Goodies spur soccer to two victories

The coaches and family members bribed the Michigan soccer team to win this weekend with, of all things - food.

After a 5-1 blowout win over Massachusetts on Friday, the team was treated to pizza. It happened again yesterday, after a convincing 3-1 win over Detroit. An unidentified family member brought in a vegetable tray with dip that senior defenseman Vanessa Lewis called "incredible".

The word 'incredible' could have described a lot of things other than dip - especially the Michigan defense.

Strong defensive efforts equaled two wins for the undefeated Wolverines (4-0).

JOSH KLEINBAUM/Daily Michigan forward Amber Berendowsky socks it to Detroit's Jessica Herdzik in yesterday's match. Berendowsky has scored a goal in each of the past three games.

Yesterday, a strong defensive push halted Detroit's physical game and led to several opportunities for Michigan.

Things started out slowly for the Wolverines. For the first 20 minutes, the Titans kept up with the Wolverines, using their aggressive style of play to trap the Wolverines in the midfield.

With neither team gaining an offensive advantage, the first team to make a mistake would give up the first score.

Kacy Beitel passed through two defenders, which enabled Amber Berendowski to punch the ball in for her second goal of the weekend.

"For the first 20 minutes we played with them," Detroit coach Mike Lupenec said. "Then we made one mistake - we let somebody through on a through-ball - and we were down."

Detroit then made another fatal error, giving senior Jessica Limauro a penalty shot with less than two minutes remaining in the first half.

Limauro tapped it in without much trouble.

With the score 2-0 at the half, Detroit looked to be in trouble, whereas the Michigan charge was just beginning.

The Wolverines calmed down at the start of the second half and completely overpowered the Titans on both sides of the field.

Goalie Carissa Stewart didn't even touch the ball for the first 20 minutes of the second half. Throughout that time, Michigan used Detroit goalkeeper Kristi Elliot for target practice.

Taking more than 10 shots at her in the first seven minutes, the Wolverines seemed unstoppable.

Elliot remained strong, however, making several saves (11 total for the match).

"None of the goals today were her fault," Lupenec said. "She did a great job."

Still, Elliot and the Titans ran out of steam.

Off a free kick, Laurie Peterson trapped the loose ball. It was blocked, but Limauro was there to bury the rebound. Limauro scored two goals for the second straight game. She leads the Wolverines with 12 points in the season.

Detroit scored a late goal with eight minutes remaining to ruin the shutout.

Michigan coach Debbie Belkin didn't have to worry with the defense allowing just six shots.

Friday's match was no different.The Wolverines limited Massachusetts to seven shots in their 5-1 victory.

With Massachusetts suffering from injuries and inexperience on defense, the Michigan offense was able to capitalize all day.

"We actually have one defender," Massachusetts coach Jim Rudy said. "In fact, we had midfielders playing defense out there. We're still trying to learn how to play defense."

Newcomer Peterson earned her first career goal one minute into the match on a header from the right corner.

"We have a few injuries on our team right now, and the key to this game was coming out strong, and we did that," Limauro said.

Junior Shannon Poole also scored for the Wolverines, who travel to Eastern Michigan tomorrow.

09-14-98