2B - The Michigan Daily - SPORTSMonday - Monday, October 9, 1995 Kickers break 3-game losing streak in rout over Creighton By Dan Stillman Daily Sports Writer Finally, the shots went in. After weeks of outshooting its oppo- nents, only to be losers in the goals column, the Michigan women's soccer team scored early and often in a 5-0 whipping of Creighton (6-5) yesterday at the Michigan Soccer Field. The win snaps Michigan's three game losing streak, and more importantly marks the first time this season the Wolverines consistently converted on scoring opportunities. Michigan sophomore forward Ruth Poulin opened the scoring at 8:09. After receiving a free kick from junior de- fender Michele Brach, Poulin punched the ball in the left corner of the net. Poulin has now scored the winning goal in Michigan's last two victories after missing the first three weeks of the season due to illness. "Poulin gives a little different di- mension with her strength and size," coach Debbie Belkin said. "We have a lot of quick and smaller forwards, but she mixes it up." Freshman midfielder Kelly Lukasik supplied a key part of the offense, scor- ing her first two goals of the season. Lukasik tapped in the Wolverines' second goal of the game at 23:28 after freshman forward Jessica Limauro's shot rebounded off the Creighton goaltender. Later in the first half, Lukasik gave the Wolverines a commanding 3-0 lead when she headed in freshman Carrie Brady's cross in front of the goal. - Lukasik had played the entire season at defender before Belkin switched her to midfielder last week. "I played forward in high school," Lukasik said. "I'm actually more com- fortable playing midfielder than de- fense." "We tried getting Kelly a little more offensive," Belkin said. "Her shot is good." Yesterday's game was the first one in which the Wolverines scored more than two goals. "We've been frustrated, playing so The Michigan women's soccer team found the back of the net five times in a win over Creighton yesterday. Michigan blows out Bowling Green and Wayne State in Fall Invitational By Brian Sklar Daily Sports Writer Complete domination. These are the words that describe the Michigan softball team's performance over Wayne State and Bowling Green yesterday in the Wolverine Fall Invita- tional. In the exhibition tournament at Alumni Field, the Wolverines routed Wayne State in their first game, 12-1, and then ripped apart Bowling Green, 18-2. Michigan ,combined it's imposing batting lineup with excellent pitching and defense. In the game against Wayne State, the Wolverines got started early with a sacrifice fly from third baseman Tracy Carr that scored outfielder Cheryl Pearcy. The Tartans scored their only run of the game on Amy Forti's single in the top of the third inning to tie the score at one a piece. In the third inning, Michigan took the lead for good. The Wolverines took, advantage of two of Wayne State's seven errors to score two more runs. It was in the fourth inning in which the Wolverines put together a mon- strous inning and pulled away. Michi- gan lit up the Tartans for nine runs on eight hits. Wayne State brought in relief pitcher Dawn Barshowski to try to stop the Wolverine attack, but still ended up allowing three runs. The inning started out with a sacri- fice fly from Kellyn Tate, followed by a hit off the bat of Pearcy. Pearcy later crossed the plate when Jessica Lang singled her home. Other contributors to the fruitful inning for Michigan were Carr, who slapped a two-run double into rightfield to make the score 11-1, and Jennifer Smith, who knocked first baseman Tracy Conrad home on a sac- rifice fly to add the last run of the game for the Wolverines. While the hitting crew was solid, the pitching of Kelly Holmes and the de- fense were equally impressive. The Wolverines committed only one error while Holmes pitched seven strong in- nings, striking out six Tartans and giv- ing up one run on just three hits. Assistant coach Bonnie Tholl was very pleased with Holmes' effort. "She showed a lot of confidence and gave us control of the game, which is what the team needs," Tholl said. Tholl was equally impressed with the overall team performance. "We executed a good game and did a solid job at the plate," Tholl said. "The defense held us, in the game until the offense came around. That's how we need to play." In the second game, the Wolverines continued to take advantage of their opponents' errors. Bowling Green com- mitted five errors, all of which led to Michigan runs. The Wolverines did not just rely on the Falcons errors, though. They pounded out hits throughout the game. Michigan started things out with a second-inning RBI single by Tracy Taylor. Taylor was 4-for-5 in the con- test with five RBI. Taylor was pleasantly surprised by her impressive showing. "I'm really excited," she said. "It's something to be proud of, since I'm not a very strong hitter." Michigan batted around in the sixth, See SOFTBALL, Page 10B well but not being able to finish,"Poulin said. "About four or five different people were determined enough to put the ball in the net today." Brach and junior midfielder Kim Phillips added unassisted goals in .the second half. Meanwhile, the Michigan defense continued its solid play, stymieing most Creighton advances and holding the Lady Jays to nine shots. Freshman goaltender Jessica Jones (1-2-1) rejected six of those shots and earned her first victory of the season. The win comes in advance of a make- or-break weekend for Michigan. After playing at Valparaiso tomorrow, the Wolverines host Big Ten powers Wis- consin and Penn State this weekend. If the Wolverines are to get back into the Big Ten race, they must win this weekend. "With a good win today and a good week ofpractice, it's something to build on," Poulin said. "If we start finishing, we'll end up having a pretty successful weekend. Fisher Stadium By Donald Adamek For the Daily For Michigan fans getting ready to go into their winter hibernation foth baseball, there was one last chanceto catch some action at Fisher Stadium Sunday afternoon. In front ofa sparse crowd, Wolverine players of the past played in the annual alumni game. The four-inning contest was marked by solid pitching, quality defense and fun. What was lacking was offense; big names and any sense oftaking the game seriously. The game finished in a scoreless tie between the Blue home team and the away Gray team. This game wasn't about winning or losing,though. This was mostly achance for former players to get together and attempt to relive their youth. Former Michigan players participat- ing included ex-Major Leaguers Larry Sorensen, Bill Zepp and current Michi- gan head coach Geoff Zahn. Kevin Crociata, a 1994 graduate, was the only recent player to participate. In contrast, James Dickey, acatcher who completed his Wolverine career 25 years earlier, made an appearance. The first inning provided the game's only excitement. With runners on first and second and no outs, Chris Burak slammed a line- drive down the third base line. Gay third baseman Keith Spicer dove and stole a sure double. Whilereverybody looked on in amazement, he stood up and fired to second to double up Jim Hosler. The two teams registered seven hits all infield singles. Of more importanc to the players were the 45 minutes o sharing stories about Michigan tri umphs of the past. First baseman Tracy Conrad fields a ground ball In an 18-2 win over Bowling Green. Wolverines pound Wildcats in Evanston for seventh consecutive win By Susan Dann Daily Sports Writer The Wolverines defeated Northwest- ern Saturday in a Big Ten game. No, this is not a misprint. The maize and blue beat the Wildcats, eleven against eleven, on natural grass. But it was true "futbol." The Michigan men's soccer team (8- 3-2) added a seventh consecutive win to its record this weekend by defeating the Wildcats, 4-1, in Evanston. Though some Northwestern soccer fans applauded their football team's efforts in Ann Arbor, their encourage- ment was not enough to lift the Wildcat kickers over Michigan. "Some Northwestern people started cheering when they scored (in the foot- ball game), but we went out and played our game," senior Rob Sirrine said. "We really didn't care (what the score in the football game was)." Michigan dominated play early in the first half. Freshman Blake Novotny scored the Wolverines' first goal three minutes after the opening wlhistle. "We played really well the first 20 minutes ofthegame,"juniorDaveColliver said. "We came out really strong." Michigan closed the half with a 2-0 lead on a goal by senior Andy Cosenza. But the Wildcats got on the board early in the second half. Colliver said that Northwestern's lone tally was the result of a defensive let- down. "Wejust had a mental lapse, and they scored within a minute of the beginning of the half," Colliver said. "We just bunched in the middle and they some- how got it in." The goal marks the first time a club team has scored on the Wolverines this season. Michigan was able to compose them- selves to increase its lead. Sirrine and Novotny finished Michigan's scoring effort in the second half. The Wolverines found their offen- sive strategy clicking against North- western. "The 5-3-2 formation really is work- ing well," Colliver said. "We are ex- ploiting all of the spaces we should be exploiting, especially the outside at- tackers." Michigan wasn't expecting too tight a game against the Wildcats. The Big Ten Invitational, hosted by Michigan the weekend of Sept. 23, gave the Wol- verines the opportunity to do some scouting. "After watching them play, we real- ized there was really no chance they could beat us," Colliver said. The squad thought the road trip to Evanston served a number of purposes. "We knew that we could beat them, so it was more of a fun weekend for us," Sirrine said. Senior Ryan Carriere agreed. "Going on this road trip really helped the team come together." Michigan faces Findley University (Ohio) today at 4 p.m. at Elbel Field. The Wolverines are not sure what to expect from their opponent. "We haven't played them for at least the past three years," Sirrine said. "So no one really knows anything about them." The Wolverines are so unsure oftheir foe, team members did not even know what division Findley plays. Colliver believes they are a Division III varsity program. "They are the perennial Ohio pow- erhouse," Carriere joked. Michigan is using each game tojudge what aspects of its game need work. Now that the end of the season nears, the team is preparing for regional and national competition. "We are playing all of our games with equal intensity," Sirrine said. "We will go into this game the same way we always do. We'll go in hard and not take them lightly." 1 1ay~ yo na*crd iJ ~il\~ Iit il ikiV(YYI~fl} Iv; I c (0) u~ PC'ye ll N ;..