I he fitchtgatt Dailly ri .cor/sjorts P OR T S sports desk@umic h. eau I DF WEDNESDAY NOVEMBER 7, 2001 1 Stickers set to host Tar Heels By Blake Fillion Daily Sports Writer For the first time in the history of Michigan field hockey, it will be hosting an NCAA regional. Joining the Wolverines in Ann Arbor will be North Carolina, Michigan State and Kent State. "We're thrilled" Sophomore forward April Fronzoni said."This is a little shocking, but a great opportunity and it couldn't of come at a better time:' "I'm very excited to be playing at home," Tasch said "I'm from Ann OCKER Arbor and having some of my family Who: Michigan (42 Big and friends there will be great." North Carolina (4-3, 13- The Wolverines have struggled over when: 11 a.m. the past four weeks, managing just a 4- Latest: After two yearsc 3 record. Last weekend against Ohio field hockey team has a State, Michigan suffered its first loss in ture its first national cha three seasons of Big Ten Tournament competition. After a disappointing season, the Wolverines look to rebound with a successful post- season run. "We were meant to learn some lessons early this season" Fronzoni said "But it's better to have learned them before the tournament." "We had some glitches, but we've been working on them all season" goalie Maureen Tasch said. "We're prepared for anything." Action will begin Saturday morning at 11 a.m. when Michigan plays North Carolina. The Tar Heels, the fourth seed in the tournament, are the top seed in the section of the NCAA Tournament being hosted in Ann Arbor. This will be the second meeting this season between the Wolverines and the Tar Heels. At the Temple Invitational in early September, Michigan fell in overtime 2-1 in a competi- tive match. "Carolina's a great program" Fronzoni said, "We played a tough-fought match earlier in the season and we're excited to play them once again. We out-shot them and out-cornered them, so we're feeling good." "It was a tough, tough game," said Catherine Foreman "But we're looking good." In the second round-of-16 matchup, Michigan State will take on Kent State at 2 p.m. "This will be wonderful and very exciting" coach Marcia Pankratz said, "These are four really tight teams in ability, and this will be a great hockey event." The Wolverines are viewing this tournament as a new sea- son and an opportunity to make up for some difficulties ear- lier in the season. "This is the absolute best-case sce- IELD nario," Tasch said. n, 14-5 overall) vs. Although this weekend will mark the team's first opportunity to host an NCAA regional, it will also mark the coming close, the final home matches for seniors Cather- ther chance to cap- ine Foreman, Maureen Tasch, Jessie pionship. Veith, Laura Stinson and Ali Balmer. RF Te -6) of c not am "It'd be great to go out with two wins and a spot in the Final Four," Foreman said. Due in large part to this senior. class Michigan has turned its field hockey program around. In its sophomore year, the team won its first Big Ten Tournament title in many years, received its first bid to the NCAA Tournament in team his- tory and ended up placing second in the tournament. "Due to this senior class, expectations for this team have risen" Pankratz said. "Because of their dedication and com- mitment, the success of our program has risen greatly." The Wolverines feel optimistic about the remainder of their season. They've had some difficult times, but view hosting this regional as a great chance for redemption. They've dominated every opponent they've faced this year. In every game they've out-shot their opponent and out- cornered them, but failed to capitalize, resulting in five loss- es. With several victories over top-10 teams, including a victory over defending champion Old Dominion, the team knows that it can beat any team on any given day. "We know we can out-shoot anyone" Tasch said, "It's a great feeling going into such a big tournament." 9 AP PHOTO Wisconsin wide receiver Lee Evans has turned the Badgers' offense into an explosive unit. Wisconsin will need more of the same from Evans and freshman tailback Anthony Davis in order to win its last two games and qualify for a bowl game. Badgers keep bowl hopes ive NCAA field hockey tournament November 10 Nov. 11, Nov. 16 Nov. 16 Nov. 18 1 Old Dominion, assacusetts Princeton Northeastern 4 North Carolina Michigan Michigan State Kent State 3 Wake Forest Ohio Virginia Ohio State 2 Maryland Fairfield California _______ Syracuse J By Raphael Goodstein Daily Sports Editor Wisconsin (3-3 Big Ten, 5-5 over- all) helped its bowl hopes this past week by beating Iowa (2-4, 4-4), which also has postseason aspira- tions. Because a winning record is required for bowl eligibility, Wis- consin needed to beat the Hawkeyes and will still need to win its home FOOTBALL game with Michi- gan and its season finale with Min- nesota to have a winning record. The Badgers have this week off before their home game against Michigan.. "We probably played our best game offensively," Wisconsin coach Barry Alvarez said. "(Wide receiver) Lee Evans played well, (quarter- back) Brooks Bollinger had his best day. I thought our offensive line played its best game. "We've got on off date. Like most teams, we could sure use this week to get healthy. We've got a number of guys who are banged up and we could use this week to get ready for an excellent Michigan team." The Badgers have a number of possible bowl destinations, especial- ly the Tangerine Bowl . "What we try to do is worry about the next game," Alvarez said. "Everyone's smart enough to know how many games you need to win to qualify for a bowl game." Wisconsin has qualified for a bowl game the last six years. FIGHTING CHANCE: No. 15 Illinois (4-1, 7-1) is the surprise of the Big Ten thus far. Entering the season, the Fighting Illini were considered a middle- of-the-pack team, especially since they did not qualify for a bowl last season. But Illinois has rebounded from its 45-20 loss to Michigan and cur- rently shares the lead with the Wolverines atop the Big Ten. At 7-1, Illinois might not be receiving the respect it deserves, perhaps in part because of its soft nonconference schedule. "If we want respect, we have to earn it," Illinois coach Ron Turner said. "If we don't like where we are, we have to do something about it on the field. We just have to go out on the field and play football." Michigan owns the head-to-head tiebreaker with the Illini, meaning that even if Illinois wins a share of the Big Ten title, they might not receive the Big Ten's BowlChampi- onship Series bid. To qualify for the BCS, Illinois will need to win the rest of its games and Michigan will need to lose one of its last three games. Illinois closes with a home game against Penn State, at Ohio State and back at home against Northwestern. The last three games for the Wolverines are Minnesota, at Wis- consin and at home against Ohio State. IN CLOSING: At 5-3 overall (3-2 Big Ten), Ohio State only needs one more win to become bowl eligible, which would be an accomplishment for new coach Jim Tressel and his young Buckeyes. Ohio State escaped Minnesota last Saturday with a 31-28 win over the last-place Golden Gophers. Getting that last win will be a daunting task for the Buckeyes, as they close with arguably the Big Ten's best three teams: Purdue, Illi- nois and Michigan. "You can look at this stretch a couple ways - you could say it's brutal for the teams we have to play, or you could say you're fortunate because the teams that are ahead of us we still have to play," Tressel said. "We happen to like the latter approach. We know how good the teams are, but thank goodness we still have the chance to play them." If Ohio State wins its last three games against those teams now in front of it, the Buckeyes would win a share of the Big Ten title but would still need another Michigan State loss to receive the Big Ten's BCS bid. Because the two teams don't play this season, Michigan State's better overall record would be used as the tiebreaker. "I don't think anyone can consider bowl opportunities until they have six wins and we don't have six wins yet," Tressel said. "Our focus has been on adding another victory and then we can talk about which bowl games are available." el F 4\V --a Gators begin tough stretch run I I By Eric Chan Daily Sports Writer That time of the yeat' has come once again. What time of the year you ask? Bowl Championship Series time. It's mid-November, and the standings are packed tight, with any of eight teams in contention for the title. No. 3 FLoRIDA (5-1 SEC, 7-1 OVERALL) AT No. 15 SOUTH CAROLINA (5-2, 7-2), SATURDAY, 7:45 P.M., ESPN: Florida is No. 7 in the BCS standings right now, but it can't be counted out. The Gators take on South Carolina this weekend before facing Florida State, Ten- nessee and possibly the SEC title game in the coming weeks. Florida still has a chance to sneak into the national championship game if they can survive unscathed through this ACROSS gauntlet. Florida quarterback and Heisman the Nation candidate Rex Grossman leads the nation in passing efficiency having completed 66-per- cent of his passes this season. Last week against Van- derbilt, Grossman passed for 306 yards and three touchdowns. But he won't have an easy time finding holes in the Gamecocks' pass defense - currently ranked seventh in the nation. South Caroling is good at preventing the big play, but Grossman should be able to rack up yards with quick, short passes to Jabar Gaffney and Reche Caldwell. If South Carolina is to compete, it'll have to get through Florida's top-ranked rush defense. The Gators have allowed just 76.5 yards per game to their oppo- nents this season. If any team can break through the Florida defense, it has to be the Gamecocks. Running hnc~4ll)c A ndrew Pinnn D n d ,., -~ Fmrek ,Wntcnt, re n'inn that This grudge-match is synonymous with former Boston W College quarterback Doug Flutie and his Hail Mary pass in the 1984 Orange Bowl. Since then, Miami (Fla.) is 11=0 against the Eagles. Miami's Ken Dorsey has thrown 15 touchdowns this season with just four interceptions. His outstanding play has led Miami to an undefeated season thus far. This week, Dorsey is up against one of the top pass defenses in the nation. The Eagles have only allowed 163 yards per game to opposing quarterbacks this sea- son. Boston College quarterback Brian St. Pierre is ranked, as one of the top 20 quarterbacks in the nation, throw- ing for 1,475 yards and 19 touchdowns this season. St Pierre will have to be the Eagles' main offensive threat this Saturday as running back William Green was sus- pended yesterday for breaking a team rule. Boston College's pass defense will be too much for Dorsey. Even without all-star tailback Green, the Eagles will run all over Miami's national championship hopes. Welcome to "Upset City". Boston College 34, Miami 21 No.7 OREGON (5-1 PAc-10, 8-1 OVERALL) AT No. 16 UCLA (3-2, 6-2), SATURDAY, 3:30 P.M., ABC: Oregon is another team in the BCS mix. Lately, the Ducks' offense has looked absolutely unstoppable. This doesn't bode well for UCLA, which has dropped its last two games to Stanford and Washington State. Last week, Oregon quarterback JoeytHarrington threw for 319 yards, and a school record six touch- downs against Arizona State. Wide receiver Keenan Howry caught four of those touchdowns - tying a Pac- 10 record. Rn1t dnn 't th-ink rthat flrepcis a one-diAmensional AN. w