Sept. 9, 2009
EVANSTON, Ill. -- With four victories in their first five games already in tow, head coach Tracey Fuchs and Northwestern are out to continue their winning ways with a trio of matches this weekend beginning at 3 p.m. Thursday at home against Stanford. The Wildcats will then embark on a two-game road trip in Oxford, Ohio, to meet a pair of Mid-American Conference opponents in Central Michigan and Miami (Ohio).
ON THE WEB
Fans unable to see the 'Cats in person can follow live in-game updates during the home Stanford game by following the username @NU_sportsLIVE on Twitter. Gametracker is also available by clicking on the following links:
Thursday, Sept. 10 vs. Stanford --
Northwestern's home contest against Stanford also will be available to watch live in NUsports.com's All-Access media section.
'CATS IN THE POLLS
Off to its best five-game start since 2005, Northwestern saw its standing in the NFHCA coaches poll improve considerably between the release of the preseason rankings and this week's edition of the poll. NU is now the first team outside the top 20-ranked squads, leading all teams in the "also receiving votes" category with 71 points, just four points behind 20th-ranked Michigan. The last four teams to earn a spot in the top 20 are all members of the Big Ten: No. 17 Iowa, No. 18 Indiana, No. 19 Ohio State and No. 20 Michigan.
A LOOK AT THE OPPOSITION
Northwestern opens play this week against Stanford, which ranks two spots behind NU in the NFHCA's "also receiving votes" category with 48 points. The Cardinal have opened the season 3-0 with wins over Missouri State, Northeastern and Kent State. NU downed Stanford 3-1 when the two teams last met in 2007, giving the Wildcats a 10-3 advantage in the all-time series.
Northwestern also last squared off against Central Michigan in 2007, when the 'Cats managed a 4-2 win to take an 8-3 lead in the 11 all-time games between the two schools. CMU has split a pair of 3-0 decisions to start the season, opening with a win over Colgate before falling to Rider last Saturday.
NU's second MAC opponent of the weekend is Miami (Ohio), which is winless in its first three contests this year following defeats to Virginia Commonwealth and a pair of top-20 teams in Virginia and Louisville. Last season, Alexandra Quinn netted a pair of goals for Northwestern and Elizabeth Dobbs added a third as the Wildcats defeated the RedHawks 3-1 in their home-opener.
LEADING THE WAY
Northwestern has featured a balanced scoring attack through five games, receiving goals from six different players. Spearheading the offense thus far has been Chelsea Armstrong, who has wasted no time adjusting to NCAA field hockey after transferring from the University of Western Australia. Armstrong currently ranks first among all Big Ten players in goals (six), points (14) and points per game (2.80). Armstrong and senior Courtney Plaster-Strange sit in a tie for first in the shots per game category with 5.20 apiece. As a team, the Wildcats are averaging a shade under five more shots per contest than their final 2008 total.
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