Tuesday, November 30, 1999 - The Michigan Daily - 13 Desperation pushes 'M' to victory By Geoff Gagnon Daily Sports Writer They were desperate. Desperate for a win, desperate to break out of a scoring slump, desperate for just about any sort of sign that hope was on the way. Saturday's non-conference test with 1eisconsin was Michigan's biggest bat- t of the season so far, made impor- tant by the extremes to which three home losses can dampen a young squad's confidence. On a team that's grown accustomed to winning, and in a building that's grown so supportive of its team, losing is something taken seriously by coach Red Berenson's squad and something almost unexpected by the fans at Yost Arena. So it's not difficult to imagine what three home losses can do to a team that hadn't lost that many consecutive games at home since before the fall of the Berlin Wall Eleven seasons, nine NCAA Tournament berths and two national championships after the 1988- 89 season saw the Wolverines drop four games at home, Michigan was looking to put an end to a three-game skid this weekend. hat stumble included a sweep by conference foe Lake Superior State before being steamrolled 6-1 by Minnesota to open the 1999 College Hockey Showcase. All of this at home, a place where the Wolverines lost only four games all year last season, a place where the 1996-97 Wolverines never lost. Michigan was desperate. "We had to battle and they had to come out and show their parents and the fans and everyone else that they're a better team," Berenson said. And that challenge showed on the faces of players like captain Sean Peach, who led his team from its pre- game huddle in the Michigan net knowing it was a game his team simply had to win. Forget records and conference standings, statistic totals and playoff points. Michigan's game Saturday night against Wisconsin was about restoring a team's confidence and set- ting a tone for the rest of the season. And Michigan understood that. "There's a lot of desperation coming in on a three-game slide," freshman Mark Mink said. "We were focused and we knew what we had to do." That desperate need to win was evi- dent in the way Michigan clawed its way back from behind early in the game to dismantle a Wisconsin offense with an inspiring defensive effort that held the Badgers to just two shots in the third period. "All year we've been a good third period team," Peach said. "So maybe that's our secret to success, to be able to win the third period. We definitely did suck it up as a team to do the little things that we had to." And that's what made the difference for Michigan on Saturday. Desperate times pushed this Michigan squad to sometimes use des- perate measures-none more desper- ate than those of Peach in the second period. Peach's acrobatic effort to save a Wisconsin goal with sheer will and the blade of his skate exemplified just what Saturday's game meant to the captain and his Wolverine teammates. Already trailing in the game, Peach threw his body in front of a Michigan net left ungua ded as netminder L.J. Scarpace was racing to return to his post. "That's desperation right there," Peach said. "It came at a time when they were already up 1-0 and if that puck goes in suddenly it's 2-0. I just happened to get in front of it. I dove in front of the net and it hit off my skate. I was lucky." And as Peach leads his team to 4K 4< Sy- . 9 K!MITSU YOGACHi/Day Jed Ortmeyer and the Wolverines had their backs to the wall this weekend, but they responded with an emotion-packed victory against Wisconsin. TOURNEY Continued from Page 11 Michigan did so while ranked sec- ond-to-last in the conference with what appeared to be no chance at a postseason berth. "We could have very easily said, 'Well let's just sit at the bottom of the Big Ten and throw the towel in,"' Maxwell said. "But we all love to compete and play, so we all stuck in there for that reason." Another big factor in the Wolverines' selection was their non- conference record. Michigan upset then-No. 7 Brigham Young to start off its season and then upset Arkansas - ranked 16th at the time - five matches later en route to an 8-1 non-conference record. A 4-12 Big Ten record and a five- match losing streak seemed to doom Michigan to a losing record and no chance at the NCAA Tournament. But the resiliency that had been Michigan's trademark all season finally translated into wins, as a 3-1 finish brought them to a 7-13 record in what is regarded as the nation's toughest volleyball conference. "We've worked extremely hard these last couple weeks and we didn't have to," outside hitter Nicole Kacor said. "We continued to play hard throughout the whole year. It's a big relief that everything paid off." The bid is the first since the Wolverines' initial bid in '97. That squad finished with a 13-7 Big Ten record, but was 21-12 overall. That team defeated Temple in five games to advance to the second round of the tournament, but was swept by Texas A&M the next night to end Michigan's season. The tournament selection tops off the Wolverines' first winning season since '97. But the Wolverines said they weren't nervous or overly antic- ipating what will be for most of them their first tournament experience. "At this point anything can happen and often does," Rosen said. Bowling Green this weekend to face the Falcons, maybe the Wolverines will see that the real luck was in going through an educational losing streak. "We regrouped and we came out with more determination," Scarpace said of his team's 4-1 win over Wisconsin. In bonding together when times seemed tough, maybe the young Michigan squad learned more about itself in losing than they could have in winning. It's still unknown if despera- tion has made Michigan a more focused squad. What the Wolverines proved with certainty was that when the outlook seemed bleak and forecast looked treacherous, Michigan could deliver its best. Hokies a Sugar Bowl lock; Michigan slides up to No. 9 The Associated Press Book it: No. 1 Florida State vs. No. 2 Virginia Tech in the Sugar Bowl on Jan. 4. In what will become a perfect ending to a perfect regular season, Virginia Tech is certain to hold off Nebraska in the final Bowl Championship Series stand- ings, setting up a No. I vs. No. 2 game for the national title in New Orleans. The Hokies (11-0) increased their sec- ond-place lead over the Huskers from .63 points to 1.54 points in the latest BCS standings released yesterday. The final BCS standings,. which determines the teams that will play in its title game, will be released Dec. 5. The advantage, according to one com- puter expert, is all but impossible to overcome - even if Nebraska routs Texas in Saturday's Big 12 Conference title game in San Antonio. "There's no suspense," Chicago-based computer expert Jerry Palm said. "if Nebraska wins 50-0, I'm not sure that could overtake Virginia Tech" From the start of the Hokies-Huskers points battle, Virginia Tech coach Frank Beamer has been confident the top teams would end up in the national title game. But until the final results are in, he's not taking anything for granted. "There's too much invested in the BCS so that the two best teams will play," Beamer said. "I personally think one of the teams has to be Virginia Tech. "With all the hard work by our coach- es and all the hard work by our players, I would be devastated if we did not make it" The BCS standings are based on a formula that considers The Associated Press media poll and the USA Today/ESPN coaches' poll, eight com- puter rankings, strength of schedule and losses. Florida State and Virginia Tech are I- 2 in the AP poll and the coaches poll. Nebraska (10-1) blew its chance to stay close to Virginia Tech by barely beating unranked Colorado 33-30 in overtime last Friday. The Hokies, mean- while, rolled to a 38-14 win over then- No. 22 Boston College. The results lowered the Hokies' com- puter average and raised the Huskers' average. Tech's strength of schedule went from 66th toughest to 54th. Florida State (11-0), which locked up first place two weeks ago with a 30-23- win over Florida, has 2.24 points - I for poll average, I for computer rank average, 0.24 for strength of schedule and zero for losses. Bowl Championship Series standings AP 1. Florida State 1 2. Virginia Tech 2 3. Nebraska 3 4. Florida 5 5. Tennessee 6 6. Kansas State 8 7. Alabama 7 8. Wisconsin 4 9. Michigan 9 10. Michigan St. 10 11. Texas 12 12. Marshall 11 13. Penn State. 14 14. Minnesota 13 15. Texas A&M 18 Explanation Key Poll U-E 1 2 3 5 6 7 8 4 9 10 12 11 17 13 14 Avg. 1.00 2.00 3.00 5.00 6.00 7.50 7.50 4.00 9 00 10.00 12.00 11.00 15.50 13.00 16.00 Comp Avg. 1.00 2.00 2.86 6.00 5.57 4.57 7 00 7.71 8.57 7.86 13.00 14.71 11.14 16.71 15.43 Schedule Str Rank 6 0.24 54 2.16 21 0.84 12 0.48 14 0.56 63 2.52 1 0.04 74 2.96 3 0.12 10 0.40206 24 0.96289 98 3.92 9 0.36 52 2.08 28 1.12 Tot. 2.24 6.16 7,70 13.48 14.13 15.59 16.54 16.67 19.69 20.26 28.96 29.63 30.00 34.79 35.55 Poli Average - The average of The Associated Press media poll and USA Today-ESPN coaches poll. Computer Average - The average of Richard Billingsley, Dunkel Index, Kenneth Massey, New York Times, David Rothman, Jeff Sagarin, Matthews/Scripps-Howard and the Hester & Anderson/Seattle Times, rankings. The computer component will be determined by averaging the seven highest computer rankings. Schedule Rank - Rank of schedule strength compared to other Division [A teams divided by 25. This component is calculated by determining the cumulative won/loss records of the team's opponent (66.6 percent) and the cumulative won/loss records of the team's opponent's opponents (33.3 percent). Losses - One point for each loss during the season. For a possible explanation of why species become extinct, see... AP PHOTO Peter Warrick and the 'Notes will play Virginia Tech in the Sugar Bowl on Jan. 4. I UNIVERSITY ACTIVITIES CENTER I AWARENESS WEEK SYMPOSIUM PRESENTED BY DAC SPEAKER INITIATIVE she never thought it could happen to her. and then it did. jennifer directed blood lines, mtv 's award-winning documentary about living with hiv. MOHAN I II El D A I -A I M l R 6 lr m LO 11 J4 C as seen on the real world san francisco, mohammed is a poet, musician and writer. he travels across the country to educate today's public on hiv and aids awareness.