Spring Game answers all questions
■ Coach Frank Solich said he
was generally pleased with the
performance of the current squad.
By Brandon Schulte
Staff writer
In a sense, the Nebraska football program
follows the same model, to a “T,” that Henry
Ford outlined for his Ford factories during the
Progressive Era.
Just as Ford introduced a system to busi
ness that plugged similar parts into the same
design to produce a high quantity of quality
automobiles, the Comhuskers don’t rebuild a
new team each year - it reloads by inserting
similar players into the same positions, only
they have different faces and names.
Coming into spring drills we asked five
questions that NU had to answer if it hoped to
attain its goal of winning a national champi
onship in 2000. Did it answer these questions
and others that cropped up during the 15 spring
practices?
Your guess is as good as mine, but if Coach
Frank Solich’s opinion counts, and it does, then
NU is right on track.
“I’m generally pleased with this group of
athletes,” Solich said. “I think they’ve had a ,
tremendous work ethic immediately upon
arriving back in Lincoln from the bowl game.
They went right to work on winter condition
ing, and that continued into this spring.
“We stayed on the field a lotthis spring.
The workouts were not easy, and they were
long, so it was kind of a demanding spring for
diem. Yet they responded very well.”
The majority of the spring work was to
replace eight starters (two offense and six
defense) who were lost from last year’s team
' Please see PLAYERS on 15
Mike Warren/DN
l-BACK DAHRRAN Dledrick lunges forward for extra yards during the Red-White Spring Game. Dledrlck spilt time with Correll Buckhalter for the
Red team whfle Dan Alexander* recovering from an Injury. > ’V • i'
Huskers set Final Four goals
Soccer team looks ahead after
defeating Notre Dame 2-0
By Brian Christopherson
Staff uniter
It is human nature to consider
last Saturday evening a night of
revenge for the Nebraska soccer
team.
After all, NU had just
whipped and collared the same
Irish team that had stopped them a
shoot-out shy of a Final Four last
season.
Surely there was even a
twinge of satisfaction in each
Comhusker after walking off the
field, but the 2-0 job that NU
pulled on Notre Dame wasn’t
some win-one-for-the-Gipper
attempt to avenge last fall’s
heartache.
Perhaps it was a message sent
to the rest of the country or a
momentum builder for next sea
son.
The only thing known for sure
by Nebraska players and coaches
is that this Husker team is shoot
ing for the sky next fall.
All the close calls to glory of
years past are just a speck in the
rearview mirror now with the
emergence of this Nebraska team
that compiled one ofihe best
spring seasons in school history.
“The national title is definite
ly something you think about,”
sophomore forward Kelly Rheem
said. “I think we’ve played really
well all spring and filled in the
spots we need to.”
NU’s win over the Irish cata
pulted the Huskers to a 3-1-2
spring ending record, with the
lone Toss coming against the
United States Under 21 Team, a
collaboration of all-stars from
^ This has been
one of the most
effective springs
in terms of
results.”
John Walker
NU soccer coach
teams throughout the country.
NU Coach John Walker said
he was greatly satisfied with the
season’s outcome.
“This has been one of the
most effective springs in terms of
results,” Walker said.
“I think this is the first time
that we have not lost to a college
team in the spring and definitely
the first time that we have not
been out-shot by a college team
during the spring.”
Lopsided wins over Iowa (6
0) and Southern California (4-0)
accompany the victory over
UND.
And the ties are nothing to
sneeze at, coming against top-ten
power Florida on the road and
defending national champion
North Carolina at home.
NU outshot the Heels 14-2 in
that match and owned a 22-12
edge over the Gators.
“Putting more shots on net is
something we’ve worked on,”
Rheem said. “We just need to fin
ish a few more opportunities dur
ing the fall.”
Sophomore midfielder
Meghan Anderson said this team
Josh Wolfe/DN
JUNIOR MldfeiMer Jenny Benson fights for control of the ball with
U.S.’s No. 16 In the spring exhibition game April 9 at Abbot Sports
is not lacking in confidence, espe
cially after the team’s recent suc
cess.
“I think we showed ourselves
that we can play with and beat any
team in the country,” Anderson
said. “We had to establish players
to HU in for die loss of four sen
iors, but I think that we did that.”
. Rheem and Anderson believe
that new faces are going to have to
take over leadership roles on the
field next season, and both agreed
that the role already may have
been claimed this spring by junior
Jenny Benson.
“We’re completely different
this season. Last year’s team was
more vocal, and this team leads
more by example on the field,’* „ 4
Please see SOCCER on 14
— SPORTS OPL.._.J—
Beltzer Field
gets no respect
as Nil's ‘mutt’
Matthew Hansen
xxxlt is early May, and Chancellor Search
Party Chairwoman X is showing Prospective
ChancellorY around the University of
Nebraska campus. They are specifically tour
ing the athletic facilities, possibly to divert
attention from the academic facilities.
Whatever the reason, Prospective
Chancellory is duly impressed. He has stood
on the state-of-the-art Fieldturf at Memorial
Stadium and been awed by the history sur
rounding him. He has sat in the chancellor’s
private luxury box near the state-of-the-art
press box at die stadium.
He has admired die sheer brazenness of
the state-of-the-art Huskervision screens at
Memorial and Devaney, although he thinks
they might be a bit tacky.
While standing on the state-of-the-art
track, though, Y notices another athletic field
he hasn’t been introduced to.
“What’s that?” he asks X, his loafers
scratching the soft surface. “The baseball
practice field?”
X stammers, visibly shaken. She mum
bles something about a new facility.
Y can’t quite understand her. Turns out
that this eyesore is Buck Beltzer Field, home
to the Nebraska baseball team. Turns out that
the Huskers will play in a new, state-of-art
Please see BELTZER on 14
