11A - The Michigan Daily - Thursday, November 18, 2004 End of a coaster ride Tanchon, Rothenbach end 'M' careers By Seth Gordon Daily Sports Writer In the world outside college football, where championships are decided in a playoff, only one team can walk away completely satisfied - the champion. For outgoing senior captains Laura Tan- chon and Rachel Rothenbach, Michigan's one-goal loss last Friday to Detroit in the first round of the NCAA Women's Soccer Tournament was a bitter end to an up-and- down season. But, it wasn't enough to sour how they view their careers as collegiate soccer players. "Obviously I'm disappointed in the way it turned out," Tanchon said. "But we saw a lot of successes and still have a lot of positive things that next year's team can grow off of from this season." "One of my goals coming into Michigan was to leave the program better than I came in," Rothenbach said. "I think that definitely happened. We hadn't made it past the second round (of the NCAA tournament by) my freshman year. Then we made it to the elite eight and sweet sixteen. So, I think it's all about the ride of going through the four years. It's not the best way to end it, but I still have a good taste in my mouth." After their sweet-sixteen appearance last year, the Wolverines entered 2004 with high hopes, but got off to a slow start. Michigan opened the regular season with two losses at No. 5 Texas A&M and at No. 13 Texas. The Wolverines returned home for a 2-1 overtime win against Kentucky which began an eight-game unbeaten streak in the month of September that vaulted Michigan to No. 16 in the national rankings. During the 7-0-1 streak, freshman Melissa Dobbyn and junior Therese Hea- ton emerged as the heart of Michigan's offense, scoring 11 of the Wolverines' 17 goals. On the defensive side, sophomore goalkeeper Megan Tuura picked up where she left off in the 2003 NCAA Tourna- ment, posting four shutouts and allowing just five goals in those eight games. Last year, the Wolverines relied heav- ily on their stingy defense, which stymied opponents long enough for the offense to score timely goals. Michigan continued to play solid defense to start this season, but this year it jumped all over its opponents on the offensive end. Through 10 games, the 2004 squad out- scored opponents 20-11, compared to last year's team, which was outscored oppo- nents 11-10 in the same span. The combination of solid defense and aggressive play from their forwards had Michigan sitting on top of the Big Ten at midseason. Michigan's season took a turn for the worse when No. 5 Penn State and No. 21 Ohio State came to Ann Arbor for a pair of games in October. The Wolverines struggled to scores goals against both teams, despite numerous scoring chances. Michigan lost a double- overtime, 1-0 heartbreaker to the Nittany Lions and tied the Buckeyes 1-1 after the Wolverines failed to score in two overtime periods for the second straight game. "We peaked probably too early," Rothenbach said. "We peaked in the middle of the season when we were on an eight-game unbeaten streak. It's unfortu- nate, but we still had a lot of fun. There was a lot of team chemistry and it was def- initely still a successful season at times." For the rest of October, the Wolver- ines found themselves in one of two positions - either failing to cash in on scoring chances in close games or get- ting behind in the first half and falling short in their second-half comebacks. After their scorching performance in September, the Wolverines went 2-5-1 in October to finish the regular season at 10-7-2. The late-season slide left the Wolver- ines in third place in the Big Ten with a 6-3-1 record, and they headed into the Big Ten Tournament unsure of their chances to qualify for NCAA postseason play. Michigan avenged an earlier loss to Wisconsin with an opening-round, 1-0 victory over the Badgers in Columbus. In the second round, the Wolverines fell behind Ohio State 3-0 after just 20 min- utes, and goals by Tanchon and fresh- man Melissa Dobbyn were not enough to overcome the deficit - Michigan fell 5-2. Despite the loss, Michigan still earned an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament. In a twist of fate, Michigan returned to Columbus one week later for the first- round game and suffered a similar defeat - this time at the hands of Detroit. The TOMMASO GOMEZ/Daily Michigan senor Rachel Rothenbach started all 22 games on defense for the Wolverines this year. Wolverines were down 3-0 by halftime and their two second-half goals were not enough to prolong their season, as they lost 3=2 last Friday. "Obviously, it was a disappointing end- ing," Tanchon said. "We started off the season a little (slowly), then we gained momentum in the middle of the season. We were really optimistic going into the (NCAA) Tournament because we had a great draw." With no professional women's soccer league, both Tanchon and Rothenbach will now turn toward a new chapter in their lives. "I think when the days pass by and at three o' clock I'm sitting in my house somewhere, that's when it's going to hit me more (that my soccer career is over)," Tanchon said. "It will be interesting to see what life is like without soccer because it has been such a huge part of my life since I was about six or so. It hasn't totally sunk in yet, but I imagine in the next couple of weeks it will." After graduation in May, Tanchon will look to turn her biopsychology degree into a career in the pharmaceutical indus- try. Rothenbach will continue coaching youth soccer for Ann Arbor United before traveling around the world next fall. Both regard their time at Michigan and with the soccer team as a vital experience. "I've definitely grown a lot since fresh- man year," Tanchon said. "I'm definitely more of a leader now. I'm not afraid to speak my mind. I think the team has evolved, too, from four years ago. The four years I've been here, it has grown tremendously, so I can't imagine what it was like 11 years ago (when the program started). It was exciting to be a part of it for four years and I'm interested to watch how the program continues to do." It will be up to Michigan coach Deb- bie Rademacher to make sure next year's team learns the lesson of this season. "I want them to realize how quickly things can turn in the world of women's soccer in college," Rademacher said. "It just shows us that we have to be at the top of our game every time we come out to play - because someone is always out there and is able to knock you off. We can't afford to rest or take a sigh of relief or feel good about our last performance." But Rademacher will have to do it with- out Tanchon and Rothenbach. "Every year we lose key and important people," Rademacher said. "Then your team finds a new identity. I look at the group we have and it's exciting because we have some of our big, core players coming back. They are still going to be core play- ers, but they will have another year under their belt." Michigan will look to Dobbyn, Tuura and Heaton to be that core. But also look for freshman Jamie Artsis, sophomore Brenna Mulholland and junior captain Stephanie Boyles to play major roles. SUCCESS IN SOCCER IS MONTH-TO-MONTH Looking at its results by month, it appears that the success of the Michigan wom- en's soccer team was determined by the calendar. August record: 0-2 Opponent 8/21 aEastern Micigan (No ib3tTox 8127 @, No. 5 Texas A&M 8129 4 No. t13 Texas Result L.2-F L:4-2 September record: 7-0- Opponent Result 9i3 K~entuck~y w2- 9,15Ohiow 3.1 9132 No, 22 Boston College W3-0 9117 Northwestern W 3-2 4119 No- 11Illinois w 1'-0 9/24 49Minnesoa W 1-0 9/26 C-Ow jW4-¢U October record. 3-5-1 Opponent Result 10/ No 5Penn StaeL1 M ,3No, 25 Ohio SaeT 1--I 10/9 (Purdue w 1-0 110 IQflndiana w 1-0 1004 @Oaki ndL1- 10118 @Wis-onsin L 3-1 10125 Notra Dam, L 10/60 st'Weste Michigan W2- November record: 1.2 Opponenti Result 114 No25 Wisconsinw -f) 11 / 12 leroi L 3-2. RYAN WEINER/Daily Senior captain Laura Tanchon was third on the team with 11 points this season. WOMEN'S SWIMMING AND DIVING Mono can't stop McCullough U U By Dan Ketchel Daily Sports Writer Swimming four consecutive laps across a 25-yard pool without stop- ping might be considered a challenge Swimming 100 yards while com- ing up sparingly for air and doing it in just 53 seconds might be consid- ered an achievement. But conquering all of those obstacles, while fighting off the effects of a fatigu- ing virus, would be nearly impossible. If you don't think it can be done, talk to senior Michigan freestyle swimmer Amy McCullough. She got back in the water this past weekend and swam the anchor leg in the 400- yard freestyle relay while still recov- ering from the lingering effects of mononucleosis.. About four weeks ago, McCullough started getting a fairly-consistent fatigued feeling that kept her on the bench for the first meet of the sea- son. After feeling sick for quite some time, she was diagnosed by the doc- tors with having mono. Michigan swimming coach Jim Richardson took no chances with one of his star athletes and promptly refused to let McCullough in the water for the fol- lowing week. Begrudgingly, Richardson allowed McCullough back into the pool for light workouts in late October and got her on a very slow and gradual plan of getting back to full strength. "We're trying to be very conser- vative with her return to the pool - also with her dry-land training," Richardson said. "We're gradually increasing the volume of what she's doing so, she gets some nice adapta- tion and hopefully by January, she'll be back to 100 percent." This seems pretty far off for an athlete who has already got back into competition after being so ill. But McCullough thinks that Richardson has her right on pace. She still appears to be feeling the residual effects of the virus, as she is still unable to partici- pate in full workouts with the team. Even the carefully laid out plan which has been set up for her leaves her exhausted after practice each day. "Sometimes I'll swim half of a workout and I'll be completely beat," McCullough said. "I'm hoping to be up to full training by the end of semester. If I work hard during Christmas break, I should be back at full strength and swimming my fastest by January." Nobody is more anxious for Amy to get back into competition than Richardson, especially seeing her demeanor on the sidelines. It is apparent to him that not being able to race has not at all fit with plans for her last year with the Wolverines. Both McCullough and her teammates feel the impact of her absence. "Each day, we're watching to see if that day's better than the day before, Richardson said. "We're watching for signs of e.nergetic progress. I know she's not going to be content until she sees some signs that things are mov- ing in that direction significantly." The hardest part of being absent from competition for McCullough is the time she loses with her team- mates. Because of her current cir- cumstances, she is not always on the same practice schedule as the rest of the Wolverines and has had to miss the last few road trips where the team really connects. Luckily for Michi- gan, McCullough will be back on the road this weekend as the Wolverines head down to Bloomington for the Indiana Invitational. * Tigers ink Percival for two years DETROIT - Free agent Troy Percival and the Detroit Tigers agreed yesterday to a $12 million, two-year contract, a move that will lead to Ugueth Urbina becoming a setup man or getting traded. Percival, 35, was 2-3 with a 2.90 ERA and 33 saves last season with Anaheim. The Angels made no attempt to re- sign him and plan to use Francisco Rodriguez as their closer in 2005. Percival was fourth in the AL in saves, reaching 30 for the seventh straight season, the longest streak by an active pitcher. "We're extremely pleased to have a person of his makeup and his ability to bolster the bullpen," Tigers president Dave Dombrowski said. Coming off a $21.25 million, three-year deal that paid him $7.5 million in 2004, Percival gets $6 million in each of the next two seasons. He thinks Detroit can win the AL Central next season. "They've got the players to do it and they've got the com- mitment from the owner to do it," he said. cival, who had meetings scheduled with several other teams. "That's why it happened so quick." Percival made his decision to sign with Detroit on Tuesday night while dining with Dombrowski and his staff. "My steak was coming, and I was hungry," the pitcher joked. Percival had been with the Angels for his entire 10-year career. He's 12th on the career list with 316 saves and has a 29-38 record. "I'm looking forward to coming here and making Detroit baseball what it used to be,' Percival said. L5NATI C5 The Blunatics, the student cheering section for the U of M Women's Basketball team, are looking for students who are passionate about Wolverine athletics and basketball to hype up the crowd and support the Women's Basketball team in their quest for the 2004-2005 Big Ten Championship Title! We will be holding a Blunatics organizational meeting in Crisler Arena at 6:00 PM on Nov. 22nd to talk about the upcoming season with special guest Coach Cheryl Bumett. ;.