Show The Herald Journal Logan Utah Monday October 20 2003 — B3 p©lrff©sft Top five finOD ©FDOWmig Atlanta turns tragedy into inspiration ATLANTA AP) —Pasi Nurminen sat at his locker in the corner of the Atlanta Thrashers’ locker room a pinch of smokeless tobacco under his lip a reflective lode in his eyes “Sure it’s in my head” Nurminen said “I’m playing for both those guys I don’t think it’s ever 'going away” Indeed the car wreck that killed one teammate and injured another remains a vivid part of everyday life for the Thrashers -- L that (wreck)” The Thrashers began die season with an emotional burden that few teams have had to endure Less than two weeks before die opener Heatley was Speeding along a narrow winding Atlanta road in his black Ferrari Snyder was in the passenger seat According to police Heat- - Utah Continued from Bl get into the Top 23 The Utes followed the ' upset with 27-- 6 win over San Diego State on OcL 10 and a 0 win over UNLV on Saturday before cracking the poll “The last five weeks we’ve played really well” said Meyer in his first year at Utah He was hired in December from Bowling Green ' where he compiled a 17-record in two seasons Utah is off to its best start 28-1- 6 AP photo d the Kovalchuk a celebrates left Atlanta Thrashers Chicago goal against (17) wing Ilya Blackhawks with teammate Frantisek Kaberle left Saturday in Atlanta Five games into the season the Thrashers are in first place and have to yet to be beaten third-perio- ' - ley was going about 80 mph — more than twice die legal speed limit He lost control die car spun off the road struck a wall and split in two Both players were flung into the read Heatley broke his jaw injured a shoulder tore rip a knee and faces a long arduous rehabilitation — not to men-tio- n felony criminal charges He was die lucky one Snyder suffered massive head injuries succumbing six days lata without ever regain- ing consciousness - At the urging of Snyder’s family the Thrashers played their first game albeit with since 1999 when they posted the same record However they haven’t been in the Top 23 since 19 when the Utes opened the season 7-- 1 and were ranked as high as No 20 While the honor of the national ranking is nice Meyer said it means nothing in the volatile Mountain West Conference where a team that loses its focus can easily get beaten “With that respect comes a great deal of responsibility” he said Utah and Air Face entered weekend games as the only undefeated MWC teams but : usu Continued from B1 v heading into Sunday but the Highlanders fell to Pacific 0 putting the Aggies in sole of second place “We played a la better than we did (against Long Beach) ”USU head coach Heather Cairns of the tie “It was a pretty even battle Both teams had chances to win it” However both the Aggie and Anteater back lines were up to the challenge Heading into the game on paper it appeared it might be a defensive affair as UCI goalie Marissa Welliver 3-- pos-sessi- on (seven shutouts) and USU counterpart Megan Mills (eight shutouts) have been stingy Unlike they were against LBSU the Aggie defense didn’t fold on set pieces After allow-in- g the Niners to score two of their three goals on free kicks and coma kicks Utah State suc Aggies Continued from B1 “Take away a few bad snaps special teams need to get things ironed out” Dennehy said “Special teams is killing us" Just when the Aggies had fought back to tie the game 14-1-4 late in the first quarter the Mean Green returned the ensuing kickoff 45 yards after a shot kickoff setting up another short drive fa a ID “We made it too easy them” Dennehy said ‘The defense does a good job when it is normal field position But we continue to put them in a a fa hole" In the first half Saturday North Texas scored on drives teams stay the same : By heavy hearts and pulled off an emotional 2--1 victory over Columbus: The very next day die entire team — Heatley included — traveled to Canada to attend their teammate’s funeral That brought some measure of closure Then it was back focused they’re paying attention to detail and right now they’re getting rewarded for their efforts I’m very proud of my guys They’re good pco-- pie” ‘ : to work In particular the Thrashers 's have heeded coach Bob pleas to focus on defense Atlanta which gave up more goals than any team in the league a year ago has surrendered just eight this sea-- : - Hart-ley- ' son V'-- ' “Our players deserve cred“They’re it” Hartley said the Falcons woe beaten by Colorado State Th fJtes became bowl eli gible with Saturday’s win at UNLV their eighth straight ' victory ova the Rebels “Are we a Top 25 team?” Meyer said “You never know till the end of the season” But he plans to make use of it while he can by peppering letterheads and envelopes with “Top 25 Team” on them before they are sent to high school athletes boost “I think it’s a big-tifor recruiting” Meya said The Utes are also ranked ' No 23 in the USA TodayESPN Top 25 poll cessfully turned away 25 UCI set pieces (11 corner kicks 15 free kicks) “We buckled down” Cairns said “We knew we had to be very disciplined on coma kicks because they have been dangerous on set pieces” The Aggies also buckled down on offense after recording only two shots in the first half USU picked up seven shots in the second stanza and two of its four coma kicks in the second overtime “We’re fighters and it came through today” Cairns said “We didn’t make any radical changes but just executed better” Executing well as she has for the majority of the season was Mills who preserved the tie on ' a diving save on a shot by UCI’s Haylcy McNallan in the first OT Cairns said USU’s most dangerous scoring opportunity came in the second half Cairns said when Chanel Blaquiere blasted a shot just ova the crossba of one 46 35 47 and nine yards respectively The Mean Green was held to a field goal in the second half The Aggies may have figured out a solution in the snapping department Short snapper Nick George came in to finish the game and Chaet moved up dosa The result was Chaet averaging 476 yards on his last five punts including a career-lon- g yards but the timing of some of than was doubly bad Fa example: The Aggies nail a Mean Green rusher fa a face mask loss but a offense is driThe it negates ving only to have completed a pass called back because of an ineligible' receiva down field A personal foul afta a completed pass helps stop another drive “Things like that kill you as a football team” Dennehy “I’m not sure what to call that punt formation” Dennehy said “We need to view the next week to see how tape that is going to work Ben was getting those off with one step There is a reason a punter is back there 15 yards” The coach is also concerned with penalties USU was whistled 12 times fa 106 said 70-yard- cr fa 15-ya- rd 7-- ’ cross-check- ed first seven games on the road the Aggies (1-- 1 Sun Belt two overall) return home and three contests of straight the next four will be at Romney Stadium This Saturday USU hosts Arkansas State (1-- 1 which had last week 1- -6 fa 3-- 4) off iV- first-pla- : ' ke toward Matsui who tipped his Now Matsui has a ' hitting streak in the postseason right back He is the first It’s been a big year all Japanese player to hit a home run in the World Series : around for' the Matsui has made a habit of Matsui a huge celebrity in getting big hits during his first Japan Some say he’s as big taste of October pressure in back home as Michael Jordan is in the United States New York e A “Godzilla” is batting 327 MVP during a career with the Yomi-u- ri with two homers 10 RBIs Giants he signed a $21 and four doubles in 13 post six-ga- three-tim- 10-y- ea Wald Series gating the Pettitte Continued from B1 handle it” Now the Series shifts to Pro Player Stadium fa Game 3 on Tuesday night Marlins ace Josh Beckett will start against Mike Mussina Pettitte improved to 13-- 7 lifetime in the postseason add never la the Marlins threaten Catcher Jorge Posada threw out Luis Castillo trying to steal in the first inning and the Yankees got a lucky break when a ball that deflected off Miguel Cabrera’s leg was called fair and turned into a double play Not that the Yankees needed much help to beat Mark Redman on this night Pettitte’s complete game also allowed New Yak to give ace closa Mariano Rivera another day of 3-- - anotha standing ovation Williams tipped his cap from center field and Matsui returned the favor : New Yak hitters were with runners in scoring position in the opena Matsui ga the Yankees going in the right direction “I don’t know what hap- pened yesterday” Torre said Juan Rivera platooning with right fielder Karim Gar- cia hit an RBI double in the second that made it 0 He drove in Johnson who beat out a surprise bunt but tried to stretch the hit into ? triple and was cut down on a snap throw by catcher Ivan ' Rodriguez Redman was pulled when the Yankees threatened again in the third He had gaten nodecisions in his other three postseason starts this yea and was pulled from Game 7 of the NLCS Wrigley Field after only three innings Soriano homered off Rick Helling in the fourth launching a sha fa over the fence after another single by Johnson Soriano had been just with 13 strikeouts since the start of the ALCS against Boston He drew a leadoff walk in the first but was picked off by Redman and struck out the next inning 4-- rest Nick Johnson helped out with three hits fa the Yankees He may not get to play again fa a bit as the Yankees will lose the designated hitta Miami with Jason Giambi likely to move back to first base Boone is certainly learning how fast fortunes change in the Bronx — he was haled as a hero afta his 11th inning homer won Game 7 of the ALCS but was criticized fa failing to throw home in a key a a left-fie- ld spa Saturday night Matsui’s homa came after Giambi was hit by a pitch with two outs and Bemie Williams singled Matsui became the first Japanese player to homa in a count green light on the drive and hitting a over the wall in center field The crowd kept cheering until he came out fa a curtain call When Matsui trotted out to lpft field after the inning the fans in the bleachers gave him no-dou- bt ! ' " TheUSATodayESPN coaches poll had the same top three teams as the AP The only other two unbeaten -- Continued from B1 4 panel of sports writers and broadcasters and the Hurricanes had 1558 Virginia Tech the only other unbeaten team from a major conference was third followed by Georgia and South- era California Florida State and Washing- ton State were tied for sixth followed by Ohio Stale LSU and Purdue season games He went 3 for4 in the opena against Florida and his double off Boston ace Pedro Martinez keyed a comeback in Game 7 of the ALCS centa fielder tipped his cap 32-1- Oklahoma received 1622 points in balloting by the ! two-stri- ce beating Temple - Yanks 34-1- ce first-pla- hard-press-ed -- Afta playing five of their -- f They’re also showing plenty of spunk In their latest victory Saturday night the Thrashers routed Chicago 2 and responded to every cheap shot the Blackhawks dished out Tommi Santala was punched in the face Ilya Kovalchuk was speared and from then behind Numiinen was plowed over in the crease Each time a bunch of Thrashers jumped ' The Associated Press The top five teams remained the same in this week's Associated Press college football poll after a weekend devoid of major upsets Oklahoma kept its season- long grip on the top spot of the poll by receiving 62 of the 65 votes after a 3 win over No 24 Missouri on Saturday Miami got the other two votes after ' m£ i They’re still mourning Dan Snyder They’re still worried for Dany Heatley They’re still coping with an open wound on everyone’s psyche But somehow from the aching depths of tragedy the Thrashers have found inspiration Five games into the season they are in first place and have to yet to be beaten — the longest stretch without a loss in the franchise’s very modest history Every game the Thrashers take die ice wearing Snyder’s No 37 over their hearts which reminds everyone to skate a little faster hit a little harder hustle a little more “I don’t know if it’s helping us now” Nurminen said “But 'everybody came together after in to defend their teammatesA “We stick up for each other: and everybody battles togethl er” Marc Savard said “It jusfl feels like if we compete every night we’re going to have a chance to win” Hartley knew his team couldn’t win if the defense didn’t get better The Thrash- era improved considerably after he took over midway through last season but they still gave up 284 goals — 29 more than any other team in the league Hartley hoped to chop SO goals off that total this season but it looks as if he might have been too conservative in setting the lor The stumpy Nurminen — who bears a striking resemblance to Cartman from the “South Park” television straw — is playing well in goal (a 942 save percentage) For the fust time the Thrashers have someone in the nets who inspires confidence It helps that everyone — even Kovalchuk — is showing a commitment to defense The talented Russian used to linger around center ice hoping to create scoring chances for himself Now he’ll stick with his man all the way back to the defensive zone helping cut down on the other teams’ scoring chances “He’s showing a real commitment to his game” Hartley said “He wants to improve on both sides of the puck” Of course a team can get by on emotion for only so long With Heatley expected to miss most or all of the season the Thrashers will be to reach the playoffs for the first time in the team’s five- year historyBut things are looking up The healing has begun: “Anytime you win it's going to be fun” Savard said “There’s no better place to be than winning hockey games in die National Hockey League!’ teams in Division A were No 12 Northern Illinois and No 15 TCU The Huskies were joined by fellow MidAmerican Conference school Bowling Green which debuted at No 23 It was the first time in 30 years the MAC had two teams in the poll at the same time ' Miami of Ohio was 17th and Kent State was 19th on Nov 5 1973 Bowling Green hosts Northern Illinois on Saturday Only three conferences have riiore ranked teams than the MAC the Big Ten and SEC have six teams apiece and the Big 12 has four - million three-ye- a contract with the Yankees before this V season — and a horde of Japanese reporters followed him to the United States They’ve chronicled his every move over the past eight months but it never seemed to faze MatsuiA er slugger in Japan he has impressed Torre and his teammates with fundamentals and defense He batted 287 with 16 homers and led major league rookies with 106 RBIs'mak- ing him a leading candidate AL Rookie of the Yea fa NFL Continued from B2 strong drive in the third qua-te- r Seahawks 24 Bears 17 At Seattle Shaun Alexan- - da’s touchdown run ' with 58 seconds left lifted Seattle to the best start in franchise history 1 Alexin-d- a pined 101 yards on 21 carries scoring twice Seattle’s Marcus Trufant sealed the win when he intercepted a pass by ChrisChan-dle- r with 37 seconds on the clock Chicago (1-lost for the 17th time in its last 20 games Bills 24 Redskins 7 At Orchard Park Travis f a career-hig- h Henry ran 167 yards and scored twice and Josh Reed had eight ’ 109 yards and a catches Buffalo (4-touchdown The Redskins (3-lost their third straight game and played the final nine minutes without starting quarterback Patrick Ramsey He bruised his right (throwing) hand when he was sacked by Aaron Schobel Jets 19 Texans 14 At Houston Vinny led New York (2-4- ) on a long drive in the waning 25-ya- rd 5-- 5) ' fa fa fa 3) 4) Tes-taver- de minutes to set up an TD run by LaMont Jordan with 1:21 left J J Moses returned the ensuing kickoff 63 yards to the Jets 27 and Houston ) quickly moved to the 9 But on fourth-and-- 4 David Carr’s pass glanced off receiva Andre Johnson's chest and fell to the ground (2-4- |