~whit. E n I
Third's no charm for 'M' soccer
The Michigan women's soccer team (2-7-1) lost its third in a row
Wednesday afternoon, falling 2-1 to Detroit. The Titans led 1-0 at
halftime until Michigan midfielder Kim Phillips, who leads the
Wolverines in goals (3) and points (6), tied the game at 54:04 off a
pass from Ruth Poulin. Claire.Wilson's goal at 81:54 won the game for
the Titans.
Page IDA
Thursday,
October 5, 1995
Former assistant
AD for women's
sports to be
honored Sunday
By Maureen Sirhai
Daily Staff Reporter
It was almost five years ago that Phyllis Ocker ended her
twenty-nine year career as Assistant Athletic Director for
women's sports - yet her name is not easily forgotten.
Sunday, she will be honored for her contributions to the
athletic department as well as the university with the dedica-
tion of the new field hockey field in her name preceding the
Michigan-Ohio State field hockey game..
"It's fantastic," Ocker said of the dedication. "I was not
expecting it at all."
"This field should not be named after anyone else," women's
Athletic director Peggy Bradley-Doppes said.
Earlier in the year Bradley-Doppes said Ocker contributed
in many capacities and did much for the cause of women's
athletics.
Ocker came to Michigan in 1961 to begin what she thought
would be a few years teaching in the physical education
department. What began as teaching ended up occupying
Ocker's life until 1990.
In 1974, a need arose for the restructuring of the athletic
department. Congress passed amendments in the form of Title
IX which called for federally funded universities to provide
equal opportunities in their athletic programs for both men and
women.
Yet, Ocker helped to make women's sports more than just
a name in the university pamphlets.
"There was so much change," Ocker said. "The sports
change from AIAW to NCAA. There were some lawsuits
against Michigan; the times were tumultuous."
Ocker maintains that those lawsuits helped push the univer-
sity into following the guidelines and provide the scholarships
for women.
"I think that spurred us on," Ocker said. "People are not
willing to jump into something like this wholeheartedly."
Current field hockey coach Patti Smith said that Ocker was
Home, sweet home for
Michigan field hockey
By Jed Rosenthal
Daily Sports Writer
The Michigan field hockey team will get the
chance to appreciate its new astroturf field to-
morrow when it hosts No. 7 Penn State. The
Wolverines have not played at Ocker Field in
three weeks.
Following its shutout of Stanford, Sept. 14,
Michigan hit the road and continued its shutout
tear for an additional three games.
Finally, the Wolverines have returned home
for a six-game homestand, including five con-
tests against Big Ten opponents beginning with
the Lady Lions.
"They are a well-skilled team," Gia Biagi
said. "They are scrappy but smart. They play
tough and play to win." '
Penn State enters this weekend coming off an
emotional upset victory over No. 4 James Madi-
son, the defending NCAA champion.
"They always do a good job of peaking when
they need to," Biagi said. "They are gaining
momentum like us."
It has been a wild week for Michigan (2-1 Big
Ten, 9-3 overall), beginning with its trip to Iowa
City last Friday.
Playing game five of its seven-game road trip,
the Wolverines were stunned by the Hawkeyes
after relinquishing a 3-0 lead, to lose 4-3 in
overtime.
But instead of dwelling on the defeat, Michi-
gan upset then-No. 8 Northwestern by a goal
with under one second remaining, and carried
the success of the thrilling win to Oxford where
it shutout Miami (Ohio).
On top of everything else, the Wolverines find
themselves ranked No. 8, making the biggest
move in the polls this week.
With a win instead of a loss to Iowa, Michigan
could have found itself ranked even higher. But
the loss taught the Wolverines an unforgettable
experience which they will carry for the rest of
the season.
"We learned at Iowa that we just can't play the
clock." Biagi said. " We must keep our focus for
the whole 70 minutes," Biagi said. "If it takes
longer than 70 we still must keep our focus. We
have to think of every minute as the most pre-
cious field hockey minute of our lives."
And that is exactly what the Wolverines plan
on doing, beginning with the Lady Lions (2-1, 7-
5).
"We're going to tighten up our game play so
that we're on the whole game," Flachs said. "We
have to make sure of it because Penn State and
Ohio State will be tough games."
The Wolverines split last season's meetings
against both the Lady Lions and the Buckeyes,
but they are trying to forget as much of the past
as possible.
"We just have to prepare as we have been
preparing," co-captain Jen Lupinski said. "Wq
have to stick to what we know and everything
will work."
Making everything work may begin with se-
nior Sherene Smith. Smith has been a kickstart
for Michigan, leading the team with 10 goals on
the season, including two in Tuesday's game
against Miami.
The penalty corner has served as Smith's main
opportunity for scoring, netting most of her goals
on those plays.
"Sherene is awesome," Julie Flachs said of her
teammate. "I love corners now. She's doir
great. Whenever we have a penalty corner, we're
totally confident in her."
The Wolverines will need to take the confi-
dence from their recent achievements to the limit
against Penn State and then prepare for No. 1O
Ohio State Sunday, when their new field will be
dedicated to former field hockey coach Phyllis
Ocker.
"We've just got to approach things one game
at a time," Biagi said.
"We have to think only about our next oppo-
nent and respect our opponent each game. Sun-
day will be exciting since we'll have family and
friends in town, but we just have to focus on the
game."
TONYA BROAD/Daily
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See OCKER, Page 13A dedication game of the new Phyllis Ocker Field Sunday.
Penn State's roar faces a
silencing at hands of the
By Chris Murphy
Daily Sports Writer
With the non-conference season of-
ficially over with, it is time to get on to
bigger and better things.
The Big Ten made short work of its
non-league oppo-
nents, achieving a
27-7-1 record in the
process, its best
since 1985. There
are three Big Ten
teams currently in
the AP top ten, two
of-which play each
other this weekend.
It is the first week
in October, welcome
to the road to Pasa-
dena.
-.Ohio State (0-0
Big Ten, 4-0 over-
all) at Penn State
(0-1, 3-1).
We do not have to wait for one of the
biggest games of the year. Last year's
national champion, the No. 12 Nittany
Lions are coming off an embarrassing
home loss to Wisconsin and now face
the dismal prospect of dropping two in
a row in Beaver Stadium for the first
time since 1992.
The No.5 Buckeyes are in position to
do more than just hand Penn State a
loss. With an explosive offense and a
solid, hard-hitting defense, Ohio State
has its sights set on the Rose Bowl and
a national champi-
J onship.
heSaturday's game
will feature some of
the nation's most
exciting players.
On offense, the
Buckeyes feature
mammoth tailback
Eddie George run-
ning behind an ex-
perienced offen-
sive line. Quarter-
back Bob Hoying
is the Big Ten's top
f passer and his fa-
_ :. vorite target, Terry
Glenn, is the hot-
test player in the league. Glenn leads
the Big Ten in receiving yards (577)
and touchdowns (7).
The Nittany Lions, inspired or not,
will be hard pressed to hold down Ohio
State's scoring. It will take career-best
games from the likes of defensive end
possible
Buckeyes
Todd Atkins and cornerback Brian
Miller to come close.
On the other side of the ball, Penn
State will look to kick-start an offense
that sputtered against the Badgers. Quar-
terback Wally Richardson needs to find
wideouts Freddie Scott and Bobby En-
gram and runningbacks Mike Archie
and Brian Milnein order to open things
up.
Bookend pass-rushers Matt Finkes
and Mike Vrabel have been disrupting
offenses for four games this year; this
week, Richardson will be their target.
This game could very well go down
to the battle in the trenches. With one of
the best offensive lines in the country
down on its luck, the Penn State rushing
game could surprise everyone. Add in
Joe Paterno and there might be a lot of
smiles in Happy Valley.
Penn State 27, Ohio State 26
Illinois (0-1,2-2) at Indiana (0-1,2-
2)
The Fighting Illini do not care that it
is homecoming in Bloomington.
Showcasing two of the top pro-pros-
pects at linebackers, Illinois has only
one thing in mind: driving the Hoosiers
into the astroturf of Memorial Stadium.
That task should not prove to be all
that difficult. Indiana's offense is prac-
tically nonexistant. The Hoosiers lost
their key to success with tailback Alex
Smith out for six weeks. Quarterback
Chris Dittoe has yet to throw a touch-
down pass this season.
This matters little to Illinois line-
backers Kevin Hardy and Simeon Rice.
The two have combined for eight sacks
this season and would probably have a
better time fighting off professional
guards and tackles.
See BIG TEN, Page 12A
The Big Ten kicks off Its official conference schedule this weekend. Running back Tshlmanga Biakabutuka and the Michigan
Wolverines battle with Northwestern Saturday at Michigan Stadium.
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