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Show WWW.NETXNEWS.NET MONDAY • OCTOBER 23 • 2006 Real Salt Lake out Webster's Wisdom Ben Webster Sports Editor I Crown the Tigers i •»-•? ft: Sorry St. Louis but the Detroit Tigers are the team to beat in this year's World Series. It doesn't matter that the Tigers backed their way into the playoffs losing five straight games to finish the regular season. It doesn't matter that they lost the first game of the ALDS to the mighty Yankees and their roster of rich men. Everything was going against the Tigers, who lost 119 games just three years ago, but they somehow, someway, turned things around and are now favored to win it all, not just by me. The Cards are just meat for these Tigers. The Tigers dropped game one in the ALDS, but have since won seven playoff games in a row, three over the Yanks and a sweep of Oakland. Maybe the Tigers failure at the end of the year was the big picture and we just didn't see it. After all, Detroit has had a better record playing on the road, 49-32, than they have had playing in the Motor City, 46-35. This is also the fifth year in a row that a wild card team made it to the Series. Not only would the Tigers open the playoffs on the road, but also losing the central cost them home field advantage against the A's, allowing Detroit to travel for two playoff series. No matter for Detroit. So, perhaps the Tigers planned it out when they let the Royals sweep a three-game series for the first time since 1980 against Detroit for the final series of the regular season. They had it in the back, or in the front, of their minds that they would just take a few games off to get ready for the season that matters the most. •A See MLB-B8 lltfiis week in fife-sports ...A ^October 26-28 .-,- - •. » - * • r . • ' . • . • ; 26 Women's Volleyball against South Dakota State. 7:00 p.m. 27 Hockey against Eastern Washington at Peaks Ice Arena. 8:30 p.m. 28 Women's volleyball against North Dakota State. 7:00 p.m. Mark Johnston/NetXNews Real Salt Lake's Jeff Cunningham dribbles past two Houston defenders in a 1-1 draw during RSL's final home match. Season ends with no playoffs but RSL looks forward to 2007 Ben Webster Sports Editor It turned out that Real Salt Lake's final regular season game against Chivas USA was meaningless. But their season, according to some players, was still a successful one. RSL headed into their last game of the year knowing that the playoffs were out of reach, but they went out and found a way to get a 1-1 draw. "I thought the effort was good all game. We were a little unlucky in the first half: a post and a backspin. Both went away from goal. The effort was good the whole game. Guys never gave up; they fought," Coach John Ellinger said. "It can be a cliche, but I don't care. And that's the way it was for us. It was good. There was a lot of pride. The professionalism was out there. I was glad to see it." Real Salt Lake was behind for 88 minutes, but in the 89th, Jafet Soto netted his first career MLS goal and the equalizer giving RSL a 10-13-9 record to finish the year. A day earlier Colorado, the team RSL was chasing in the playoff standings, managed to comeback from one-goal deficits three times against the Houston Dynamo to seal the final playoff spot and eliminate RSL with a 3-3 draw. See SOCCER-B9 Tournament time for women's soccer and developing as a program." Senior Co-captain Courtney Robbins Sports Writer has lead the team on the field statistically The women's soccer team has had their with five goals and 12 points total. Junior struggles so far this season but are look- Tasha Bell and senior Kelley Thomping for a strong finish in regular-season son have shared the goalkeeping spot play before heading to Washington D.C. throughout the season, with both playing for the United Soccer Conference tourna- reasonably well. ment in early November. Robbins along with junior Rebecca With a hiatus in practice due to Fall Petersen have been named Offensive Break, the Wolverines should be able to Players of the Week for the United Socrecharge their batteries for the final three cer Conference, and freshman Natalie regular-season matches. Hatfield has won Newcomer of the Week Thus far in the season, the Wolverines honor as well. have a 5-9-1 record. Wins over estabUnfortunately for the team, they lished teams such as Tulsa and in-state haven't been able to get on a long winrivals Utah State have helped the team ning streak, with their longest winning overcome close losses to 2005 NCAA streak lasting just two games. The victoTournament teams Gonzaga and UTEP. ries early in the season came on a season "We've had a mixed season," Head long five-game road trip. Coach Brent Anderson said. "We have The first home game against Dixie had some very good success against a State on Sept. 9 was a tough one for the number of teams that have always had Wolverines, as it ended in a 1-1 draw. our number in the past. We are growing Wind and rain made for some tough play- Jason Adkins ing conditions, and the match was eventually called short due to lightning. A four-game home stand in late September brought about other tough losses, but a three-goal victory over Centenary showed what the offense can do when they are creative in the offensive end of the field. Heading into the fall break, the Wolverines were able to get a 2-1 win over in-state rival Utah State in Logan, but they came back to Orem the next day only to lose 2-1 in overtime to fellow United Soccer Conference squad North Dakota State. With only one match left in the regular season, UVSC is hoping to gain momentum. UVSC wraps up the season against Loyala Marymount. The team will then have a week off to prepare for the conference tournament to be held in Washington from Nov. 2-5. Sports briefs Cross Country Women's Soccer Men's Golf Men's Basketball UVSC cross country athletes Jacob Buhler and Karinne Bentley have been named the Male and Female Scholar Athletes for the month of September. Buhler is a sophomore from Military, North Dakota. He finished the spring semester with a 4.0 GPA and he carries a 3.9 overall GPA. Buhler is one of two returning runners on the men's cross country team this year. Courtney Robbins has been named the United Soccer Conference Offensive Player of the Week for her performance against Utah State and North Dakota State. Robbins scored two goals in a 2-1 win over Utah State and she scored the Wolverines only goal in a 2-1 loss to North Dakota State. Robbins leads the Wolverines offensively with five goals and two assists. In an 18-hole dual meet on Monday at Talons Cove golf course in Saratoga Springs, the UVSC men's golf team beat Idaho State. The weather wasn't your typical golf weather, but Nic van Vuuren won the event by shooting a three under par 69 in the heavy wind and rain. Teammate Jeff Gibson shot a two-under par 70 to earn second place. As a team, the Wolverines shot a two over par 290. Men's basketball Coach Dick Hunsaker announced the hiring of Andy Hipsher as a new assistant coach. Before coming to UVSC, Hipsher was the video coordinator at UNLV. Prior to working for the Rebels, Hipsher worked under Bobby Knoght at Texas Tech for two years. Former BYU-Hawaii Assistant Isaac Turley also joined Hunsaker's staff. Another basketball note, former UVSC center Ben Devoe signed to play professionally in the Czech Republic. Hockey against Montana State at Peaks Ice Arena. 8:30 p.m. Send sports briefs to websterben@msn.com '\ |