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Show r /port/ B6 VGA CO MONDAY*OCTOBER 3*2005 Theurer comes through UVSC kicks its way past Portland State Football at UVSC? lust from simply breathing in September air, you can't help but pose the question. The southern accent of legend play-by-play voice Keith Jackson calling USC Trojan games on Saturday afternoons makes me even more eager to push the idea forward. For many sports fans, an athletic program without football is like Disneyland without the Matterhorn. Like a house without a roof. Like an engagement ring without something shimmering above it. Football is talked about at UVSC, mostly in hallways and by people with little say in the matter. It's no secret that student body president Jared Sumsion desperately wants a team, basically making it the central focus of his entire campaign. And President Sederburg wants it too, though he may not openly ever put that on record. The man hails from Michigan for heaven's sake where another Wolverine calls home and folks in Ann Arbor make a living of bowing before the gridiron Gods. Of course, just like constructing ap liberal arts building, or eventually a new library, starting a football program is a costly and complicated endeavor. However, the million-dollar question is ' whether the sacrifice of doing so would eventually be worth it one day. I'm willing to bet the answer is a million dollar yes. It would be a real headache for Mike Jacobson to orchestrate such a move, but I'm not sure how Utah Valley State could go wrong in finally initiating the transition from sporadic hearsay into a bold declaration that finally tells the students "the time is now." Sacrifice on behalf of all of us would no doubt be part of the deal, and you're almost sure to have a few people picketing in front of the McKay Center because their student fees went up a couple of bucks. But that will all eventually pass. Scheduling would be insane, a venue would need to be established, and the team would probably have to compete at the division HI or junior college level for a time; but I speak with a very long-term perspective. I envision what BYU and Lavell Edwards envisioned in the 50s before QB Marc Wilson put the Cougars into the national limelight. I see what could be 10, 15, 20 years down the road. I see UVSC becoming the old Ricks See RANT -B4 Sports Desk (801) 863-8603 - * - ^ • * - * - — * - Phillip Morgan Sports Writer After being shut out in two straight games, the UVSC soccer team needed to score, let alone win Monday afternoon against the Portland St. Vikings. Fortunately for the Wolverines they did both, pulling out a thrilling 2-1 victory in overtime. "When we played in Texas, playing-wise it wasn't the best for us," said Carolyn Theurer, Senior Captain and hero of the game who would eventually seal it in OT. "We are really happy that we won. We wanted this one really bad." For the first 15 minutes the Wolverines took command, making good passes and getting good looks. "We had the first three shots on goal," Theurer said. "Then all of the sudden it all collapsed. That's kind of how our season has gone, with highs and lows, and highs and lows." Getting the come-from-behind win was also exciting for the coaching staff, which has watched their team struggle when they get behind. "We've had problems countering when the other team gets a goal on us," said assistant coach Krissa Reinbold. "We had problems with scoring. It's kind of been a monkey on our back. I told them it wasn't going to be pretty, that it was going to take someone sliding or tipping it in." That advice paid off in the 84th minute, when Theurer took a pass from sophomore defender Alyssa Wagar in traffic inside the Portland State penalty box. The senior took the ball to the end line before crossing it back in front of the goal. "That's something we've practiced, where I take it to the end line and put it back to the six," Theurer said. "Jenni (Wright) was perfect, was in the right place. That's probably my favorite play because I love setting things up for the others. If it's in the right spot, it works every time." Wright slid in and got just enough of a toe on the ball to redirect it into the back of the net to knot the score at 1 -1. Theurer had a chance in the 87th minute to end the game in regulation as Wright lead her with a perfect pass right in front of the goal. Portland State senior goalkeeper Nikki Brooks made a spectacular sliding save, getting to the ball a fraction of a second before Theurer did. "If I had half a step more I would have beat her," Theurer said. "I thought I could trick her by going the other way, but she made a great save." Heading into the overtime with the momentum clearly on the Wolverine's side, the game was theirs for the taking. Courtesy Plioto/UVSC Athletics Carolyn Theurer brings the ball up the field during UVSC's 2-1 overtime win against Portland State last week. "Krissa told us that we had the momentum and to gofinishit in the first ten minutes," Theurer said. They ended up not needing the full ten. With 41 seconds remaining in thefirsthalf of overtime, Theurer tapped a free kick from Chelsea Arnell through Brooks' legs for the golden goal. The Wolverines improve to 3-5, and next travel to Las Vegas to take on UNLV and Northern Arizona in the Rebel Classic, before returning home to host in-state rival Utah St. Oct. 5. Wolverines get first win against Weber Phillip Morgan Sports Writer Courtesy photo/ BYU Athletics Cougar running back Fahu Tahi is caught from behind by a TCU defender during BYU's 50-51 overtime loss, which saw them give up an 18 point third quarter lead. Cougar crumble downs on their final four drives of regulation to come back and tie the score on Sports Writer a BYU squad that had built an 18-point "To fumble, or not to fumble," that was lead going into the latter half of the 3rd the question. quarter. No, Shakespeare may have not been "I give TCU a lot of credit," said BYU at Lavell Edwards Stadium for BYU's head coach Bronco Mendenhall. "Their Mountain West Conference opener against football team played hard and they made TCU, but 58,000 rabid and discouraged one more big play than we did to win the fans were. game." While the Horned Frogs ran off the When TCU starting QB Tye Gunn went field in celebration, Cougar fans were still down midway through the 3rd, it was supscratching their heads wondering what posed to be an advantage for the home hadjust happened. squad, but backup Jeff Ballard did nothWith their quarterback having just ing but move the ball, going 8-12 for 150 thrown for over 500 yards, and a star wide yards and two TD's. A 35-yard toss to out that had just caught three touchdown Aaron Brown with 1:25 remaining gave passes, including a big one in overtime; the newest member of the Mountain West with a tailback that had just gained 177 their first lead of the game. all-purpose yards and an offense that had But BYU didn't go away, with QB John just put up 50 points, it was a wonder how Beck showing a sort of swagger that Couthey could still lose. But the Cougars did gar fans hadn't seen since 2001, driving just that. SeeBYU-B4 TCU came away with four touch- Johnny Boyd deck ioccer y/. Utah Stole 10/5 @ 4 p.m. Volleyball v/. UTPfl 10/8 @ 7 p.m. Visit us online atwww.netxnews.net It always feels good to do something for the first time. The UVSC volleyball team did just that with its first-ever win over an instate D-l opponent, beating rival Weber State Tuesday night (27-30, 30-27, 30-25, 30-22) inside the Activities Center. "It's always good to win on your home court," said Wolverine coach Sam Atoa. "We lost to them (Weber State) earlier in the year, and I was very pleased that we were able tofixthose things from the first meeting." Powered by career-high kills from freshman outside hitter Camie Manwill and JC transfer Brooke Adams, the Wolverines overcame a one-game deficit to steal the win. In the first game, UVSC was out-played by the Wildcat front line. "We didn't come out too strong in the first game," Manwill said. "We played more nervous and then they blocked us a lot and that kind of scared us and we backed off." The Wildcats came out and out-blocked Utah Valley 11-4, which led to their advantage for most of the game. But setting goals between games one and two helped the Wolverine's fo- cus, talcing away Weber's momentum. "We wanted to get a high percentage in kills and we wanted to nail all of our passing as well as our serves," Manwill said. "In volleyball, if you don't do those things, then you're not going to win." Sophomore middle blocker Jessica Endres hit (.586), putting down 19 kills in 29 attempts with only two errors. Brooke Adams finished a career night with 13 kills. "I thought that Camie played a really nice match," Atoa said. "She adjusted well after struggling in the first game. Brooke did a great job in the middle just banging some balls that helped us to take and maintain our lead." In game two, the Wolverines came out with more intensity, establishing the lead for good at 14-13 after a point won by Manwill. Utah Valley junior Stephanie McFarland, filling in for the injured Larissa Laycock on the right side of the net, sparked the Wolverines to a victory in game three with some timely blocks and kills. Utah Valley finished the game in fitting fashion on two back-to-back kills by Manwill and Endres. "In the third and fourth games it was just high energy," Manwill said. "All of us were so excited. We See VOLLEYBALL. B4 Softball ploy/ v/. Snow 10/8 @ 12/2 p.m. Send story ideas to smiggs86@hotmail.com |