No holds barred in physical soccer game

Wolverines, Eagles resort to unconventional tactics in crosstown slugfest

The Michigan soccer team had yesterday's matchup with Eastern Michigan marked on its calendar for a long time.

Since many players on both teams played club soccer together, the game served as an opportunity to catch up on old times.

Right. And then they all sat down for milk and cookies afterward.

JONATHAN SUMMER/Daily Freshman Kjersten Kuhlman and her teammates instilled fear into Eastern Michigan this weekend, defeating the Eagles on Sunday afternoon, 5-1.

"They're our cross-town rival, so they're always out to get us," Michigan coach Debbie Belkin said. "They're usually a very physical team, and they play hard."

In Michigan's 5-1 victory, the lopsided score did not curtail the intensity on the field.

In a game that featured grabbing, pushing and tripping as much as passing, shooting and scoring, both teams emerged battered and bruised.

Eastern Michigan star B.J. Jones went down at the end of the first half after knocking heads with Michigan defender Erin Gilhart on a header attempt.

Jones, one of Eastern Michigan's leading scorers, would not return to the game.

"Once B.J. went down, we were in trouble," Eastern Michigan coach Paul Scicluna said. "She's one of our best offensive weapons."

Injuries like that are becoming the norm in the hard-fought meetings between Michigan and Eastern Michigan.

In the Wolverines' 7-1 victory last year in Ypsilanti, Michigan forward Jessica Limauro suffered a broken nose, while defender Vanessa Lewis fractured a cheekbone.

The Wolverines knew to expect their share of bruises when the Eagles came calling.

"We know that when we play them, it's going to be physical," freshman Kacy Bietel said. "There were a lot of bumps going on today."

Some of the Wolverines took exception to Eastern Michigan's physical play.

"They were pulling shirts and kicking us from behind, even when we didn't have the ball," sophomore Amber Berendowsky said. "They're known to be hackers, anyway."

Why the dislike for each other? Since they were teammates earlier in their careers, shouldn't the players take it easy on each other?

According to Belkin, it's nothing that serious.

"We play every game equally," Belkin said. "We don't play any more physically from one game to the next."

Scicluna agreed, contending that none of the actions in Sunday's game were the result of malevolence.

"I would describe the game as aggressive, rather than physical," Scicluna said. "There was nothing that went on today that wasn't done in an attempt to win the game."

Judging by the scoreboard, the unranked Eagles did not appear to pose any threat to the 16th-ranked Wolverines.

But with Michigan poised to start the Big Ten season next week, the slugfest with Eastern Michigan could be just the thing they need to prepare.

09-15-97