Oct. 24, 2007
EVANSTON, Ill.-- Northwestern found itself tied with the Big Ten Champion Michigan Wolverines on Sunday with less than two minutes remaining in the game before surrendering a goal on one of six-straight penalty corners. Using the momentum from the near-miss upset, the Wildcats wrap up the season with its final two contests of the year, Thursday at Iowa on and Sunday at Indiana.
Earlier in the season, Northwestern lost in its first of two games against the Hawkeyes, 5-1 at home. The game did count for the Big Ten standings, unlike Thursday's contest.
"I am excited to see our team match up against Iowa and Indiana this week. Throughout October, our squad has consistently improved in our execution of team strategies and we are ready to continue taking steps in our Big Ten matches," coach Kelly McCollum said. "We will take the momentum from our performance this past Sunday against Michigan and use it to improve ourselves for Thursday in Iowa City and Sunday in Bloomington."
History...
Northwestern and Iowa have matched up 67 times since 1977. The 67 meetings are by far the most games that Northwestern has played against any opponent. For the past 25 years, the two foes have hooked up at least twice in every season and have squared off in the Big Ten Tournament against each other nine times since 1986.
Against Indiana, Northwestern holds an 8-4 series edge dating back to a Big Ten Championship match in 1977. Three of the past four games between the two conference foes have gone to overtime, which included last season's double overtime game in which Christina Foley (Cape Elizabeth, Maine/Cape Elizabeth) scored two goals and Liz Dobbs (Wellesley, Mass./St. Ignatius) scored one.
Scouting the Hawkeyes...
Last weekend, the Hawkeyes defeated Penn State in overtime 2-1. Junior Lauren Pfeiffer scored the game-winning goal during the 71st minute on a penalty stroke. In its first game of the season, Iowa defeated then No. 2 Wake Forest and then No. 4 Duke days later in Durham after falling to North Carolina, who was No. 3 at the time. Since its trip to Duke, Iowa has won 11 of its past 12 games with its only loss coming to Michigan in overtime. Iowa and Michigan State are currently tied for second place in the Big Ten standings and square off for the No. 2 seed on the final day of the regular season.
Scouting the Hoosiers...
Indiana is 7-8 on the season, but has yet to win against a conference opponent. The Hoosiers have defeated both California and Stanford, who Northwestern split with two weekends ago, while losing to third-ranked Wake Forest 2-1. In the Big Ten, Indiana has dropped two games in overtime (Iowa and Michigan) and lost to Ohio State, Penn State and Michigan State by a total of just five goals. Before Indiana takes on Northwestern, the Hoosiers play one more regular season game against Louisville on Thursday.
First Big Ten wins...
Coach McCollum's first win against a Big Ten opponent came against Iowa in 2004. The 1-0 overtime win, however, did not count in the Big Ten standings, as it was the first of two games between the two teams on the year. However, her first Big Ten win that did count in the standings was against Indiana in the same year, 2-1 in overtime.
Sixty-seven and counting...
Northwestern and Iowa have matched up 67 times since 1977. The 67 meetings are by far the most games that Northwestern has played against any opponent. For the past 25 years, the two foes have hooked up at least twice in every season and have squared off in the Big Ten Tournament against each other nine times since 1986.
Back on the board...
Junior Alex Quinn (Watertown, Mass./Watertown) scored a goal against Michigan off a pass from Courtney Plaster-Strange, which was not only the first goal of the game, but Quinn's first goal since Sept. 8 against Maine. Quinn and Alison Bullock (Boyds, Md./Stone Ridge) are tied for the team-lead in goals with six each. Quinn leads the team in points with 17.
Senior day goal...
Senior Cassie Miller (Lake Forest, Ill./Lake Forest) scored her first goal of the season against Michigan to tie the game at 2-2. Miller scored two goals last year and had six assists. She now has one of each this season.
Not even close...
Junior Emily Kyle (San Francisco, Calif./San Francisco University H.S.) leads the Big Ten in saves by 13 over the next closest goalkeeper. Kyle has done this in three less games than her closes competition as she averages 6.08 per game.