The ,Michigan Daily - Friday, January 25, 1991 - Page 11 Icers streak into FSU by Jeni Durst Daily Hockey Writer Right wing Mike Stone scores against Bowling Green in last Friday night's 9-1 victory. Stone and the Wolverines face off against Ferris State tonight and tomorrow in Big Rapids. On the road Women swimmers face SWC yP_ Yoav Irom After returning from a long road trip to the University of Hawaii, third-ranked California-Berkeley and second-ranked Stanford, the Michigan women's swim team was happy to be home last week. To- day, they are on the road again. The Wolverines will swim against the No. 1 team in the na- tion, the University of Texas Lady *Uclnghorns, and highly-ranked Sobthern Methodist University in a dual meet at Texas tonight. Coming off an impressive home victory last weekend against the Michigan State Spartans, the Wplverines feel confident going info tonight's meet. "We are focused and very well prepared," Michigan assistant - coach Margo Mahoney said. "We * u t have to go in and dig down." Michigan, currently ranked fifth nationally, always looks forward to competing against top-ranked teems as an opportunity to com- pare themselves with those schools and to measure where they stand. When the Wolverines lost to Berkeley and Stanford two weeks ago, they were disappointed, but not hopeless. Michigan entered those meets having just completed two competitions and five strenu- ous days of practice. The jet- lagged Wolverines were not in top form. Despite this being another road trip, Michigan feels that the week's rest will prove beneficial and they hope that swimming against Texas and SMU will help to provide them with a more accu- rate measurement of what level they are at. And the Wolverines don't seem to mind all the-travel. "Road trips do not bother us," Mahoney said. "We like seeing other places and we enjoy the head-to-head competition." But while the trip might be fun, Michigan takes the competition extremely seriously. "We are very determined to do well," Mahoney said. "We have goals and we will be shooting for al I again squads them. We hope to swim well." Tonight's meet will be the last major meet for the Wolverines be-; fore the Big Ten Championships in; Minneapolis, February 21-23. Michigan would like to use this competition as early preparation for that weekend. The focus all season has been on training hard, staying healthy and peaking for the Big Ten Championships and the NCAA Championships, which take place the weekend of March 21-23. Next weekend, the Wolverines will travel to Indiana for their sec- ond, solely Big Ten matchup, where they will attempt to improve their Big Ten record to 2-0. For now, Michigan is excited to have the chance to compete against Texas. In order for the Wolverines to win, they will have to hope for strong performances from Karen Barnes, Michelle Swix, Tara Higgins and the Big Ten Swimmer of the Month in De- cember, Lisa Anderson. Invitational Michigan's divers, whose per- formance was key to last week- end's victories, could play a signif- icant role again. In addition to a small squad of eight swimmers, each team may bring only one diver to the meet. The scoring is expected to be close and the few points scored here may have a great impact on the final tally. . Junior individual medleyist Eric Namesnik is unfazed by the daunt- ing circumstances. "We're not do- ing anything special to get ready," he said. "We're treating it just like any other meet." You might think that Michi- gan's trio of worid-class swimmers, Barrowman, Namesnik, and Eric Wunderlich, would give the Wol- verines a edge going into Dallas. But all of the schools that the team will be facing are nationally ranked and as Barrowman pointed out, "there are stars on every team." In following the "Road to the Joe", the Michigan hockey team has yet to encounter many pot- holes or yield signs. But this weekend it has an equal chance of swerving to miss the Ferris State Bulldogs and running off the high- way or making roadkill of them. The Wolverines (17-4-3 Central Collegiate Hockey Association, 20-5-3 overall) currently boast an eight-game winning streak, but Ferris State (12-5-5, 18-5-5) could be the league foe to break it when it hosts Michigan this weekend. The Bulldogs sit behind Michigan in third place in the CCHA and are ranked ninth in the nation. In the teams' last meeting in November, Michigan squeaked out a 3-2 tie and then crashed in a 7-3' loss at Yost. One of the factors de- touring Michigan in that series re- volved around goaltending and de- fense. The Bulldog defense, which ranks first in the CCHA allowing only 2.67 goals per game, snuffed all of Michigan's second-chance shots in the first series by snatch- ing up the rebounds. Though the Wolverines outshot the Bulldogs 54 to 17 in the sec- ond game, they were unable to put the puck in the net. The Ferris goaltenders tout the third (3.02) and fourth (3.09) best goals against averages (gaa) in the league, giv- ing them two potent weapons be- tween the pipes in senior Mark Fe- licio and rookie Pat Mazzoli. The Wolverines were forced to perform without defenseman David Harlock due to a knee injury and they might find themselves in the same type of situation this time. Junior defenseman Doug Evans remains questionable for this weekend after sustaining a back injury in practice earlier inbthe week. But close to three months of competition have passed since the first meeting between the two and each squad has endured much i growth and changes. "We're a different team now. A better team," Michigan coach Red Berenson said. "I don't think the games we played last time will have any bearing on the games we'll play this weekend. But we're going to have to bear down on our chances when we get them.". With the continuing improve- ment of rookie netminder Steve Shields, goaltending for Michigan has become far more consistent and dependable since the start of the season. Shields currently leads the league in wins with 14 and boasts a strong 3.12 gaa. "Goaltending will definitely be a factor. It is always a factor," Fer- ris coach Bob Mancini said. "There are great teams that don't win because of goaltending and there are average teams that do well because of good goaltending. And by no means do I think our goaltending is superior to Michi- gan." Michigan has also added the powerful first-year line of Cam Stewart, Brian Wiseman and David Oliver. Since being paired together at the Great Lakes Invita- tional, the three have accounted for 24 points in the Wolverines last eight victories. Wiseman and Oliver lead all CCHA rookies in scoring. The frosh line supports the al- ways potent combination of Denny Felsner, Mark Ouimet, and David Roberts, who together represent a Mack truck barrelling down upon the Bulldogs. Felsner continues to lead the nation in points while Roberts hit the 50 point total last weekend, surpassing 100 points on his career. "Obviously we've got a strat- egy," Mancini added. "The main goal of which is to shut down the line of Ouimet, Felsner, and Roberts. But I'm not sure how easy that will be." If Ferris can accomplish this goal and capture two victories, it will move into position to take sole possession of second place from Michigan. The Bulldogs are currently eight points behind the Wolverines but also have two more league games slotted on their schedule than Michigan. With both the Wolverine and Bulldog eyes on the road, Michi- gan hopes to remain in the driver's seat after this weekend. 18 RUSH 5 Houses South of the t Union i I~lm Write with us Gal764-0552 __ Men to face top teams at SMU by Adam Miller D}ily Sports Writer For the Michigan men's swim- ming team, as Yogi Berra once said, "It's like deja vu all over again." The scene is familiar. For the fifth straight time the team will be competing away from Canham Natatorium, as it heads into the SMU Invitational, held in Dallas tomorrow and Sunday. The competition is familiar, too. Michigan will face last week's opiponents Stanford and California- Berkeley, in addition to perennial powers Texas, UCLA, Florida and SMU. Of course, the Wolverines are hoping for familiar results. They are the defending champions of the meet and finished a narrow second two years ago. However, not all seems des- tined to repeat. As anyone on the team will tell you, a win will not come with the familiar ease with which Michigan won the Michigan Invitational last month, nor will the victory be as decisive as last weekend's sweep in California. "It's going to be' very, very tough," team captain Mike Bar- rowman said. "I'd like to say that we're going to win it, but it's prob- ably going to come down to the last event." The SMU Invitational is con- sidered to be second in prestige only to the NCAA Championships, and a back-to-back victory would be difficult enough if the team were in perfect shape. However, the Maize and Blue will be in less than top form this weekend. Fatigue from a long road sched- ule will definitely be a factor and Michigan will not have the serv- ices of backstroke specialist Steve Bigelow. Bigelow injured his ankle during last month's training camp in Hawaii and he will not return to the pool until Monday. i r ~~mmT THE PONDS AT GEORGETOWN eo~lOOM N. 12 X12 -7) I 12" "c12 L.1ACONY MINOMM NG 17 .22 VMPAc, iK I., Ow~ IU~cAu ENTRY o v' QTCI( " A feeling of comfort... ...A statement of excellence. " Elegant two bedroom apartments S* Clubhouse with workout facilities " 24 hour monitored intrusion alarm system Washer and dryer " Window blinds *"Basic cable included for main outlet " Two full bathrooms " Dual view - Vaulted ceilings * Microwave - Dishwasher " Gas fireplace - Balcony or patio " Carport included V " Tennis court " Ughted platform tennis " Heated swimming pool " Whirlpool " AATA " Close to shopping I 2511 Packard Road Between Stadium and Eisenhower (across from Georgetown Mall) CALL TODAY!! 313/761-2330 , , : f i '?