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| No. 10 Northwestern vs. No. 15 Iowa |
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| Date | Thursday, Nov. 6 | 4:30 p.m. CT |
| Location | Ocker Field | Ann Arbor, Mich. |
| Tournament Central | MGoBlue.com |
| Watch | BTN Plus on BTN2Go |
| Live Stats | GameTracker |
| Twitter Updates | @NU_SportsLIVE |
EVANSTON, Ill. -- Northwestern makes its third trip to Ann Arbor this season as it opens Big Ten tournament play against Iowa at 4:30 p.m. Central time Thursday.
The winner of the contest between the third-seeded Wildcats and the sixth-seeded Hawkeyes advances to face the winner of second-seeded Michigan and seventh-seeded Rutgers in Friday's semifinal round. The championship game is slated for noon CT Sunday.
Thursday's contest is available on BTN Plus on BTN2Go while Friday's semifinals and Sunday's championship match are being televised live by Big Ten Network.
NU (13-6, 6-2 Big Ten) hopes its third time in Ann Arbor this season is the charm as the 'Cats fell by identical 2-1 scores to Stanford and Michigan on Oct. 10 and 17, respectively.
A number of Wildcats certainly don't mind another trip to Ann Arbor. The Wildcats have three players on the team who are Ann Arbor natives. Redshirt senior Kelsey Thompson attended Pioneer High School while junior Kelsey Gradwohl and freshman Katie Yeatts went to Huron High School. In addition, junior Lisa McCarthy was born in Ann Arbor. Assistant coach Zoe Almquist, who played at Northwestern from 2007-10, is also an Ann Arbor native who prepped at Pioneer, while head coach Tracey Fuchs was an assistant coach at Michigan for 12 seasons (1996-2003, 2005-08).
Northwestern had three individuals named Wednesday to this year's All-Big Ten teams. Senior goalkeeper Maddy Carpenter earned her first all-league honor, being named to the first team. Junior back Lisa McCarthy also earned first-team recognition after being named a second-team choice each of her first two seasons. Junior midfielder Charlotte Martin was a second-team selection, earning the first All-Big Ten distinction of her career.
Carpenter led the Big Ten with a .762 save percentage in Big Ten play while her 1.22 goals-against narrowly ranked second to Maryland's Brooke Cabrera (1.21). The Northwestern goalkeeper has 51 career victories and 17 career shutouts on her resume.
Northwestern and Maryland are the only two Big Ten teams with three or more players who have scored double-digit goals this season. The Wildcats are paced by Dominique Masters' 12 goals, while Isabel Flens and Caroline Troncelliti have 10 apiece.
The 'Cats have a 4-6 record against ranked opponents this season. All six of Northwestern's losses this season have been by one goal to teams that are currently ranked in the top 12 of this week's NFHCA poll (No. 3 UConn, No. 4 Stanford, No. 5 Penn State, No. 8 Louisville, No. 11 Wake Forest, No. 12 Michigan).
Scouting Iowa
The Hawkeyes (11-6, 4-4 Big Ten) are about as dangerous of a No. 6 seed in a conference field hockey tournament as can be as they're ranked No. 15 in this week's NFHCA poll. Iowa dropped its regular-season finale at second-ranked Maryland 4-1 but defeated No. 5 Penn State 4-0 in the previous game. The Hawkeyes are paced by Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year Natalie Cafone who has 18 goals this season while Stephanie Norlander has contributed 15 tallies. In goal, Alexandra Pecora sports a 1.76 goals-against average with a .717 save percentage.
First Meeting
Northwestern got early goals from Lisa McCarthy and Caroline Troncelliti and Dominique Masters added an insurance goal in the second half as the Wildcats defeated Iowa 3-1 in Iowa City Oct. 5.
Northwestern on Social Media
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