Big Ten tourney: ticket to NCAAs

BLAINE, Minn. - On the surface, every team at the 1997 Big Ten soccer tournament wanted to win the championship, simply for pride's sake. But, in its run to the championship this weekend, Michigan accomplished something far greater - the right to keep playing this season.

When the NCAA Selection Committee announces its bids to the NCAA tournament tomorrow, the Wolverines - as the Big Ten tournament champions - will be among them. Along with this automatic bid given to the tournament's winner, the committee distributes 16 at-large bids - a primary focus for all the teams that did not make it to yesterday's championship game.

PAUL TALANIAN/Daily Amber Berendowsky scored the game-winning double-overtime goal to give the Wolverines the Big Ten tournament title.

Depending on their regular season finish, Big Ten teams held different outlooks yesterday regarding their post-season futures. Minnesota, the conference's regular-season champion and top seed in the tournament, was crushed following Saturday's 3-2 semifinal loss to upstart Northwestern.

While the defeat, coming in a shootout after two overtime periods, was hard to swallow for the Gophers, they were clearly optimistic about their NCAA tournament prospects.

"I'm really confident that we'll get a bid," Minnesota senior midfielder Jennifer McElmury said. "They (the selection committee) don't just look at this weekend, they've got to look at consistency over the whole year.

"Our record shows that we're a consistent team, so we should be in the tournament."

Minnesota could afford to be optimistic, because their undefeated conference record and 16-3-1 mark overall makes it very likely that they will play in, and possibly even host, a first-round NCAA game next weekend.

"Now, we don't have to go out tomorrow and get kicked around playing another 90 minutes," Minnesota coach Sue Montagne said with a laugh. "I'm trying to look at this loss in a positive light."

On the other hand, the fifth-seeded Wildcats, after pulling off the stunning upset of the Gophers, celebrated their victory with caution. Finishing the season 4-5 in the conference, the Wildcats were aware that winning the tournament was possibly the only way they would continue playing in the post-season.

"It's hard for me to believe that (this win) happened, but we've got to turn our focus to the championship game," said freshman forward Brooke Bell, who booted the Wildcats' game-winning goal in the shootout. "We didn't win anything yet, it's just the semifinals."

When Northwestern fell to Michigan in yesterday's championship game, Northwestern coach Marcia McDermott was left hoping for the best.

"I feel we've made a case for a bid, but we haven't made a definitive one," McDermott said. "After making it to the finals of the Big Ten tournament, it's definitely possible. It's a selection committee with enormous integrity, and it's out of our hands right now," she said.

With their loss yesterday, Northwestern joined Penn State as a team that now must keep their fingers crossed until tomorrow.

Penn State coach Pat Farmer sees his team's tournament hopes as slim after a semifinal loss to Michigan. "We felt we had to win the tournament to get a bid," Farmer said. "With only 16 at-large berths and six regions, you'd better be in the top two or three in your region, and we are not.

"The seniors certainly went away from this hoping that it wasn't their last game, but thinking that it was," Farmer said.

Farmer and McDermott must now wait until tomorrow to learn if their team has any post-season obligations. Michigan, by virtue of its performance this weekend, simply waits to find out when and where.

11-10-97