Oct. 8, 2002
EVANSTON, Ill. - Playing its third game in a week-all against ranked opponents-Northwestern's field hockey team is looking to avenge a 4-1 loss in Iowa last Wednesday.
Exactly one week ago, NU traveled to Iowa City for its conference opener and fell to a well-disciplined Hawkeye team. Since then, the 'Cats dropped a heartbreaker to No. 6 Penn State while the Hawkeyes took the week off.
With last week's tilt counting towards the Big Ten standings, chalk this week up to just good old-fashioned competition. While the win/loss will count on the overall record, the decision will not be tallied toward conference standings.
NU's last meeting with Iowa began a string of eight consecutive games in which Wildcat opponents are ranked or receiving votes in the STX/NFHCA top 20.
Saturday's match marks the 55th meeting between these two teams, with the Hawkeyes holding a 35-16-3 edge. Iowa has defeated NU seven straight times, including the last four in Evanston. The Hawkeyes have an 8-3 record in the series since 1997.
Last time out, senior Kendra Mesa (Madison, Conn./Daniel Hand) started her first game in goal against No. 6 Penn State, recording five saves in a tough 1-0 overtime loss. Defense was the name of the game for the 'Cats as the high-powered Nittany Lion offense outshot them 14-1. NU's corner defense was particularly outstanding, stopping all 15 Lion corner chances.
Lindsay Millard (St. Louis, Mo./St. Louis Country Day) has led the defensive stand, becoming the field general and directing a slew of talented defenders. After sustaining a concussion in the first meeting between these two teams, senior Juli Fomenko (Campbell, Calif./Los Gatos) is welcomed back to her defender position.
"Our defense has been tremendous and done really well in preventing (scoring) chances from happening," said Didio. "A big part of that is the work of these two (Millard and Fomenko). They have been rock solid all year."
With the defense in check, NU looks to the offensive side of the field to put some points on the board. In fact, Northwestern leads the Hawkeyes in shots taken (103-99) and total points (49-40) on the season. Sophomore Candice Cooper (Winnetka, Ill./New Trier) and freshman Holly Palin (Mequon, Wis./University School of Milwaukee) have combined for 11 goals and two assists, with Cooper tied for seventh in the Big Ten tallying seven goals. Junior Suzi Sutton (York, Pa./Dallastown) has quietly amassed five assists from her midfield position, good for sixth in the Big Ten.
So far this season, 10 different Wildcats have found the points column, with seven different players scoring goals.