The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
September 30, 2013 - 3B
The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom September 30, 2013 - 3B
THE MICHIGAN DAILY TOP-10 POLL
Each week, Daily sports staffers fill out ballots, with first place votes receiving 10 points, second-
place votes receiving nine, and so on.
1
1. ALABAMA (17): Alabama
whitewashed Ole Miss, 25-0,
but in the Rebels' defense, the
entire team stayed at home to
watch Book of Manning.
6. TEXAS A&M: If Johnny
Manziel sells some more
autographs, maybe he can
afforda decent defense.
GOALLESS
From Page 1B
na was yet again at the center
of the action on Northwest-
ern's second goal, as he played
a beautiful one-touch pass over
the Michigan defense. While
the Wolverines defense watched
the ball go over their heads,
Northwestern forward Joey
Calistri - the Big Ten's leading
scorer - made a run and found
himself with a one-on-one with
Grinwis and skillfully shot the
ball underneath the sprawling
goalie.
Unlike the Wildcats, who
were clinical with their chanc-
es, the Wolverines were sloppy.
In the 17th minute, redshirt
sophomore midfielder Colin
McAtee intercepted an errant
pass at midfield and passed
the ball to Murphy down the
field in a two-on-one situation.
However, Michigan could not
capitalize on the mistake by the
Wildcats as Murphy held on to
the ball too long. When he tried
to pass it back to McAtee, it was
intercepted by a Northwestern
defender.
Pereira - playing away from
his usual position in the mid-
field - also had a golden chance
to put the Wolverines on the
board in the 59th minute. He
took a pass from McAtee inside
the six-yard box, but his shot at
point-blank range skied over the
goal. He buried his head into his
hands in disappointment.
Even though the game result-
ed in zero points for the Wol-
verines, the team dominated
a top-10 team in every facet of
the game besides the two errant
goals that were scored by the
Wildcats. The admirable per-
formance shown by Michigan
on Saturday night bodes well
for the match against West-
ern Michigan on Wednesday
and the resumption of Big Ten
schedule.
"It's still a long season to go,"
Pereira said. "We just have to
focus on Western Michigan and
getting out of there with three
points."
2. OREGON: I will not quack at
the principal. R.I.P. Hans.
7. GEORGIA: The Dawgs told
Les Miles to kiss their grass.
8. LOUISVILLE: What's
the right way to pronounce
Louisville. No joke here.
Someone please help.
3. OHIO STATE: They are our
rivals.
G
4,
4. CLEMSON: All Wake Forest
ever wanted to do was break
the Tigers' walls. All the Tigers
ever did was wreck them.
9. FLORIDA STATE: If the
Semi-noles beat BC by 14
points, does that mean a team
of full-on Noles would've won
by 28?
S. STANFORD: The Cardinal 10. SOUTH CAROLINA: The
twerked all over the Cougars t Cocks nearly blew it early
Saturday night. Meow to UCF, but it's all about the
finish, and in that category, the
Cocks performed.
PAUL SHERMAN/Daily
Redshirt sophomore midfielder Colin McAtee had several near-assists over the weekend, but no one could capitalize.
SHUTOUT
From Page 1B
the right side of the net that was
saved by Richard. The Wolver-
ines ended up tying the Badgers
in shots at 13, but could not capi-
talize on any of them.
"The tie with Wisconsin was
a fair result," said Ryan. "I think
they are a very good team and
both (Wisconsin and Michi-
gan) played exceptionally hard.
I felt like we brought that again
today. I thought we played hard, I
thoughtwe playedwell,butagain,
in soccer you got to put away your
chances to win games."
This difficulty in scoring can
be attributed to the team's inac-
curacy on goal. Most of the shots
taken ended up wide of the net or
far above the crossbar.
But while the team's offensive
struggles are ever apparent, the
defense continues to shine. The
Badgers were barely able to cross
midfield - their first shot of the
half came 40 minutes in. The
Wolverines also put a lot of pres-
sure on two of Wisconsin's stron-
gest players, midfielder/forward
Rose Lavelle and forward Cara
Walls, who other teams have
struggled to defend.
"None of (Lavelle's shots) were
threatening," Ryan said. "She
was under pressure the whole
M night. We gave (senior midfielder
Megan) Toohey the role of just
shutting that kid down because
nobody else has been able to do it.
I thought Megan may be player of
the match for us because of han-
dling that."
Friday's game was also one
of the more physically challeng-
ing matchups that Michigan has
played this season, as players
were often slow to get up after
tackles. In the 18th minute of the
Wisconsin game, senior forward
Shelby Chambers-Garcia was
knocked hard to the ground, and
a yellow card was issued to Bad-
ger defender Alexander Heller.
Senior midfielder Tori McCombs
and Wisconsin midfielder/for-
ward Lindsey Holmes had an
argument on field with some
shoving.
Throughout the weekend, the
Wolverines' offense was aggres-
sive and pushed downfield with
ease. When it came to putting
pressure on the other team and
creating passing lanes, Michi-
gan was excellent. It broke past
defenders with speed and agil-
ity to get in positions that cre-
ated many scoring opportunities.
However, the Wolverines con-
tinue to struggle with finishing
their chances.
This scoring drought was more
evident and more problematic in
the Wolverines' second contest
against Minnesota (0-2-0, 7-2).
Despite outshooting the Gophers
18-6, Michigan's weekend ended
with their second loss.
"Today wehad the chancesbut
just didn't put them away," Ryan
said. "I mean look at the ones
right in front of the goal."
The closest chance Michigan
had to tie the game came late
in the second half off a corner
kick from senior defender She-
lina Zadorsky to senior defender
Holly Hein in the 52nd minute.
Hein had a wide-open net but did
not have the angle she needed to
head the ball in the right direc-
tion.
Minnesota's game-winning
goal off a ball from midfielder
Katie Thyken was bad timing
for Michigan's defense. After a
corner kick by junior midfielder
Jen Larrick, confusion occurred
in front of the penalty box as
players lined up in front of fresh-
man goalie Taylor Bucklin. With
Bucklin unable to pinpoint the
ball, Thyken launched one over
the line of players toward the
right side of the net.
"The real difficulty was, I
think Taylor was screened on
the play," Ryan said. "We had
that wall of players around her.
I think it just went over some-
body's shoulder, and then she
didn't see it until it was (in the
net)."
Similar to Wisconsin, Sunday
was physically trying for players
on both sides. Minnesota goalie
Tarah Hobbs's crash with fresh-
man midfielder Nicky Waldeck
required a break in the game,
as it took a few minutes for her
to recover while Waldeck was a
little shaken.
"I'm glad there weren't any
injuries," Ryan said. "If we can
keep our team healthy, we can
compete with any team in the
conference. Staying healthy is
crucial."
While Michigan is having a
hard time converting its chances
into goals, the Wolverines con-
tinue to practice it to avoid losses
like this weekend's. Ten different
players have scored this season,
and 15 players have recorded
at least one point. Michigan's
main problem is playing consis-
tently well. Ryan mentioned they
always work on finishing in the
penalty box through matchups
between players, four-on-four or
five-on-five.
"Even though the results
are not good," Ryan said. "I'm
encouraged bythe performances
of the players."
BASKETBALL
From Page 1B
practice.
"Six extra practices should
really be helpful for us."
Fifth-year senior forward Jor-
dan Morgan highlighted a spe-
cific area where the rule could
particularly benefit Walton,
explaining that Beilein always
opens fall practices by reteach-
ing even the most basic funda-
mentals such as "how to catch
the ball." That made an already-
tight window even smaller
for the newcomers to pick up
Beilein's complex offense.
"We've had months now
where that stuff is already
engrained in everybody, even
the freshmen," Morgan said of
the differences in this year's
offseason. "Now we can focus
on trying to establish an identity
in our offense and defense."
This isn't the first time in
Beilein's seven-year Michigan
tenure where a freshman point
guard is poised to play significant
minutes. Burke, and Darius Mor-
ris before him, each arrived in
Ann Arbor as highly-acclaimed
recruits and departed two years
later as NBA Draft picks.
"I've been doing ita long time,
so it seems like every couple
years, you're breaking in a new
guard," Beilein said. "They're the
quarterback. They're the one you
probably have to the greatest con-
nection with. So I'm pretty used
toit."
But still, that doesn't neces-
sarily make it easier for Beilein,
who was asked how long it'll take
for him to trust Walton with his
"Now we can
focus on trying
to establish an
identity..."
offense's reins.
"Every young man, it takes
a while," Beilein said. "Trust
maybe isn't the right word - I
trust them all - just make sure
that we're on the same page is the
biggest issue.
"Itrustthey'relearningiswhat
I trust and as a result, I expect
him tobe like every freshman, to
have some moments where I'm
like, 'What are you thinking?' and
at the same time, I'll say, 'Are you
getting it?' So this young man,
from everything that I've seen
so far, has the ability to pick up
things pretty quickly."
Notes: Beilein announced
that sophomore forward Mitch
McGary has been limited in
practice with what he called a
"lower back condition." McGary,
who had a breakout postseason
run that landed him on several
early preseason All-America
teams, is officially listed as day-
to-day and isn't expected to miss
any game time. ... According to
Beilein, he and his assistants will
focus on individual players for
the next two weeks, and he said
it's unlikely any concrete lineup
decisions will be made until exhi-
bition season. The Wolverines
open with Concordia on Oct. 29,
10 days before the regular season
officially kicks off.
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