Oct. 23, 2001
EVANSTON, Ill. - The Northwestern field hockey team hits the road for a mid-week contest at 16th-ranked Iowa. The Hawkeyes and Wildcats are meeting for the second time in 10 days in a non-conference match-up in Iowa City, Iowa. Iowa won the first round, 2-1, in a game that counted toward the Big Ten standings.
"I'll tell you this," said head coach Marisa Didio. "The past 10 days were definetly not an off week for us. We have worked very hard and I feel we've accomplished some things. Last week (against Iowa) was close, we can even out the areas that Iowa took advantage of. We just need to cut down on our own mistakes."
The Hawkeyes and Wildcats met on Oct. 14 at Lakeside Field in Evanston. The match was an evenly competed contest that saw the Hawkeyes take advantage of an NU lull in the second half.
"There was a 10-minute span after the lightning delay where we didn't recommit ourselves to the game," said Didio. "That's where we lost. Other than that, I thought we played some of our best leadership hockey this year."
In Game 1, Iowa's Tiffany Leister opened up the scoring at 12:31 of the first period as the Hawkeyes executed a penalty corner. Maria Merluzzi and Lauren Edwards assisted on the play.
With 28:27 left in the game, a sudden change in temperature and billowing clouds from the southwest caused a 43-minute delay as NU enforced its lightning policy which prohibits teams from competing if lightning is detected in the area.
When play resumed, the Hawkeyes took advantage of a letdown in the Wildcat defense and forward Pattie Gillern scored on a pass from Gina Carr.
NU responded to Iowa's second goal, attacking the Hawkeye defense which resulted in six penalty corners for the half, one of which found the back of the Iowa goal. Junior Diane Provencher (North Conway, N.H./Kennett) took a pass from Juli Fomenko (Campbell, Calif./Los Gatos) and rocketed it past the diving Hawkeye keeper.
"Areas of our game that will make a difference compared to last week is our corner execution," said Didio. "We specifically worked on our attack 25 entries and keeping possession on breakouts. Emotionally, we stressed the importance of starting the game with more assertiveness, especially in the first 5-10 minutes of the game."
NU enters the game with three players tied for the team lead in points. Provencher, Suzi Sutton (York, Pa./Dallastown) and Lindsey Millard (St. Louis, Mo./St. Louis Country Day) each have amassed seven points during the 2001 season. Provencher has three goals and one assist while Sutton and Millard each have five assists and one goal. Sutton and Millard's five assists ranks them 10th in the conference statistics.
Provencher and Nicole Smith (Warnbro, Western Australia/Como Senior) are tied with three goals apiece, while Michelle Cifelli (Fairfield, N.J./West Essex) and Fomenko have each found the back of the opposing net twice this year.
In goal for the Wildcats, sophomore Katie Hall (Lake Bluff, Ill./Lake Forest) has seen the majority of playing time in recent weeks and has a 2.26 goals-against average. She has saved 37 shots in her 526 minutes between the sticks. Junior Kendra Mesa (Madison, Conn./Daniel Hand) has seen 355 minutes of action, saving 30 shots. Both goalies have given up 17 goals.
The Hawkeyes enter the weekend on a four-game winning streak, including the 2-1 victory over Northwestern. Ranked 16th by the 2001 STX/NFHCA Division I National Coaches Poll, Iowa is 10-3 overall and tied for third in the Big Ten with a 3-2 record.
Along with their recent four-game winning streak, the Hawkeyes enjoyed a six-game win streak to start the season. Their last last four victories have come against Penn State (2-1), NU (2-1), Indiana (8-1) and Southwest Missouri State (2-0).
Tiffany Leister and Sarah Dawson lead the way for Iowa. Both women have totaled 16 points this year and scored seven goals apiece. Saleema Rogers has played a majority of the minutes in goal. She has a 1.74 goals-against-average and .759 save percentage, her 42 saves is tied for sixth in the conference.