Iwhe Libtgan B ilh PORTSN 4, 4 4 N ~ 44 Shige7ser 3 One-two punch hiw eholds Stickers clinch l as defense [sd esfirst-ever berth gems itself By Dave Roth Daily Sports niter COLUMBUS -As the third seed going into the Big Ten Tournament, the Michigan field hockey could only prove an defense came into Saturday's game against that it was the Big Ten's best one way - beat the No. 2 and reeling, having given up 100 points in its past No. I seed. And the Wolverines did just that. Yesterday at the Ohio State Turf Field, No. 3 seed >lverines have allowed 103 points in their past Michigan scorched No. 2 Iowa 2-1 to capture the Big Ten Tournament and an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament defense regained its September bite Saturday for the first-time ever. ichigan Stadium, holding the Wildcats to 200 On Saturday the Wolverines, who lost to Penn State twice points in a 37-3 whupping of Northwestern. in the regular season, ousted No. 4 Penn State 2-1, on a ed very well," Michigan safety Tommy penalty stroke in double overtime. And Friday, after being "We didn't really do anything differently from down 1-0 and 2-1 against Northwestern, the Wolverines >een doing, but we just executed a lot better." clawed their way to a 4-2 victory to smash the Wildcats' nes began Saturday's game like the previous upset hopes. ibig lead. After the emotional victory over Penn State, Michigan higan entered the lockerroom at halftime up (17-6) came out confident and hungry for a victory against ke the games against the Fighting Illini and Iowa. After the Penn State game, Michigan coach Marcia Volverines didn't surrender that lead. Pankratz felt her team had a great shot to beat the tually outscored the Wildcats, 10-3, in the sec- Hawkeyes. a 37-yard field goal by Tim Long with 6:22 "We're the only team in the nation that has beaten Iowa, quarter kept the defense from notching a rare and Iowa knows it, so it's going to be another barn burner" E Pankratz said. pointing not to get the shutout," cornerback The barn was certainly burned. aid. "They made a couple of-good plays to get In the first half, junior midfielder Courtney Reid broke ut I think we played well besides that." away from the pack and fired a shot on Iowa goalie Kelly n defense wasn't the only unit to play well Druley. Druley denied her, and also turned away three vestern. The offense proceeded to rack up Michigan penalty corner opportunities. ts against the Wildcats, compiling 449 yards After turning aside yet another shot by Jessie Veith, Kelli r Gannon took a pass from sophomore Catherine Foreman r David Terrell provided the spark needed for and rifled it into the cage to score with 13:32 to play in the to dominate. Terrell, Michigan's leading first, finally penetrating the Iowa goalkeeper for her fifth e team with five receptions for 71 yards, goal of the tournament. yard touchdown pass from Tom Brady in the The shot pumped up Michigan, and the Wolverines came open the scoring. y back down to Iowa's goal area hungry for more, Their crave impact on the game wasnot limited to the was satisfied. On a penalty corner with 12:01 left in the half, See WILDCATS, Page 5B3 freshman Jessica Rose pounced on the ball and skidded it DAVID KATZ/Day into the goal to take a 2-0 lead. Members of the Michigan field hockey team revel in their first-ever Big Ten tournament championship. The Wolverines beat See STICKERS, Page 2 Iowa, 24, in the championship game yesterday to wrap up the first NCAA Tournament berth in the program's history. Michigan beats Penn State, wins Big Ten tourney By Matthew Barbas Daily Sports Writer BLOOMINGTON - The Michigan soccer team's coming out party in this year's Big Ten Tournament might have never happened had a coin flipped.in the other direction. In the Wolverines' first round matchup, the team with the wind seemed to be playing downhill. By winning the coin toss in overtime, Michigan uti- lized the wind and advanced to the next round. In yesterday's championship game against top- seeded Penn State, Michigan put on a clinic, win- ning 4-2. The game served as a statement to the nation that the Wolverines belong among the nation's elite. "This kind of victory is important," Michigan coach Debbie Belkin said, "Teams aren't going to take us lightly." The game started off with a championship feel- ing. In just the fourth minute of play, Big Ten play- er and freshman of the year Christie Welsh caught Michigan goalie Carissa Stewart out of position with a lob towards the goal. But defender Vicky Whitley lunged into the picture, keeping the game scoreless. Two minutes later, striker Abby Crumpton knocked an Emily Schmitt shot from 16 yards out off the right post and into the net. Led by Shannon Poole, the Michigan defense smothered Penn State's first-half offensive attack, limiting the Nittany Lions to just three shots. A Schmitt free-kick from 35 yards out resulted in Michigan's second goal of the game at the 31- minute mark. The header was Kacy Beitel's fourth goal of the tournament. Both teams started off flying in the second half. In just the second minute, Schmitt challenged Penn State goalie Emily Olesiuk with a shot from six yards out. One minute later, Colleen Kaufold's shot clanged off the Michigan crossbar. As in the first half, the Wolverines capitalized early on their opportunities. In the 10th minute, Crumpton drove the ball into Penn State territory and released a shot from twenty-yards out. The screened shot blazed into the left side of the net. Despite a three-goal lead, Michigan's attack stubbornly continued. In the game's 73rd minute, Crumpton found Beitel streaking towards the goal. Beitel took the through ball, drove towards the goal, and knocked the ball around Olesiuk. Up by an insurmountable four goals, the Wolverines finally exhaled. The Nittany Lions seized the opportunity, earning a penalty kick less then 40 seconds after Michigan's fourth goal. Courtney Lawson scored on the penalty kick. It took one more Penn State goal less then a minute later for Michigan to focus back on control of the game. "Overall, our team was incredible," Beitel said. "We are proud of ourselves." The Wolverines drew a home match on See KICKERS, Page 2B MARJORIE MARSHALL/Dadiy Abby Crumpton scored two goals and Kacy Beltel added two more to lead Michigan past Penn State in the Big Ten Tournament final yesterday. Blue lcers celebrate in high-scoring fashion By Uma Subramanian Daily Sports Writer COLUMBUS - Sean Peach didn't celebrate his 21st birthday in the most conventional way. But he didn't seem to mind. Instead of a traditional trip to the bars, Peach and the Michigan hockey team demolished Ohio State (1-6 CCHA, 2-8 overall) in a home-and-home series, winning 6-1 on Friday and 8-4 on Saturday. The games featured a strange turn of events that began when the ram- bunctious fans at Yost Ice Arena sere- naded Peach on Friday and ended in a barroom-esque brawl Saturday that caused six game disqualifications. By the way, fans, he heard you. "This was awesome," Peach said after Friday's victory. "These are the only fans in the world that have sung me a birthday song. I heard everyone singing my song and I'm back there. I got the Not only did the fans provide some birthday cheer, they also displayed an intensity that made Yost rock. In return, they were rewarded with hard-hitting and spirited hockey. At Ohio State, on the other hand, the stands couldn't have been more than a third full, but Saturday's crowd saw a game that was one for the ages. In the third period of the game, all hell broke loose. At the start of the peri- od, Michigan (4-1-0, 7-1-0) was riding a 6-4 lead, but the Buckeyes were still in the contest. Then a Michigan penalty gave Ohio State a power play opportuni- ty. But for the second time that night, Michigan forward Scott Matzka notched a short-handed goal when he zoomed around defenders and fired a shot past the Buckeyes' backup goalie, Peter Wishloff - starter Ray Aho was pulled for allowing 12 goals in two down the ice. The puck took a strange bounce and flew over the goaltender's shoulder just one second after Matzka's goal. It was Michigan's third short- handed goal of the game. "When you get out there on the penalty kill, you work harder than the powerplay guys because you're up against it," Michigan coach Red Berenson said. "Matzka had a real good game penalty killing and skating well. (Jed) Ortmeyer made a great play to" get him the puck. "Bobby Gassoff's long shot was just a fluke," Berenson said. "He was shooting it down the ice, it took a bad bounce and went in. You'll see one of those every ten years." With Michigan up by four goals, the Buckeyes' became desperate. They had- n't won a conference game in over a month and they took it out on the Wolverines. 11 prouaV iU LKI. IAnnoiuLgn that L UUsn t meanIItney In L as BacU I Iwm