'M' soccer drops first two in Big Ten

By Mark Francescutti

and Stephanie Offen

Daily Sports Writers

After an impressive 2-0 weekend at home and a five-game winning streak, things were looking up for the Michigan soccer team.

But the Wolverines, ranked No. 10 in the nation, looked away for a split second - and all of a sudden Big Ten rivals Wisconsin and Northwestern brought Michigan's streak, and hopes of Big Ten supremacy, to a grinding halt.

Yesterday, Northwestern gave Michigan a different streak - a losing one, blasting the Wolverines 4-2 in Evanston. This followed a 1-0 double overtime loss to Wisconsin on Friday night.

JOSH KLEINBAUM/Daily Amber Berendowsky and the Michigan soccer team dribbled into a wall this weekend, as they dropped games to Wisconsin and Northwestern.

Michigan (5-2 overall, 0-2 Big Ten) came into Northwestern looking to stop the Wildcats' undefeated streak.

But instead, a tired Michigan defense couldn't stop the Wildcats, leaving the offense little chance to catch up.

The Wildcats struck first, with the Wolverines scoring soon after.

But eventually, Northwestern dealt too many blows and Michigan found itself on the losing end of a 4-2 score.

"Basically we have to do a few things team-wise defensively," Michigan coach Debbie Belkin said. "We need to work on marking up in the 18-yard box."

Besides fatigue, what could have caused such a drastic change in defensive play?

Maybe the Wolverines lost confidence after a grueling Friday night loss to Wisconsin.

In a hard-fought game the whole way through, neither team ever really owned any advantage. Wisconsin controlled Michigan's high-powered offense, but had no offense of its own.

So when the score read 0-0 at the end of 90 minutes, Michigan looked in good shape to outlast the Badgers, as they did the previous weekend against Detroit and Massachusetts.

But Wisconsin's defense held, and that didn't happen this time around.

And in the second overtime, Michigan's defense ran out of steam, which led to Wisconsin's Mara Miller's game-winning goal.

DANA LINNANE/Daily The Michigan soccer team will have to fight its way out of an 0-2 hole in the Big Ten race after losing conference matches this weekend.

Wisconsin found a bright spot for itself after three losses, while the Wolverines left befuddled with a 1-0 loss and an 0-1 record in the Big Ten.

Miller's goal came approximately 10 minutes into the second overtime. The Wisconsin midfielder crossed over from the outside, unmarked, took a pass from midfielder Jen Wright and caught the Wolverines off guard. She then beat Michigan goalkeeper Carissa Stewart and slammed the Wolverines with their first loss of the season.

"We just had a brief mental lapse," Belkin said. "We had been solid defensively all game."

The Wolverines, who kept the Badgers scoreless through two halves and one overtime, may have had their defense in gear, but their offense was almost nonexistent. The Badgers outshot them 13-10.

As for the big mistake, Belkin says, it's curable.

"The mistake we made (against Wisconsin) is easily fixable," Belkin said.

Michigan entered the weekend after an overtime victory against Eastern Michigan last Tuesday, with a goal scored by Jessica Limauro five minutes into the first extra stanza.

This time, however, the Wolverines were on the other side of the win/loss column, and Belkin said the team did not like that feeling at all.

"We're all disappointed when you start the first two games like this," Belkin said. "The Big Ten is always a battle."

Belkin also thought that the two rivals were easily beatable.

"Our performance was really disappointing," Belkin said. "Both teams came out pretty 'blah.'"

09-21-98