10A - Wednesday, November 8, 2006 The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com Kickers get tourney bid By ROBERT KAITZ Daily Sports Writer The Michigan women's soccer team collectively exhaled on Mon- day after learning its postseason fate. To borrow an expression from college basketball, its bubble didn't burst. The Wolverines will travel to South Bend to face Wisconsin-Mil- waukee (7-0 Horizon League, 16-3- 1 overall) in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Friday at 5 p.m. "It was a huge sigh of relief," senior co-captain Katelin Spencer said. "We don't know everything that goes on behind the scenes, so 'we didn't know what to expect." Despite its adversity-filled sea- son, Michigan possessed a resu- me impressive enough to earn an NCAA bid for the ninth time in 10 seasons. "We've had so many injuries and so many things come up, but we are getting contributions from every- one on the team and still winning," Michigan coach Debbie Radem- acher said. "It's been a big motiva- tor for us." The team boasts victories over three ranked teams and emerged as a top-four team in the Big Ten conference. And with a strong 4-2- 3 finish to the season, the selection committee simply had to include the Maize and Blue. Although Michigan (4-3-3 Big Ten, 9-7-5) returns to familiar ter- ritory in the NCAA tournament, its opponent is anything but familiar. The Wolverines have played the Panthers just once in their history, a 3-2 victory in 2000. "It can be dangerous to play an unknown team," redshirt junior co-captain Lindsey Cottrell said. "We have to be ready to play our absolute best from the beginning." If records against common opponents (Indiana, Kentucky and Wisconsin) are any indication of how Friday's game will go, then Michigan is in for a tough fight. Wisconsin-Milwaukee compiled a 1-1-1 record, while the Wolverines went 1-2-1 against the three. "They are a team similar to what we face in the Big Ten - they are fighters and competitors," Spencer said. Wisconsin-Milwaukee, a strong mid-major, has been dominant over the last two months. A loss in the semifinals of the Horizon League Tournament snapped a 13- game unbeaten streak (12-0-1). In conference play, the Panthers out- scored their opposition by a 21-4 margin. Michigan must be ready for Wisconsin-Milwaukee's balanced offense (nine Panthers with multi- ple goals) and stifling defense (0.44 goals against average and 15 total shutouts). "We are going to prepare for them through scouting and video- tapes," Rademacher said. If the Wolverines make it past the first round, the next opponent will be much more familiar. They will face a nonconference rival, either Oakland or Notre Dame. Since the Fighting Irish are top- ranked and undefeated (20-0-1), penciling them in for the second round game on Sunday shouldn't be considered too hasty. During a three-game losing streak earlier this season, Michigan lost to both teams in consecutive matches. But the Wolverines can look to history to find a little inspiration on extending its season past this weekend. In 2003, the team was also sent to South Bend to play the first and second rounds. With an eerily similar record (9-7-6), Mich- igan survived through the week- end. Its opponents were (surprise, surprise) Oakland and No. 4 Notre Dame. The fourth-year players all experienced the thrill of that sea- son's appearance in the Sweet 16s. "We definitely won't overlook Friday night," Cottrell said. "But there is a core group of girls who played a big part (in 2003's suc- cess)." Now that the pressure of earn- ing a postseason berth is off, Mich- igan can enjoy an opportunity to run the table. "I can't wait to see how far we can take it," an enthused Spencer said. "The Sweet 16s, why not?" MIKE H U LSEBUS/Daily Defensive coordinator Ron English can expect more media attention as the season progresses. He's been mentioned as a candidate for the Michigan State head coaching job. Spartans may wnEnglish By SCOTT BELL Daily Sports Editor English might become a foreign language for the Michigan football team. Ever since Michigan State fired coach John L. Smith last week, NOTEBOOK a few names keep popping up as candidates to fill the head coaching vacancy in East Lansing. Along with coaches like Steve Mariucci and Butch Davis lies a name that's very familiar to Michi- gan fans: current defensive coordi- nator Ron English. Michigan coach Lloyd Carr didn't seem bothered by the situa- tion when asked about it at his Mon- day press conference. "That's one of the advantages of coaching here," Carr said. "There's nothing I would rather see than have guys on our staff to move on in head coaching positions, and I think that will happen. There's a lot of guys on this staff capable of being head coaches." Even though Carr's response was vague, the clear star of the assistant coaching ranks at Michigan has been English. English left the team last offsea- son to become the Chicago Bears' secondary coach, but returned to Michigan less than a week later. He was named defensive coordinator after Jim Herrmann left the Wol- verines for the NFL. This year, English has reener- gized a Michigan defense that fal- tered down the stretch last season. Michigan's rushing defense ranks first in the nation. English's early success has been good for the 2006 team, but may almost be too good. The staunch Michigan defense could take Eng- lish away from the Wolverines ear- lier than most fans thought. Carr knows it wouldn't be the first time a Michigan assistant has left to join the rival Spartans. "That'd be fun, wouldn't it?" Carr said. "Biggie Munn, I think he's the winningest coach in the history of Michigan State. He coached here for Fritz Crisler. I can remember Bill McCartney when he was an assistant here expressed an interest in that (Michigan State) job, and that made people very angry. But the truth is, it's a great job. There's a lot of people who would love to be the head coach there." Michigan's players know English would make a great head coach, too, but aren't quite ready to say good- bye just yet. "I definitely think he has what it takes to make any jump, to be hon- est," senior cornerback Leon Hall said. "I just think he's that great of a guy and that great of a coach. I'm hoping he doesn't leave just for the sake of the defense, because if you lose a guy like that, you lose a big chunk of the defense. But I definitely think he has potential to make any jump that's possible." English told the Detroit Free Press following Saturday's game that Michigan State has not con- tacted him about the job. Streak still alive: When junior running back Mike Hart fumbled the ball through his own end zone on Saturday, it didn't just end Mich- igan's bid for a shutout, but also an impressive streak of touches with- out a fumble lost. Or so he thought. Hart's fumble was ruled not to be a fumble lost on Monday. Since the ball went out of bounds in the end zone and was not recovered by a Ball State player, it is not consid- ered a fumble lost. The possession officially changed hands when punter Zoltan Mesko kicked the ball away on the free kick follow- ing the safety. Hart's streak of consecutive touches without a fumble lost now stands at 688. Injury update: Carr said that sophomore receiver Mario Man- ningham will make his first start since the Michigan State game Sat- urday at Indiana. He played 13 snaps on Saturday in an attempt to ease back into the lineup after he missed three games with a knee injury. Tight end Mike Massey is also expected to return to the lineup. He missed the previous three games because of a shoulder injury. The status of linebacker Prescott Burgess (ankle), tight end Tyler Ecker (ankle) and running back Kevin Grady (shoulder) will be determined this week, depending on how they react to treatment dur- ing practice. SPRING BREAK INFORMATION 800-488-8828 www.sandpiperbeacon.com FREE SPRING BREAK MODEL SEARCH CALENDAR0 Third and fourth lines excel 4 4 I I