Soccer faces toughest conference battles

The Michigan women's soccer team has been grabbing constant headlines the past three weeks. The Wolverines are riding a seven-match winning streak, propelling Michigan to its best start in program history.

But all that will mean very little if the Wolverines don't win at least one of two Big Ten matchups this weekend. Michigan (4-0 Big Ten, 9-1 overall) travels to Minnesota on Friday and Penn State on Sunday for a couple of key matches. The Wolverines, Golden Gophers and Nittany Lions are all undefeated and share first place in the conference.

Travel forward through time to the first week of November and one might find a similar scene. Minnesota will host the Big Ten tournament the weekend of Nov. 9, and the Wolverines, Lions and the Gophers will probably be the favorites again.

After finishing at or below the .500 mark in their first three seasons, the Wolverines are no longer worried about staying afloat. Now is Michigan's time to cruise to a Big Ten championship. That makes this weekend the biggest of the season for the

JOHN KRAFT/Daily Senior Ruth Poulin leads a young Michigan soccer team against Penn State and Minnesota - teams the Wolverines haven't had much success against in the past.

Wolverines.

"They're two very big games this weekend and we have to win them both," Michigan forward Amber Berendowsky said. "I think the pressure is on" every team.

No. 11 Michigan enters this weekend favored to beat both No. 19 Minnesota and No. 23 Penn State, according to the polls. Northwestern coach Marcia McDermott - who watched her team join the ranks of Michigan's victims last Sunday - believes the Wolverines are definitely the Big Ten's most talented team.

"They're big and they're fast," McDermott said after Michigan's 5-3 victory over the Wildcats. The Wolverines "had great talent last year, they were just very young. But now their talent has grown up."

Still, Michigan owns a measly 1-7 all-time record against the two conference powers. The Wolverines have plenty of momentum on their side with the seven consecutive victories, but five of those wins occurred in the comfort of home. Michigan won't have that factor on its side when it battles for the driver's seat in the conference race.

If a team's momentum is the biggest factor, then no one has a clear advantage in the Big Ten race.

Minnesota carries a seven-match winning streak into the weekend, and the Gophers have been blowing out their conference opponents left and right. Minnesota most recently disposed of Iowa, 6-0, last Sunday. Michigan has never beaten the Gophers in four meetings.

Coming off an exceptional Big Ten season last year, the Nittany Lions haven't lost their roar. Barring a surprising upset against Michigan State this Friday, Penn State will have amassed a 9-2 record and six consecutive victories by the time the Wolverines roll into town Sunday.

If Michigan has a clear advantage this weekend, it is Berendowsky. The team's leading scorer is undoubtedly the hottest player in the conference. Berendowsky won Big Ten Player of the week honors after scoring three goals and assisting on two others against Wisconsin and Northwestern.

Michigan climbed the next rung a week later, beating defending conference champion Wisconsin. But the biggest rung of all is this weekend. With two wins, the Wolverines will no longer be looked at as a promising young program, on the rise. By the end of the weekend Michigan might already be on top.

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