8A - Friday, December 10, 2010
The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
8A - Friday, December10, 2010The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom
Blue looks for miracle in
tough College Cup field
WOMEN'S BA SKETBALL
Second-half run,
sparks 'M' upset
In first meeting with
Akron, Michigan
suffered worst loss of
year in 7-1 rout
By NEAL ROTHSCHILD
Daily Sports Writer
Everyone has heard of the
Miracle on Ice - when the heav-
ily favored hock-
ey juggernaut n
from the Soviet
Union lost to the at Akron
upstart United Matchup:
States team, 4-3, Michigan
in an epic upset at 17-4-3; Akron
the 1980 Winter 20-1-2
Olympics. When: Satur-
What many day 4 P.M.
don't know is Where: Mer-
that the Soviets edith Field
obliterated the
Americans 10-3 at TV/Radio:
Madison Square ESPN2
Garden in a game
played just days
before the Winter Games opened in
Lake Placid.
The Michigan men's soccer
team will try to recreate a similar
scenario in Friday night's match
against No. 3 seed Akron (20-1-2).
Earlier this season, the Wolver-
ines suffered an embarrassing 7-1
loss at the hands of the Zips. It was
Akron's largest margin of victory
this season.
Just as the American hockey
team turned the tables on the USSR
in the semifinals of the medalround
in Lake Placid, No. 10 seed Michi-
gan hopes to reverse its luck against
Akron in the semifinals of the Col-
lege Cup in Santa Barbara, Calif.
"They beat the snot out of us for
sure," Michigan coach Steve Burns
said. "But I wanted to remind the
guys just how far they've come
from that game and how much
we've focused on becoming a better
team defensively."
Burns credits much of this suc-
cess to a drill he instituted in prac-
tice following the Akron loss. He
Sophomore midfielder Hamoody Saad, pictured here against UCF, is one of the "Three Amigos," Michigan's dominant trio.
By CAITLIN SMITH
Daily Sports Writer
Michiganbeat undefeated Kan-
sas on Thursday night, 75-67, after
trailing by 13 points at the half. It
was the first time this season that
the Wol-
verines KANSAS 67
(5-4) MICHIGAN 75
have
come back to win after being
down at the half.
"Obviously, we are very excited
to beat agreat Big12 team," Michi-
gan coach Kevin Borseth said after
the game. "Kansas is very good,
we had to play hard and play well
to beat them and I thought we
did. That's a big win for us."
In a fast-paced matchup from
early on, the Jayhawks were first
to find their rhythm with a 10-0
run midway through the first
half. Kansas continued to control
the rest of the half, capitalizing
on high balls, screen shots and
lob passes. The Jayhawks outshot
Michigan 59.3 percent to 36.4
percent on the half.
Unable to defend against the
quick movement and height of
the Kansas players, Michigan
allowed 41 points, including a
last-second shot by the Jayhawks
at the buzzer to send the Wolver-
ines into the locker room.
But Michigan came back onto
the court in the second half as a
different team. According to Bors-
eth, there were three things that
the team wanted to accomplish
during the game: conversion,
offensive rebounds and foul shots.
And in the second half, the
Wolverines did each of these
things.
Michigan made more than
50 percent of its field goals and
3-pointers in the second half and
quickly built up a 9-0 run in the
opening minutes. Four Wolver-
ines scored in double figures,
including sophomore forward
Nya Jordan.
Jordan scored 11 points in the
game, but it was her 3-pointer
with less than eight minutes left
in the game that changed the
momentum. Her basket tied -the
score for the first time in the sec-
ond half, providing that extra
offensive spark that the Wolver-
ines needed.
"We can get on a roll whenever
we want to because we just have
that in our arsenal," senior guard
Veronica Hicks said. "When we
start heating up and knocking
down those shots, that's when we
really build our confidence. Bas-
ketball is a game-of momentum.
Once you see that first shot go
in, it's kind of like, 'Okay, I feel it
now.'"
But Michigan didn't take the
lead until there were just over
five minutes left in the game.
Junior guard Carmen Reynolds
hit a jumper to bring the score
to 58-57, and sophomore forward
Sam Arnold followed, sinking a
basket as the shot clock elapsed.
Arnold and junior guard
Courtney Boylan gave Michigan
a breath of fresh air from the
bench. Boylan - who has seen
minimal time on the court this
season - played for a total of 19
minutes and scored nine points.
She also snagged two of the Wol-
verines' 11 offensive rebounds. It
was the first time since Michi-
gan's home opener against Alcorn
State that the Wolverines have
won the offensive board battle.
"I thought Courtney came in
and handled the ball confidently
and got to the rim a couple of
times," Borseth said. "She hit a
layup or two right in the first half
there and hit a big three down
the stretch. I'm happy for her
because she hasn't played a whole
lot, but got in tonight and played
positively and aggressively."
Arnold also showed a strong
presence off the bench, coming
in as Michigan's second-leading
scorer and tallying 12 points. But
it was her final free throws that
ended the game.
With 1.2 seconds remaining in
regulation, Arnold drained both
of her shots receiving a standing
ovation in Crisler Arena and plac-
ing the first blemish on the unde-
feated Kansas's record.
calls the four-on-four drill the
"SOG game" in which the offense
attempts to get a shot on goal while
the defense attempts to prevent it
without fouling.
"It has helped these guys gain
that defensive discipline that really
is making a difference in how we
play as a team," Burns said.
The emphasis on defense has
paid dividends for the Wolverines
(17-4-3). They have not allowed
more than two goals in a game since
the loss to Akron.
The1980 U.S. hockeyteam placed
renewed emphasis on the defensive
end following the pre-Olympic loss
to the USSR. The Americans didn't
allow more than three goals in a
game throughout the Olympics.
Michigan's lockdown defense
hasn'tjustkeptthescorelow;it'swon
games. Since the 7-1 loss and sub-
sequent defensive adjustments, the
Wolverines have won nine straight.
Following the U.S. team's 10-3
drubbing, the Americans did not
lose a game during the 1980 Olym-
pics.
Freshman forward Soony Saad,
his brother - sophomore midfield-
er Hamoody Saad - and senior for-
ward Justin Meram have accounted
for much of the Wolverines' potent
attack. Meram currently has an
eight-game scoring streak with 16
goals this season.
Michigan will try to take down
one of the most dominant pro-
grams in college soccer. Akron has
the highest winning percentage in
NCAA Division-I soccer since 2005
and has made the NCAA Tourna-
ment nine of the lastt1o years, reach-
ing the College Cup three times.
After going undefeated last sea-
son before falling to Virginia on
penalty kicks in the national cham-
pionship, the Zips have cruised to
another dominant season. Led by
Jamaican-born freshman forward
Darren Mattocks, the nation's
third-leading scorer, Akron hopes
to get over the hump and bring
home the school's first team nation-
al championship.
"There is a little more pressure
on them," redshirt junior goal-
keeper Chris Blais said. "I think
our team isn't afraid of anyone,
and we're going to be ready to play
Akron on Friday night and we're
going to go out and win that game."
Just as the Americans had to take
care of business by beating Fin-
land in the final game of the medal
round, Michigan, too, realizes ithas
work left to do.
When talking about the team
reaching the College Cup, Burns
referenced a different moment in
sports history to motivate the team.
He explained how when Isiah
Thomas's Detroit Pistons team
finally beat the Boston Celtics in the
1988 Eastern finals, Kevin McHale
offered Thomas the following
words as they walked off the court:
"Congrats on getting there, but
that's notgood enough."
"The focus of our team has been
to get to the College Cup," Burns
said. "I congratulated the guys on
getting there, but I think every
one of these guys realizes that this
may be a once-in-a-career oppor-
tunity."
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