The Michigan Daily - SPORTSMonday - November 10, 1997 - 78 DIig Ten tourney: ticket to NCAAs By Andy Latack Daily Sports Writer BLAINE, Minn. - On the surface, every team at the 1997 Big Ten soccer tournament wanted to win the champi- onship, simply for pride's sake. But, in its run to the championship this week- e Michigan accomplished something fa, reater - the right to keep playing this season. When- the NCAA Selection Committee announces its bids to the NCAA tournament tomorrow, the Wolverines - as the Big Ten tourna- ment champions - will be among them. Along with this automatic bid givi to the tournament's winner, the contmitfee distributes 16 at-large bids -pmary focus for all the teams that di not make it to yesterday's champi- onship game. ' Depending on their regular season finish, Big Ten teams held different out- looks yesterday regarding their post- season futures. Minnesota, the confer- ence's regular-season champion and top seed in the tournament, was crushed following Saturday's 3-2 semifinal loss to upstart Northwestern. bile the defeat, coming in a s tout after two overtine periods, ''as hard to swallow for the Gophers, they were clearly optimistic about their NCAA tournament prospects. "I'm really confident that we'll get a bid," -Minnesota senior midfielder Jennifer. McElmury said. "They (the selection committee) don't just look at this weekend, they've got to look at consistency over the whole year. TITLE Continued from Page lB upper right corner of the net just beyond Northwestern goalie Wendy Scholz's reach. It wasbonly fitting that Berendowsky, who set the Big Ten record for points in a season with her performance this week- end,.was the deciding factor. he was shut down, and she didn't have any good chances all day," Belkin said of Berendowsky, who was the focus of opponents' defenses the entire week- end "But when great players get that one shot, they'll make good on it." The game was a battle from the outset, with both teams capturing momentum and using it to lauch a barrage of shots at the opposing goaltender. Scholz, voted A nd team All-Big Ten, and Michigan ie Carissa Stewart each turned away numerous opportunities to ensure that the game remained scoreless. With just five seconds left in the sec- ond half, Scholz thwarted Michigan for- ward Kacy Beitel's breakaway attempt, sending the game into overtime. Scholz, who holds Big Ten game, season and career records for saves, was virtually perfect on the day, recording 15. "1 don't think anyone was expecting us Veat Minnesota and give Michigan Univer Indo 1997-9# JOGGING MEMBERSHIP Members may use the University o Seniors get shot at championship By Jacob R.Wheeler Daily Sports Writer BLAINE, Minn. - Sports isn't always fair to great players who may never play in a championship game - no matter how long and illustrious their careers are. But Michigan seniors Ruth Poulin, Debbie Flaherty and Karen Montgomery will leave their college soccer careers after this season knowing they played on a championship team. No matter how the Wolverines fare in the upcoming NCAA tournament, these seniors can attest to their moments in the sun. "This was my goal,' said Flaherty, a team captain and four-year starter. "When I first came to this program, I knew it would start out slowly and hope- fully end like this. We've already done a lot of firsts this year, but I wanted to go out with something like this." Flaherty's goal was a long way from reality when she first came to Michigan four years ago. In their inaugural sea- son, the Wolverines won only one con- ference game and didn't approach respectability until finishing 3-3 last year. Michigan advanced to the tourna- ment semifinals in 1994 and '96, but championships were out of the question. This year, things were different from the get-go. The Wolverines won a team record 15 games and finished second in the Big Ten with a 7-1-1 record. Appropriately, the first freshman class was still around for Michigan's first shot at a championship. "This tournament meant so much because if we lost, it could have been the last collegiate game that I ever played," said Poulin, not knowing if Michigan would receive an NCAA tournament bid. But not all Big Ten seniors were it lucky as Poulin. Players like Olio State's Jodie Stranges and Penn Statc s Rachel Hoffman played their last colIk giate games last weekend. This season, Stranges and Hoffman were both All- Big Ten first team selections for the third-consecutive year. But neither one had the benefit of a supporting cast of underclassmen like Michigan's Amber Berendowsky, Kacy Beitel or Erin Gilhart. "It's frustrating," said Stranges, after Ohio State's first-round loss to Michigan. "We've given these teams a good game during the season, and we've beaten them in the seasons before. It's just come tournament time, it's never really gone our way." Ohio State hasn't had any success against the Wolverines in the postsea- son. Despite beating it in three-straight regular season games, the Buckeyes fell to Michigan in each of the last two opening rounds of the tournament. The Nittany Lions have seen the tour- nament semifinals a couple times, but they never played in a championship game. Unlike Michigan, Penn State has been successful since its inception, holding an all-time record of 44-16-4, but the Wolverines have done a lot more than the Lions in the postseason. "Emotionally, this is a really tough loss because this is our fourth year like Michigan," Penn State coach Pat Farmer said. "We have 10 seniors that started the program, and this was probably their last game." PAUL TALANIAN/Ually Amber Berendowsky scored the game-winning double-overtime goal to give the Wolverines the Big Ten tournament title. "Our record shows that we're a con- sistent team, so we should be in the tournament." Minnesota could afford to be opti- mistic, because their undefeated confer- ence record and 16-3-1 mark overall makes it very likely that they will play in, and possibly even host, a first-round NCAA game next weekend. "Now, we don't have to go out tomor- row and get kicked around playing another 90 minutes," Minnesota coach Sue Montagne said with a laugh. "I'm trying to look at this loss in a positive light." On the other hand, the fifth-seeded Wildcats, after pulling off the stunning upset of the Gophers, celebrated their victory with caution. Finishing the sea- son 4-5 in the conference, the Wildcats were aware that winning the tourna- ment was possibly the only way they such a game - except us," Scholz said. Scholz was largely responsible for the Wildcats' improbable victory over the top-ranked Golden Gophers on Saturday in a shootout. After Minnesota took a 2- 0 lead in the semifinal match, Scholz shut down the Gophers and gave the Wildcats a chance to come back. The Wildcats responded with two goals to send the game into an overtime. Despite dominating both 15 minute overtimes, Minnesota was unable to fin- ish off the fourth-seeded Wildcats. Unlike the stunned Gophers, Michigan's ride to the championship game was a little easier. The Wolverines dominated Friday's match against Ohio State, allowing only one shot on goal the entire game. Saturday's matchup against No. 3 seed Penn State featured the rematch of a 0-0 tie earlier in the season. The Nittany Lions scored first midway through the first half, but Michigan was not to be denied a trip to the finals. Five minutes after Penn State notched the first goal, Berendowsky sped around the last line of Lion defenders and deliv- ered a centering pass that Jessica Limauro chipped in to tie the game. The Wolverines dominated from that point on, adding two second-half goals to ice the game. would continue playing in the post-sea- son. "It's hard for me to believe that (this win) happened, but we've got to turn our focus to the championship game," said freshman forward Brooke Bell, who booted the Wildcats' game-win- ning goal in the shootout. "We didn't win anything yet, it's just the semifi- nals." When Northwestern fell to Michigan in yesterday's championship game, Northwestern coach Marcia McDermott was left hoping for the best. "I feel we've made a case for a bid, but we haven't made a definitive one," McDermott said. "After making it to the finals of the Big Ten tournament, it's definitely possible. It's a selection committee with enormous integrity, and it's out of our hands right now," she said. With their loss yesterday, Northwestern joined Penn State as a team that now must keep their fingers crossed until tomorrow. Penn State coach Pat Farmer sees his team's tournament hopes as slim after a semifinal loss to Michigan. "We felt we had to win the tournament to get a bid," Farmer said. "With only 16 at-large berths and six regions, you'd better be in the top two or three in your region, and we are not. "The seniors certainly went away from this hoping that it wasn't their last game, but thinking that it was," Farmer said. Farmer and McDermott must now wait until tomorrow to learn if their team has any post-season obligations. Michigan, by virtue of its performance this weekend, simply waits to find out when and where. kL FA Volunteers for Sleep Research Studies Men and Women (ages 18-60) Who Have: No Difficulty in Sleeping Men and Women (ages 21-55) Who Do Have: Difficulty in Sleeping AtNI iI lYE RSARY '10FOR Li sCOu!I'rs 01', ALL !LOTIOI IS sity of Michigan or Track Bu 8 Jogging Membe ilding rships "'1 L ow Volunteers needed for a study of the common cold on sleep. (You do not need to have a cold in order to participate) Wanted: Men and Women (ages 18-45) No difficult sleeping. Must have blood test to determine eligibility If you meet the requirements you must be available for 5 consecutive days within 2 months of eligibility to stay at the sleep disorders center. At: Henry Ford Hospital Sleep Center (New Center Area) Call: (313) 664-3585 Indicate Which Study you are interested in. Participants will be paid at Inyu * Economic Principles I and II * Intermediate Macro and Micro Economics " Statistics and Econometrics * Money and Banking * International Finance " Mathematics for Economics New York University has one of the largest summer Nov.10th-20th only *limit 1 with ad - Cash only valid photo ID required unused tans expire 12/31/97 ANN ARBOR SALINE 627 S. Main 533 E. Michigan Ave. 213-2279 429-5635 Mon - Fri 9 - Midnight Mon - Fri 9-10 Sat 10-7 * Sun 10-5 Sat 9-6 - Sun 9-5 ----- -_- "- MORGAN STANLEY PSM )f Michigan Indoor Track Building during building hours, October 1, 1997 through April 15, 1998. MEMBERSHIP FEES Student $30 e Faculty / Staff $48 " Public $60 UILDING HOURS ottday through Friday ....................am - 1pm RMonday, Wednesday and Friday.............7pm - 10pm Saturday and Sunday...................7am - 1pm Building hours will be affected by athletic and other events in the facility. FOR INFORMATION CALL 763-5088 TICKET INFORMATION 1998 NCAA ICE HOCKEY CHAMPIONSHIP WEST REGIONAL March 27 - 28, 1998 " Yost Ice Arena Cordially invites students of all majors to attend a presentation on the Investment Banking Financial Analyst Program November 10, 1997 7:00-9:00 PM Michigan Union ( Pendleton Room)