| 2018 NORTHWESTERN FIELD HOCKEY | ||||||
| DATE | OPPONENT | TIME (CT) | LOCATION | WATCH | LIVE STATS | |
| Friday, Sept. 21 |
No. 13 Iowa | Noon | Evanston, Ill. | BTN2GO | Sidearm | |
| Sunday, Sept. 23 |
No. 25 California | 11 a.m. | Evanston, Ill | BTN2GO | Sidearm | |
| Social: Twitter (@NUFHCats) | Instagram (@NUFHCats) | Facebook | ||||||
EVANSTON, Ill. – No. 14 Northwestern welcomes two more ranked opponents to Lakeside Field this weekend, facing No. 13 Iowa on Friday and No. 25 California on Sunday.
The Wildcats are 5-4 so far this season, and own a 1-0 mark in Big Ten play after defeating Indiana 2-1 in the conference opener on the road last Friday. The 'Cats suffered a 1-0 defeat to No. 8 Louisville on Sunday.
Senior Eva van Agt scored both goals against the Hoosiers to bolster her point total to nine on the season, coming from three goals and three assists.
Northwestern is 2-2 at Lakeside Field so far this season, winning against No. 15 Stanford in double overtime and also taking down Miami (Ohio), 4-2.
Senior Puck Pentenga has a team-high 17 points, coming on six goals and five assists. Junior back Kirsten Mansfield has a team-high seven assists while adding three goals.
The 'Cats have used two different goalkeepers in 2018. Junior Annie Kalfas, who started both matches last week, improved her goals-against average to 1.91 through five starts. Sophomore Florien Marcussen has four starts, including an outing against Duke where she made a career-high ten saves.
Northwestern won its matchup against Iowa last season in a dramatic 5-4 overtime contest, featuring a Pentenga hat trick. The 'Cats are 6-1 in the last five seasons against the Hawkeyes.
The Wildcats own a 9-4-1 all-time advantage over Cal. The last meeting between the two programs came in 2013, a 2-1 overtime win for Northwestern in Evanston.
SCOUTING THE OPPONENTS
No. 13 Iowa
The Hawkeyes have jumped out to an impressive 7-1 record this season and a 1-0 start in the Big Ten after downing the Hoosiers, 3-0, on Sunday. Northwestern will be just the third ranked opponent Iowa will face this season, having beaten No. 14 Wake Forest, 2-1, but falling to No. 2 North Carolina, 2-1, in overtime.
Opponents have scored just four goals against Iowa this season, and junior netminder Leslie Speight boasts a 0.49 goals-against-average with an .875 save percentage. Offensively, sophomore Maddy Murphy leads the way with seven goals and four assists while junior Katie Birch comes in with with five goals and six assists.
The Hawkeyes are averaging over seven penalty corners a game, while holding opponents to an average of three.
No. 25 California
The Golden Bears have only played six games this season, and are 3-3 with losses in all three ranked matchups against Maryland, North Carolina and Louisville. Their wins have come against Providence, Miami (OH) and Yale.
Sophomore Megan Rodgers has posted a team-best 14 points on six goals and two assists. Cal has used two goalkeepers this season, but Junior Danielle Mentink has shared the brunt of the workload, earning five starts and all three wins.
The Golden Bears have allowed 40 corners in six games while manufacturing just 28 of their own. The team is allowing 2.5 goals per game.