Dayton Daily News from Dayton, Ohio • 4

SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 11, 199421 v- "I i Ail i ID INSIDE Sports OUTDOORS6 AUTO RACING7 SCOREBOARD12 Doric Bengals' Coach Dave Shula Is looking to stop San Diego running game5 1 jV) aecliez Vkairii daims pee 1 Men' final: Michael Stich (4), Germany, vs. Andre Agassi, Las Vegas Time: 4 p.m. TV: Channel 7 13 ri I til r. Vicario came back to the stadium and reached the women's doubles final with Jana Novotna in a 7-6 (7-3), 6-2 victory over Gabriela Sabatini and Larisa Nei-land. Sanchez Vicario and Novotna will play today against Katerina Maleeva and Robin White.

Agassi's victory over Michael Chang, a five-set war of wills, convinced him he could win this tournament, and now he is just one match away from that goal. If he wins, he would become just the third unseeded player to win the U.S. Nationals and the third to win it one year after being eliminated in the first round. "It's not a question of proving anything," he said. "Expectations have nothing to do with it.

I want this because I want this. I'll do everything in my power to win it." The first unseeded man to knock off three seeds in the U.S. championships was Francis X. Shields in 1930. His granddaughter, actress Brooke Shields, has been rooting Agassi through his unlikely romp through this tournament.

Graf, who missed a tuneup event before the Open because of back spasms related to a stress fracture, put on a brilliant performance in the first set. Unseeded Agassi meets Stich in final NEW YORK (AP) Arantxa Sanchez Vicario's obsession to become No. 1, a yearning that led her to a sports psychologist and a new trainer six months ago, paid off Saturday in a stunning triumph of will over Steffi Graf for the U.S. Open championship. Andre Agassi beat Todd Martin 6-3, 4-6, 6-2, 6-3 In the men's semifinals, setting up a title match today against Michael Stich, a 7-5, 6-3, 7-6 (7-4) winner over KarelNovacek.

But it was the women's final that ranked among the best of the Open era, when Sanchez Vicario re-: peatedly showed a refusal to lose even when shots seemed far out of her reach. That never was more evident than in the last game when she earned one of three match points, sprinting diagonally across the court in a desperate chase for Grafs dying drop volley. Lunging at the last moment, Sanchez Vicario scooped up the ball as her racket scraped the ground and lofted a backhand lob over Grafs head into the corner. It was that kind of effort, more than the sudden flare-up of Grafs sore back in the middle of the second set, that enabled Sanchez Vicario to turn a rout into a classic comeback and a 1-6, 7-6 (7-3), 6-4 victory for her first U.S. Open title.

She also became the first Spanish woman champion in the 108-year history of the U.S. national women's singles. Two Spanish men, Manuel Santana in 1965 and Manuel Orantes in 1975, won the U.S. men's singles title. Sanchez Vicario, 22, who won her second French Open title in June, earned $550,000 for the victory, giving her more than $7.3 million in career earnings.

Graf, 25, picked up $275,000 to put her total prize money at $14.6 million. A few hours after taking the singles title, Sanchez 9K A ASSOCIATED PRESS lVi 1 Arantxa Sanchez Vicario was not to be denied SEE 0PEN8D UAB Mazes past slow i 1 5 HJB dleffemse The Flyers matched UAB's 11 first downs but were outgained 228-1 62 in total offense. UAB scored on three of its first '1 four possessions. Dayton was able to move the football, but three i turnovers were costly. I Receiving the opening the Flyers marched 45 yards before! stalling at the UAB 32 where they lost the ball on downs.

Then UAB put together a yard scoring drive that began with three runs by Davis and ended' i- on j. 1 I r7 ys i (- W- I 1 I ByBuckyAlbers DAYTON DAILY NEWS Unable to cope with the speed and passing game of Alabama-Birmingham, the University of Dayton Flyers trailed the Blazers 21-7 after three quarters of their football game before a crowd of 10,112 at Welcome Stadium Saturday night. UAB quarterback John Whit-comb fired two 27-yard passes to Derrick Ingram, and tailback Robert Davis scored on a one-yard run as the the Blazers threatened to stop Dayton's string of 37 straight regular season victories at Welcome. Quarterback Brian Kadel ran four yards for Dayton's TD in the third quarter. Whitcomb completed 11 of 19 passes for 176 yards before inter-.

mission as the Flyers had difficulty covering his receivers. GARY NUIIN SPORTS COLUMNIST Michigan kicker boots demons, awakens echoes OUTH BEND, Ind. Remy Hamilton was the biggest flop of spring foo- tall practice at the University of Michigan. "He never made a kick," said his kicking coach, Mike DeBord. fin the spring game, he missed an extra point and a field goal that wpuldhavewonit." f'My mind was just not in it at all," Hamilton said.

"Then I totally lost my confidence." Short of breaking a leg, not much else could go wrong for a kicker. he left school for summer break, Hamilton didn't even figure in Michigan's plans for the fall. Erik LovelL a senior from Bea-vercreek, had a great spring and the job was But he went home to Boca Raton, Remy Hamilton did, and every morning of the summer, he rousted his parents out of bed at 10 o'clock, dragged them to the park and while his father, Harry, held for him, his mother, Dianne, shagged. tried probably 40 or 50 field goals a day, plus 10 kickoffs," Remy Hamilton said. "It took about an hour, an hour-and-a-half." Vastly improved when he re-f 1 SEE NUHN2D Michigan with Whir.rnmh t.nssinir 27-vnrd pass to Ingram, wno maae a caving catch in the end zone with 5:43 re- maining in the first quarter.

The Flyers answered with an lm- pressive drive from their 20 to UAB 28, but Kadel's pass intended Matt Youne was intercented bv OSU miscues deadly in loss to Washington Notre Dame quarterback Ron Powlus threw his second TD pass to ASSOCIATED PRESS give the Irish a 24-23 lead Powlus field goal UAB defensive back Faruq Burns. SEE UD4D have scored and didn't," said OSU quarterback Bobby Hoying, who threw for 288 yards, but overthrew Chris Sanders twice on long plays that might have gone for touchdowns and underthrew Buster Tillman once in a similar But it was more than that. "I was disappointed in the way we played," OSU Coach John Coo-per said. "I thought we'd play better than that. We made about ev-' ery mistake you can make in the kicking game, including on the opening kickoff." Yep, that's a good place to start.

Ohio State was penalized 15 yards for an illegal block on the opening kickoff and had to start at its seven instead of the 23. It got so bad, Washington rolled up a 22-0 lead with Kaufman Washington's Heisman Hopeful gaining 181 yards and scoring one touchdown in the first half. Ohio State mostly blundered therest. SEE 0SU4D Progress: There were no negotiating sessions, but there were two small side meetings between owners and player representatives. Acting commissioner Bud Selig reiterated that no decision has been made on whether to cancel the season.

Fan reaction: "The owners should give the players more money because it could hurt the season and they did their best." Elizabeth Kolp, Kettering On Newsline: Tell us what you think about the baseball strike. Call 463-4636 and enter code 3031. We'll publish some of your comments. kick, but the game wasn't over until the Wolverines squibbed a kickoff and tackled Notre Dame's Pete Chryplewicz as time expired. Hamilton, a sophomore who booted only one field goal last season, made two 32-yarders and a 35-yarder against Notre Dame before his game-winning attempt.

Michigan has been victimized by several Notre Dame comebacks since the series resumed in 1978, including a late touchdown pass by Rick Mirer in 1990. But this time it was the Wolverines (2-0) staging the amazing last-minute rally to beat the Irish (1-1) for only the second time since 1987. Powlus, who threw four TD passes in his debut against Northwestern last week, was 15-of-27 for 187 yards and two touchdowns. Collins SOUTH BEND, Ind. (AP) Remy Hamilton kicked his fourth field goal, a 42-yarder with 2 seconds left Saturday, to give sixth-ranked Michigan a 26-24 victory over No.

3 Notre Dame in a sensational seesaw game. Ron Powlus, Notre Dame's highly touted sophomore quarterback, looked like he would be the hero after throwing a 7-yard touchdown pass to Derrick Mayes with 52 seconds left that put the Irish ahead 24-23. But Todd Collins, Michigan's senior quarter- back, came up with some heroics of his own. Collins opened the winning drive with a 15-yard run, then completed three passes as Michigan drove to the Notre Dame 24 before Hamilton bopted his final field goal Michigan fans stormed the field after the for 224 yards and one TD. trailed 23-17 after Hamilton third field goal with 2:15 remaining.

led the Irish on a quick scoring Michael Miller returned the kickoff Michigan 36. Hamilton's field goals were set up by Irish tailback Lee Becton, who all last season. Becton hadn't in 233 carries since the Michigan early in the 1992 season. two touchdowns came on a 10-yard Tim Biakabutuka and a 3-yard Collins to Jay Riemersma. took the opening kickoff and the Michigan 15, where Stefan kicked a 32-yard field goaL By Marc Katz DAYTON DAILY NEWS SEATTLE, Wash.

The Ohio State Buckeyes pointed some fingers late Saturday afternoon, all at themselves. They blew it, and they knew it. Of course, they had some help on a sunny day at Husky Stadium on the banks of Lake Washington. Napoleon Kauffman had a lot to say about Washington's 25-16 victory over the Buckeyes in front of ,70,861 fans. And then there were several marginal calls by the officials.

But the overriding theme was sloppy play, most of it by Ohio State, which leveled the Buckeyes to 1-1 and lifted Washington to the same mark. Any way you look at it and some of the officials must have been watching from the downtown Space Needle the Buckeyes' late comeback attempt was aborted by their early ineptitude. "Countless times, we should At times they say the union is wrong and at other times they say the effect would be minimal. Will Selig announce this week that the season is called off? Possibly. Then what? Either talks will break off or they will continue.

What happens if they break off? If the postseason isn't played, the sides could wind up litigating for several years and the union would push for the establishment of a new league. And if talks don't break off? Negotiations will continue. bests Irish, televise the games. What is going on now? The sides are continuing to talk outside formal bargaining sessions. About what? Variations of the union's proposal.

But doesn't the union say it never will accept a cap? Yes, but Colorado Rockies chairman Jerry McMorris and Boston Red Sox chief executive officer John Harrington appear interested in talking about a deal that wouldn't include a cap. Selig has said a cap is necessary. Doesn't he get the final say? was 21-of-29 Notre Dame kicked his But Powlus drive after 55 yards to the Two of fumbles by didn't fumble lost a fumble State game Michigan's run by pass from Notre Dame drove to Schroffner Even if strike ends, questions about rest of season abound NEW YORK (AP) Questions and answers about the baseball strike: Is there a chance the rest of the season will be played? It diminishes each day, according to union head Donald Fehr. When will a decision be made? Acting commissioner Bud Se-lig says early this week, but the union says it will continue talking as long as management is willing to listen. Can the postseason be played It's unclear who gets the final say.

Twenty-one clubs are needed to approve a settlement. Then what are McMorris and Harrington doing? Possibly trying to put together a plan with the union that could get the support of enough clubs. Is there any chance the union would agree to a cap? The players say never. They say it would scuttle free agency, because all clubs at or close to the cap would be unable to sign top free agents. What is the owners' response to that? HAL MCCOY C0LUMN4D without finishing the regular season? Selig says no, but he has changed his mind about many matters in the past.

How late can the sides reach an agreement that would allow the postseason to be played? It's really up to ABC and NBC, the networks scheduled to.