ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- First-team All-Big Ten selection Maddy Carpenter made a season-high 10 saves and Caroline Troncelliti's goal late in the first half was the difference as third-seeded Northwestern advanced in the Big Ten field hockey tournament with a hard-fought 2-1 win over sixth-seeded Iowa at Ocker Field on Thursday evening.
With the victory, the Wildcats advance to take on host and second-seeded Michigan at 2:45 p.m. Central time Friday. Top-seeded Maryland will face fourth-seeded Penn State in the day's first semifinal.
It was Iowa that came out flying as the Hawkeyes earned the first three penalty corners of the match in the opening six minutes of play. The third corner resulted in a goal as Dani Hemeon scored off Stephanie Norlander's assist, giving Iowa the early 1-0 lead at the 6:35 mark.
Instead of sulking, the Wildcats answered right back with the equalizer. From the right corner, Dominique Masters connected with Isabel Flens who fired a shot past Alexandra Pecora, a mere 36 seconds after the Iowa goal to make it 1-1.
The Wildcats peppered the Hawkeyes throughout the remainder of the half. NU racked up numerous quality scoring chances as it looked to take the lead. Masters nearly had a goal off a penalty corner, but a prone Pecora got a piece of the shot and the ball barely trickled over the crossbar.
Lauren Bernardi also had a terrific chance as she possessed the ball alone into the circle and fired a shot on target, but Pecora narrowly got her stick on it to make it go just wide of the cage. Masters had another close call as her reverse chip shot from a tough angle got by Pecora but rolled just outside of the far post.
On the other end, Carpenter was forced to make a couple of tough saves, including one off an Iowa corner with just over two minutes remaining in the half. It appeared the match was going to go into halftime tied, but that's when Troncelliti took over.
The junior made a terrific run into the right edge of the circle and got it by Pecora for her 11th goal of the season with just 28 seconds remaining in the half to give Northwestern the momentum and the 2-1 advantage.
NU fired 11 shots over the opening 35 minutes of play, including eight on goal, while Iowa had five shots, three of which were on target.
An injury to Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year Natalie Cafone in the early stages of the second half certainly seemed as though it might derail the Hawkeyes, but Iowa still managed to control the action through the majority of the period.
Iowa was on the attack throughout the second stanza in search of the tying goal. The Hawkeyes would out-shoot NU 13-2 and had a 10-2 edge in penalty corners after the break. However, Carpenter was the difference. The senior was brilliant as she made eight of her saves in the second half, including six off of penalty corners.
With just under three minutes remaining in regulation, Carpenter stopped Hemeon at point-blank range to prevent the tying score and the ensuing shot was blocked. Iowa would earn yet another corner with two minutes to go, but Carpenter stoned Hemeon again as Northwestern held on to end its lengthy Big Ten tournament drought.
The 10th-ranked Wildcats now will get another crack at 12th-ranked Michigan after the Wolverines picked up a 2-1 win in Ann Arbor back on Oct. 17. Friday's contest is being televised live by Big Ten Network.