Matt Miller/DN
FORMER HUSKER Erica De Vitis hugs longtime friend and former soccer teammate Jenny Renson after the
Huskers’ win over USC Sunday. De Vitis transferred to USC after two seasons at KU.
By David Wilson
Senior Reporter
Erica De Vitis doesn’t like bugs,
and she doesn’t like cold weather.
So after starting on the
Nebraska soccer team for two sea
sons, the junior midfielder decided
it would be in her best interest to
transfer back home to Southern
California.
De Vitis returned to Lincoln
with the Women of Troy Sunday to
take on her friends and former
teammates.
“It was so hard,” De Vitis said
after USC lost 2-1 to the
Comhuskers. “There are no words
to explain it.”
As a starter for Southern
California, De Vitis saw action on
the same side of the field as
Nebraska midfielder Jenny
Benson, who played club soccer
with De Vitis in California. But the
two put their friendship aside at
game time.
“It was hard because you didn’t
want to knock one of your best
friends,” De Vitis said. “But you
have to realize you’re in a Division
I match.”
Knowing De Vitis’ tendencies
didn’t help or hurt the Huskers,
Benson said.
“I think she played well,”
Benson said. “She was definitely
an offensive threat to us.”
Nebraska coach John Walker,
who visited with De Vitis on
Saturday, said he also put friend
ships aside.
“Once the game got going, you
didn’t really think of it,” Walker
said.
Walker said he would have to
review the tape before knowing
how well De Vitis played.
But Southern California coach
Jim Millinder said he was satisfied
with her performance.
“She’s doing well,” Millinder
said. “It’s good that she came from
a winning team at Nebraska.
Nebraska has a hell of a program.”
Millinder said playing against
former teammates may have helped
De Vitis.
“They know each other so
well,” Millinder said. “I think it was
a motivating factor for her.”
De Vitis, who was named the
Huskers’ most creative player by
her teammates in 1995, scored
three goals and had seven assists as
a freshman at Nebraska. Last sea
son, she scored two goals with four
assists.
“I loved the coaches and the
players,” De Vitis said of her former
team. “The soccer was amazing.”
But De Vitis said she had no
regrets about her decision to trans
fer to Southern California..
Originally from Coto de Caza,
Calif., De Vitis was recruited by
Millinder out of high school.
Knowing the coach and the pro
gram at Southern California helped
her decision, she said.
“I love it here,” De Vitis said. “I
love the school and I love the
atmosphere.”
1---:I
Backneld regains its health
■ Sims, Alexander and
Evans return to practice
after win over Akron.
By David Wilson
Senior Reporter
Jay Sims has been dubbed
“RoboCop” by some of his team
mates.
Not because he enforces the law,
but because of the equipment he
wears to practice - ankle braces, arm
pads, and his most recent addition, a
brace on his right knee.
Sims, who suffered a knee strain
during two-a-day practices last
month, returned to practice Monday
along with fellow I-backs DeAngelo
Evans and Dan Alexander. All three
could be ready to see playing time
against Central Florida on Sept. 13.
The Comhuskers will practice in
full pads today and scrimmage on
Friday.
“We feel a little uneasy putting a
guy in a ballgame if he hasn’t taken
some hits,” Nebraska coach Tom
Osborne said.
Since returning to practice, Sims
has been wearing a yellow jersey -
meaning he shouldn’t be hit.
“At this point,” Sims said, “I’m
certainly not ready to take a hit. I
anticipate by the Central Florida
game, I should be ready to go.”
NU running backs coach Frank
Solich said Sims and Alexander
should be ready to play against the
Knight. The return of Evans, Solich
said, is questionable but not ruled out.
Alexander tore the anterior cruci
ate ligament in his left knee in the
Spring Game last April and dislocat
ed his toe two weeks ago. The redshirt
freshman said he is looking forward
to Friday’s scrimmage.
“I haven’t done too much hitting
since the Spring Game, and that’s one
of the things I like to do,” Alexander
said. “I just want to be able to go in
there and see where I’m at. Right now
I’m still kind of leery about hitting,
but I’m feeling better everyday. A
scrimmage would not only tell me but
tell the coaches where I’m at with this
knee.”
Evans, who rushed for 776 yards
as a freshman last season, has been
slowed by a pelvic stress injury and
only made it through part of practice
Monday and Tuesday. But Solich said
he has seen improvement in the 5
foot-9,215-pound back.
“I think he’s gaining more confi
dence,” Solich said. “It’s just a matter
of getting into playing shape. I think
he’ll be able to make it through full
practices shortly and he’s well on the
way to recovery” j.
When they do return, the three
backs will have new competition.
True freshman Correll
Buckhalter took advantage of the
injuries as the second string I-back in
Saturday’s 59-14 win over Akron. The
6-foot-2, 210-pounder rushed for 61
yards on 11 carries and scored two
touchdowns against the Zips.
“I thought he played very well,”
Solich said. “But I felt going into the
game that he would play well. I think
that he can certainly be thrown in the
mix with the other I-backs, and we’ll
just see how it all comes out.
“Certainly those guys that were
injured will come back with the posi
tions that they held prior to their
injuries. But we’ll continue to evalu
ate practices, and we’ll see how
everybody plays in the games. The
depth chart can still go up and down
with that in mind.”
Starting I-back Ahman Green,
who lias had back trouble recently
and suffered back spasms in
Saturday’s game, practiced Monday
and Tuesday.
FmUmHTop 25
Below are the USA TODAY Top 25 Coaches Poll and
The Associated Press Top 25 Poll for college football
•PTW25 HS>nMV/CncfeMlap25
Rank School Record Pvs Rank School Record Pvs
1 • : PennStgS) OO 1 1 Florida(25) 10 1
2 Florida (14) 1-0 2 2 Penn St (13) OO 2
3 Tennessee (7) 1-0 5 3 Tennessee (10) 10 S
4 Washington (9) OO 4 4 Washington (7) OO 3
5 RofiJaSMB) 00 3 5 Florida St (3) OO 4
6 Nebraska (4) 10 6 6 Nebraska(2) 10 6
7 North Carolina (4) 90 7 7 Cotorado(1) 00 7
8 Colorado (3) OO 8 8 North Carolina (1) OO 8
9 Ohio St. tO 9 9 Ohio St. 10 9
10 LSU. OO 10 10 Texas OO 10
11 NotreOame 00 11 11 LSU . OO 11
12 Texas OO 12 12 Miami OO 14
13 Miami 10 14 13 Ngfre E&me QO 12
14 Michigan OO 15 14 Michigan OO 13
15 Alabama 10 15 15 Alabama 10-15
16 Auburn 00 17 16 BYU OO 17
17 Stanford 00 18 17 Stanford OO 18
18 Clemson OO 20 18 Auburn OO 19
19 BYU OO 19 19 fowa OO 20
20 Iowa OO 21 20 Clemson OO 21
21 Kansas St 00 22 21 Southern Cai OO 22
21 Tie Northwestern 10 24 22 Virginia Tech 1-0 25
23 SoufttemCai;, 00 ^ 23 23 ; Kansas St . . OO 23
24 Colorado St 10 24 Northwestern 10
25 Michigan St. 00 25 25 Colorado St. to
Soccer team struggles
to defeat DePaul, USC
SOCCER from page 12
Walker said. “We struggled in our
first game last year, too.”
The Huskers did not have as easy
of time against USC, a team that just
missed qualifying for the NCCA
Tournament last season. The Women
of Troy came into Lincoln for what
Walker called “an NCAA
Toumament type of game.”
Nebraska freshman Christine
Gluck opened the scoring in the 28th
minute, putting in a rebound off of a
Sharolta Nonen shot.
In the second half, All-American
midfielder Kari Uppinghouse scored
her first goal of the season, getting a
shot past USC goalie Karin
Puccinelli.
NU seemed to have the game
wrapped up when USC senior Kim
Clark, who provided much of the
Women of Troy’s offensive attack, put
a shot past Hombacher with 23 min
utes left in the game.
“It would have been nice to finish
them off,” Walker said. “It was a dog
fight until the end.”
The dogfight was won by the
Huskers, who played most of the last 20
minutes in the USC end of the field.
The Huskers didn’t add an insur
ance goal, even though they had plen
ty of chances. Kristen Gay hit the
crossbar in the 72nd minute, and
Puccinelli blocked junior Kim
Engesser’s penalty kick with two
minutes left.
Walker said the team missed the
services of striker Becky Hogan.
Hogan, who sat out the two games
with a crack in her tibia. The junior
striker is scheduled to miss the
Huskers’ first four games.
Sophomore Amy Walsh did not play
against DePaul because of a hip
pointer.
Engesser replaced Hogan and
made an immediate impact as a
Husker. Engesser scored Nebraska’s
«
We played well in
spurts, but not for
90 minutes.”
John walker
NU soccer coach
first goal of the season at the three
minute mark of the DePaul game on a
pass from sophomore Jenny Benson.
“It was fhn,” Engesser said. “The
team is coming together, but there is
definite room for improvement.”
Nonen said this weekend gave the
Huskers an example of how teams
will come to Lincoln looking for an
upset of the sixth-ranked Huskers.
“We didn’t lose our composure,”
Nonen said. “It was a battle, but we
did well. This was a test of our will.”
The Huskers now go on the road,
facing Big 12 rival Colorado on
Friday in Boulder, Colo.
Gay, who scored the Huskers’
fourth goal against DePaul, said the
intensity level will have to be raised
for the team to have continued suc
cess this season.
“We need to come out with a little
more intensity,” Gay said. “We just
can’t turn it on and off, because there
are a lot of tough teams on our sched
ule.”
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