For the No. 8 Michigan field hockey team home has been where the wins are this season. The Wolverines started the 2010 campaign with a dismal four-game road losing streak, including two in Chapel Hill N.C., where the Wolverines will begin NCAA Tournament play on Saturday.

If No. 8 Michigan (5-1 Big Ten, 15-6 overall) has any aspirations of heading to College Park, Md. – the location of the semis and finals – it will have to overcome being away from Ann Arbor and defeat No. 12 Old Dominion University (12-10)

“On the road we were playing hard teams,” senior forward Paige Laytos said after Wednesday’s practice. “UNC and Wake (Forest), they were all powerhouses at the beginning of the season and now we are a powerhouse, and we have confidence in ourselves. It doesn’t matter where we are playing, we know we can do it. “

The Wolverines earned the self-proclaimed title of “powerhouse” after capturing the Big Ten title for the first time since 2005. The Wolverines swept through two top-10 teams in Ohio State and Penn State to get the automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament last weekend in Evanston, Ill.

“Keep it simple,” Michigan coach Marcia Pankratz said outlining the key to maintaining composure during the tournament. “It’s just another hockey game. Try to keep the anxiety level low and trying to focus on the things that are within your control. Focus on your task, and not worry about the outcome.”

The Wolverines head out two days prior to their afternoon matchup with No. 12 Old Dominion (12-10), in order to have time to prepare in Francis E. Henry Stadium – a venue where they are 0-2 this season.

While Michigan has proven it can play with the country’s best – with a one-goal loss to No.1 Maryland and victories over No. 7 Ohio State and No. 10 Penn State – the NCAA Tournament presents a new kind of pressure. It is the duty of the seniors, who last participated in the NCAA Tournament in 2007, to settle the team’s nerves and keep everyone’s head on straight.

“Me and Marcia have talked about it all year,” senior midfielder and captain Meredith Way said. “I have a completely different role this year as a senior. Marcia always talks like it’s the sophomores and freshmen that are going to win you your games and it’s the seniors that are calm and composed and keep everybody else calm.”

The Wolverines did not play the Monarchs during regular-season play, but are taking a brush up course on a style of play that is similar to their own.

“Our coaches have insight from other coaches that have played the team, and they told us what to look out for and habits that they have,” Laytos said. “Then in practice we stimulated the same thing and went off of that.”

The Wolverines, however, won’t be looking to conform to Old Dominion’s big-play offense.

“We stick to our own game plan,” Way said. “We don’t like to change too much. Just try to use what we do best.”

The winner of the Michigan-Old Dominion game will advance to face the winner of No. 2 North Carolina and No. 19 Stanford. The semifinals and championships round are next weekend in College Park. Regardless of their fate in the NCAA Tournament, the Wolverines have progressed dramatically from their disappointing 7-14 finish last season which culminated in a first-round exit from the Big Ten Tournament.

“It’s awesome, we’ve definitely struggled over the last two years,” Way said. “And everybody wants to go out with a bang.”