8 - Friday, December 3, 2010 The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com 0 Emotional Rodriguez speaks at team banquet Freshman forward SoonylSaad has been an offensive force in the Wolverines' run to the NCAA Elite Eight. He is the natan's second-leading goal scorer with 19 tallies. ichga n ace TerrapSins in NCAA Elite Eight match Blue looks to ride "Three Amigos" to College Cup berth in College Park By NEAL ROTHSCHILD For the Daily Six weeks ago, the Michigan men's soccer team had just suf- fered a resounding 7-1 loss to top- ranked Akron to drop its overall record to 8-4-3. Michigan at The WolverinesM were looking to finish the regu- Matchup: lar season strong Michigan and earn a 16-4-3; Mary- respectable seed land 19-2-1 in the Big Ten When: Sat- Tournament. urday 1 P.M. Little did they Where: Lud- know this would wig Field be their last loss to date. Eight straight wins, a Big Ten championship and two NCAA Tournament victories later, the No. 10 seed Michigan (7-2 Big Ten, 16-4-3 overall) is seeking the school's first berth in the College Cup - college soccer's final four. No. 2 seed Maryland (19-2-1) stands in Michigan's way. The Terrapins have won 15 straight games and an ACC championship en route to their national quarter- finals appearance. Maryland and the Wolverines will square off on Saturday in College Park at 1 p.m. Michigan's tournament path to the quarterfinals included a sec- ond-round 2-1 overtime win over Central Florida and a 4-1 Sweet 16 victory against South Carolina. Maryland has beaten Pennsylva- nia, 4-0, and Penn State, 1-0. Michigan enters the matchup led by the self-titled "Three Ami- gos" - senior forward Justin Meram, freshman forward Soony Saad and his brother, sophomore midfielder Hamoody Saad. Soony and Meram have been on a goal- scoring tear throughout most of the season, with one of the two scoring a goal in each of the Wol- verines' last 14 games. Soony is. the second-leading scorer in the country with 19 goals this season, while Meram has 15. The team has tallied the most soccer victories (16) in school his- tory and hopes to become the first Big Ten team to reach the College Cup since Indiana won the tour- nament in 2004. "What makes this team so spe- cial is that we've got great own- ership," Michigan coach Steve Burns said. "Every man on the team really feels he has a part on the team and has to perform his role for the team to do its best." The Wolverines face a pro- lific Maryland offensive attack, which includes forwards Casey Townsend - a Traverse City, Mich. native - and Jason Her- rick, as well as midfielder Matt Kessel. The trio has combined for 27 goals and 21 assists this season. "They like to play a lot of long balls," redshirt junior goalkeeper Chris Blais said of Maryland. "So we have to make sure they're not getting anything easy over the top, and I have to stay on my line." This year's upstart Wolver- ines squad stands in contrast to Maryland, an established soccer power. Maryland has won three national championships, includ- ing titles in 2005 and 2008 while Michigan's program is just 11 years old and is trying to make a name for itself in the ranks of col- lege soccer. The two schools have never met in men's soccer. If Michigan triumphs Satur- day, it will play the winner of the California-Akron matchup on Dec. 10 in the College Cup semifi- nals in Santa Barbara, Calif. "It would mean a ton to every- one that's ever been involved in Michigan soccer if we made it to the College Cup," Blais said. By NICOLE AUERBACH Daily Sports Writer LIVONIA - Amid rumors regarding his job security and silence from Michigan, athletic director David Brandon, foot- ball coach Rich Rodriguez NOTEBOOK decided to make a statement of his own at the team's annual banquet Thursday night at Laurel Manor. Rodriguez capped off the night with a plea: "My name is Rich Rodriguez," he said. "I'm hon- ored to be the head football coach at the University of Michigan. I hope you realize that I truly want to be a Michigan man. Thank you." This comes five days after Ohio State embarrassed Michigan 37-7 in Columbus, prompting the media to question Brandon about Rodriguez's job security and potential successors. Brandon has said repeatedly that he won't evaluate Rodriguez until the end of the year, which includes the upcoming bowl game. The Wol- verines finished the regular sea- son with a 7-5 record, but their only Big Ten wins came against Indiana and Purdue, teams that sit in the bottom third of the con- ference standings. Rodriguez's speech, the last part of the three-and-a-half-hour event, focused on the reasons he became involved in the coach- ing profession. Rodriguez said his aim has always been to make a difference in players' lives, to "raise them up" academically and athletically. "As coaches, we're going to make you into something you never thought you could be. We're going to raise you up," Rodriguez told the crowd. "A funny thing happened on the way to raising kids up, a funny thing happened to me. I found out the kids raise us up as coaches. The times that we're down, when we're thinking, 'Is this worth it? Is this worth it for your family?' "Somebody comes up to you and says, 'Thanks, coach.' Or they tell you about an achieve- ment. They got accepted into law school. They got an A on a paper. They broke a record in the weight room. All of the sudden, it raises you up." Rodriguez said he didn't know how to thank his players, his coaching staff and fans who have supported him throughout the turmoil of the past three years, so he turned to the Josh Groban song "You Raise Me Up." Rodri- guez quoted the first verse and the ch I cans raise n seas/ I your sh to mor He s the son and he banque song b ers. He and pla ing han song pl Prio r trul Mi Rodrig worst t gan an the futt "Our coming earlieri BRAT DESTIN jectiom Insight Dec.28 of cere MAXCOLLINS/Daily Michigan coach Rich Rodriguez guided the Wolverines to a 7-5 record this season and his record is 15-21 overall in three seasons in Ann Arbor. 0 srus: "You raise me up, so mentioned that at the start of last stand on mountains/ You night's banquet. ne up, to walk on stormy When Brandon spoke immedi- am strong, when I am on ately after, he said, "Frank thinks oulders/ You raise me up, we might be going west. I think e than I can be." we might be going in a different aid he's been listening to direction." g the past couple of weeks, Beckmann then addressed wanted to share it with the Brandon again, mentioning the t crowd. Then, Groban's Gator Bowl and Outback Bowl, lasted through the speak- two New Year's Day bowls played e, his wife Rita, Brandon in Florida. Brandon nodded yes. iyers stood on risers, join- TEAM AWARDS: After a ds above their heads as the record-setting season in which ayed. he became the first quarterback r to the end of his speech, in NCAA history to pass for 2,000 yards and run for 1,500 yards in a year, sophomore Denard Rob- inson was given the Bo Schem- 'I hope you bechler team MVP award. Earlier this week, he was eahze that I named the Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year. y want to be a Senior linebacker Jonas Mou- ton won the team's award for best ehigan m an." linebacker, leading the Big Ten in tackles with 111. Fellow senior linebacker Mark Moundros was awarded for demonstrating "the uez emphasized how the most enthusiasm and love for imes were behind Michi- Michigan." Junior nose tackle d how excited he was for Mike Martin was named the ure. team's top defensive lineman. time is coming, and it's Redshirt junior offensive line- in a big way," he promised man Zac Ciullo received the Dr. in the night. Arthur D. Robinson Scholar- NDON HINTS AT BOWL ship Award as the team's leading IATION? Most bowl pro- senior scholar. Redshirt junior s put Michigan in the center David Molk and senior Bowl in Tempe, Ariz., on guard Stephen Schilling shared and the banquet's master the award for the team's top monies Frank Beckmann offensive lineman. Blue ousted in first round of NCAA Tournament By HEIKO YANG Wash. during the first round of For theDaily the NCAA tournament. The loss brought the Wolverines' postsea- The boot, the sweatshirt and son hopes to a disappointing end the glum expression on junior and marked the first time in four outside hit- seasons Michigan has failed to ter Alex MICHIGAN 0 progress beyond the first round. Hunt's face WASHINGTON 3 The typical storylines applied. said it all. Young players made youthful With the Michigan volleyball mistakes. The hitters couldn't get team's most dominant hitter sit- past their blocks. The team com- ting on the bench, what little mitted 13 service errors. Senior magic left in a season that had setter Lexi Zimmerman ran all started out with so much promise over the court, looking like she was gone. was pulling out all the stops to No. 23 Michigan (23-10 overall) will one more game out of her col- lost, 3-0, to No. 11 Washington legiate career. (22-8) on Thursday night at the But it wasn't enough, and as Bank of America Arena in Seattle, the last point sailed out of bounds STAFF PICKS The Daily football writers do their best to predict, against the spread, what Nicole happens in the 2010 football season. Auerbach and the poorly filled stands let out tepid applause, the question that had been on everyone's minds from the start of the match now hung palpably. What if Hunt had been healthy? "(This was) absolutely a winna- ble match (if Hunt had played)," Michigan coach Mark Rosen said following the loss. "It would have been nice to have her go on one of her 20-kill tirades because that really changes the whole game." The Wolverines had only a week to practice with their adjusted lineup after Hunt rolled her ankle during the regular sea- son finale at Northwestern on Nov. 27. Rosen was forced to call upon freshman outside hitter Lexi Erwin and redshirt junior middle blocker Karlee Bruck to fill the void. And for a brief moment, the Michigan offense held strong. Despite six service errors dur- ing the first set, the Wolverines appeared to dictate the pace of the game. The hitters came out swinging with confidence and caught the Huskies' defense out of position on multiple occasions. Erwin tallied five straight kills without an error, and freshman middle blocker Jennifer Cross provided key hits to establish her- self as an additional threat. But the fresh energy and aggressiveness couldn't overcome the experience and consistency of a veteran Washington team. As the match progressed, the Huskies picked on Michigan's youth by serving to the younger players and knocked the Wolver- ines out of system in the pass- ing game. The hitters eventually faltered and lofted their hits out of bounds. Costly service errors prevented Michigan from hold- ing any momentum. Eventually, Washington's game plan looked as if it was simply to let the Wol- verines beat themselves, which they did more and more efficient- ly in each set. "It's funny because I thought the stuff we did the worse was what they have no control over, which was serving," Rosen said. "It's the one part of the game that they do not have an effect on. The ironic part is that it's such a big part of our game and who we are. We haven't had a match like that all year; it was completely out of the blue." Perhaps the only bright spot for Michigan was the perfor- mance of the back row defenders. The defense kept the team alive in tight rallies when the offense sputtered. Junior libero Sloane Donhoff posted 12 digs and senior libero Maggie Busch tallied nine. . No.1 Auburn (-7) at South Carolina No. 2 Oregon (-16) at Oregon State No. 9 Oklahoma (NC) at No. 13 Nebraska No. 11 Boise State (-43) vs. Utah State No.15 Virginia Tech (-4) vs. No. 21 Florida State No.17 Nevada (-14) at Louisiana Tech No. 23 Arizona (-5.5) vs. Arizona State No. 24 West Virginia (-21) vs. Rutgers No. 25 No. Illinois (14.5) vs. Miami (OH) Illinois (-4) vs. Fresno St. Overall Auburn Oregon Oklahoma Boise State Virginia Tech Nevada Arizona West Virginia Miami (OH) Illinois 139-106-10 Ryan Kartje Auburn Oregon Oklahoma Boise State Virginia Tech Nevada Arizona West Virginia No. Illinois Illinois 137-108-10 Tim Rohan Auburn Oregon Nebraska Boise State Florida State Nevada Arizona Rutgers No. Illinois Fresno State 135-110-10 Joe - Stapleton South Carolina Oregon Nebraska Boise State Virginia Tech Nevada Arizona Rutgers No. Illinois Illinois 139-106-10 Nick -Mattar Maize Rage President Auburn Oregon State Nebraska Boise State Florida State Nevada Arizona State Rutgers No. Illinois Illinois N/A SAD YOU CAN'T WATCH MICHIGAN SOCCER IN THE ELITE EIGHT? 5 CHECK MICHDAILY.COM FOR A LIVE BLOG AND UPDATES FROM COLLEGE PARK.