Oct. 16, 2008
EVANSTON, Ill. -- Northwestern gears up for another Big Ten contest against a ranked team when it hosts No. 10 Penn State at Lakeside Field Sunday. Northwestern is in search of its first conference victory while the Nittany Lions look to extend their six-game winning streak in a match-up of two of the league's top goalkeepers, Emily Kyle of NU and Jen Beaumont of Penn State.
ON THE WEB
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SCOUTING THE NITTANY LIONS
Penn State, which reached the NCAA Championship a year ago, is currently riding a six-game winning streak, including three wins in five days last weekend. The Nittany Lions recorded a pair of statement victories last Friday and Sunday when they knocked off then-No. 5 Iowa, 2-1, and then-No. 10 Virginia, 1-0. Goalkeeper Jen Beaumont earned Big Ten Defensive Player of the week honors for her efforts while senior midfielder Allison Scola, who is tied for third in the league with 10 assists, was tabbed as both Big Ten and National Player of the Week. Scola had a hand in all three Nittany Lions goals in the two games. Through 14 games, Penn State is tops in the Big Ten in goals against average, allowing just 1.07 goals per contest.
BETTER THAN EVER
Northwestern has had a host of players set career highs thus far in 2008. Senior Alexandra Quinn (Watertown, Mass./Watertown) has 12 goals in 2008, two shy of her career total entering the season while classmate Annie Bosslet (Granite City, Ill./Villa Duchesne) has six assists, two more than her career total coming into this year. Elizabeth Dobbs (Wellesley, Mass./St. Ignatius (San Francisco)), who scored four goals her freshman year, has had a breakout junior year, posting eight goals for the Wildcats.
SERIES RECORD
Penn State has been dominant in the all-time series with Northwestern, recording a 23-3-1 record. NU last knocked off the Nittany Lions in 1997 with a 2-1 victory in three overtimes.
LAST TIME OUT
Against then-No. 6 Michigan State, junior Courtney Plaster-Strange (Louisville, Ky./Kentucky Country Day) knotted the score at one apiece in the first half but Big Ten Conference-leading Michigan State eventually outlasted the Wildcats, posting a 3-1 victory to up its winning streak to nine games. MSU seized momentum early posting 11 first-half shots and gaining 1-0 advantage on a goal by Jeamie Deacon in the eighth minute.
Northwestern managed to even things 10 minutes later when Quinn fed Bosslet on the way to the cage. Michigan State 'keeper Elissa Unger made the initial save, but Plaster-Strange was trailing the play and put the rebound away from 10 yards out for her fourth goal in 2008. With just two minutes remaining before halftime, the Spartans reclaimed the lead after a hit from outside the circle struck the post and rebounded back into play. Kyle made one save but could not stop a second attempt by Miller, who lifted the ball over a sprawling Kyle.
Jennifer Averill, a standout field hockey player during her time at Northwestern (1983-86) now in her 17th year as head coach at Wake Forest, brought her Demon Deacons to Evanston for an out-of-conference contest. On Sunday, Wake Forest scored six first half goals on its way to an 8-2 win against the Wildcats. Dobbs rang up her eighth goal of the season and senior Alison Bullock (Chevy Chase, Md./Stone Ridge) pushed across her fourth of the year in the second half, but it was not enough to keep up with the Demon Deacons' attack.