the fabu- ment by seven strokes this past
lous four. weekend, beating out the Wolver-
Freshmen Rahul Bakshi and ines by ten strokes.
Jack Schultz, sophomore Matt "Jack got us off to a great start,"
Thompson and junior Lion Kim head coach Andy Sapp said. "Lion
lifted the Michigan men's golf also posted well. We got off to a
team to a third-place finish at great start the first day. We didn't
this weekend's 2009 Bridgestone play well and they did, and that is.
Intercollegiate to conclude their not a good combination."
squad's fall season. Schultz finished the tourna-
The four athletes have been the ment shooting 211 over three
rounds. His play mimicked the
weather, which got progressively
worse, in the first round. He fin-
ished with a 66, but as the rain
got worse and the 30 mile-per-
hour winds proved challenging,
Michigan struggled to finish in
the clutch.
"Lion and Matt shot games
under par, which is definitely
good," Sapp said.
"With a 276 (one-round team
score), and still trying to win
tournaments, it's going to be hard
to do."
Individually, Kim finished
best for the Wolverines, claiming
sixth. He put on a stunning, con-
sistent performance, shooting a 70
in the first and third round and a
69 in round two.
"We have some things to work
on and improve upon," Sapp said.
"We had a solid fall, minus prob-
ably two rounds. ... We just didn't
get it done today, but it was good
to have the opportunity to have a
chance at a win here today."
The Michigan women's ten-
nis team has had an impressive
outing at the Intercollegiate
Tennis Association over the
weekend in Evanston.
The play of Junior Denise
Muresan highlighted the
Wolverines' efforts in singles
competition, winning both of
her matches in straight sets.
Because she was the only play-
er to win yesterday (6-2, 6-2),
Muresan will advance to the
quarterfinals of the main draw
today.
No. 74 junior Rika Tatsuno is
the only other Michigan player
to get a win in the main draw on
Saturday before losing yester-
day (6-1,6-2).
Freshman Taylor Fournier
continued to play well in the
first singles competition of her
collegiate career, coming off
of a flight title in the Kentucky
Invitational two weeks ago.
Fournier won both of her quali-
fying matches before losing her
first set in the main draw.
The Wolverines also had
strong outings in doubles play,
going 6-3 overall.
0
GOPHERS
From page 1B
balls.
Rosen said Minnesota (8-2,
17-5) displayed "no aggressive
attacking mentality."
"We served them off balance
and attacked them very aggres-
sivelv." Rosen said. "So. as a
result, there is a higher percent-
age to capitalize and grab a point
off a free ball."
But the Wolverines couldn't
score a single point off of the free
balls, which is when frustration
started to set in.
According to Rosen, the pass-
ing "went out the door," there
the Wolverines made execution
errors across the board and Min-
nesota's defense started to kick
into high gear.
Michigan's fate was sealed for
the night after the first few min-
utes of the first set, but Rosen
said the Wolverines are not harp-
ing on this loss as a roadblock in
their season.
"The biggest thing is we have
to move forward," Rosen said.
"We can't let this match define
our season just like we can't let a
win against (then-No. 3) Nebras-
ka (on Aug. 28) define us.
"If we learn that frustration
isn't going to get us anywhere
and eliminate that from the rest
of our season, that will be a good
thing."
I