'M' soccer plans to kick its way back into race

When last year's Michigan soccer team knocked off Northwestern in the Big Ten tournament championship game, it not only captured Michigan's first ever conference title and NCAA tournament bid, but it also helped propel the program into national spotlight.

"Last year, in winning the Big Ten what we were able to do was turn a lot of heads," Michigan coach Debbie Belkin said. "Everyone knows Michigan for football or other sports, but what we accomplished was really putting ourselves on the map as a program."

The only problem that Belkin and her squad are noticing with this new exposure is that the opposition knows right where to find them.

Most notably thus far, conference opponents have been taking aim at the Wolverines.

And so far, their aim has been finding its mark.

Michigan began its defense of the Big Ten title by dropping its first two conference contests, 1-0 at the hands of Wisconsin and 4-2 to Northwestern, two teams that now find themselves atop of the conference rankings.

"We sure have started the season by placing ourselves in a big hole," Belkin said. "But we have capability of playing better and that is what we are going to have to do."

If the team's 5-0 non-conference start was any indication of things to come, a second straight Big Ten title banner could have been ordered after the team downed Eastern Michigan.

The win came on the heels of Michigan's ascent to a No. 10 national ranking, the highest in school history.

But how could things have gone so wrong for the Wolverines when they started the season so right?

"We didn't play as well as we could have to start the Big Ten season," said Belkin. "We have to play our game, do what we need to win and hope some teams get knocked off."

If the Wolverines, who are now in fifth place in the Big Ten standings, should hope to return to the top of the conference they will need some outside help.

"Anything can happen, any team is capable of beating any team in the conference right now," Belkin said. "So who knows what's going to happen? We are certainly not sitting back watching things occur, we know that we control our destiny and we'll control our future from here on out."

If the Wolverines make another run at the Big Ten title, Sunday's win over Ohio State might be looked upon as a catalyst.

"Sunday's game was great, I mean it was a well played, hard fought contest," said Belkin "Hopefully, it can be something that we can build on."

It was Sunday's standout around whom the squad has been building this season. Instrumental in last year's conference tournament run, Jessica Limauro has made her presence known already this season.

The senior forward from Troy tallied both Michigan goals in a 2-0 shutout victory over Ohio State as the team notched its first mark in the conference win column for the season.

Her heroics were nothing new to Limauro, who netted eight goals while connecting for three assists this week. Limauro's noteworthy feats earned her a share Big Ten Player of the Week honors this week.

"Jessica has always been a real powerful force for us," Belkin said of the 5-foot-2 offensive juggernaut. "It is very nice to see her coming together like this in her final year, she's been very valuable to us."

Limauro's importance should be seen in the coming weeks as she and her Michigan teammates enter the final stretch of their conference season this weekend as they host Iowa on Friday and Minnesota on Sunday.

"We are anxious to get a chance to play the rest of the Big Ten," said Belkin. "Iowa will be tough, they're very young but talented and we've never beaten Minnesota, they are always good."

Belkin contends that the team is still eager to achieve the same goals that they set out to meet at the beginning of the season, including returning to the pinnacle of the conference.

09-29-98