Northwestern University Athletics
Wildcats Host No. 12 Hawkeyes in Conference Showdown
10/13/2005 12:00:00β―AM | Field Hockey
Oct. 13, 2005
EVANSTON, Ill. -- Coming off one of its best offensive performances of the year, Northwestern's field hockey team looks to keep that momentum as it faces 12th-ranked Iowa at 3 p.m. Friday, Oct. 14 at the Leonard B. Thomas Athletic Complex.
Northwestern split its matches last weekend after falling to seventh-ranked Indiana 3-1, then rolling past Lindenwood, 5-0. Christina Foley (Cape Elizabeth, Maine/Cape Elizabeth) scored the lone goal for Northwestern against Indiana, while Alexandra Quinn (Watertown, Mass./Watertown), Ellen Schlafly (St. Louis, Mo./MICDS) and Meghan Small (Bethlehem, Pa./Moravian Academy) tallied scores against Lindenwood.
The Wildcat offense is primarily driven by a quartet of goal-scores, but after Sunday's match with the Lions, nine Wildcats have notched goals on the season, five of whom have scored twice or more in one match.
A host of Wildcats have made waves in national and conference statistics this season. Freshman forward Jill Putnam (Greenfield, Mass./Greenfield) ranks 16th in the nation - first among freshman - in goals scored. Her 10 goals this season rank her fourth in the Big Ten in total goals and sixth in goals per game with .77. Putnam needs six more goals to crack NU's top-10 single-season goals list.
Small ranks fifth in the conference in shots (46) and fourth in shots per game (3.54). Small and Schlafly are each tied for 10th in the Big Ten in total points this season.
On the defensive end, junior goalkeeper Sherri-Anne Nyberg (Kelowna, British Columbia/Kelowna Secondary) continues to rack up the saves. Nyberg's 98 stops rank 14th nationally and lead the Big Ten. She is on pace to jump into 10th-place on NU's single-season saves list, passing volunteer assistant coach Donna Barg.
Friday's match marks the 64th all-time meeting between these two schools. In the last meeting - a nonconference match at Iowa on Oct. 4 - the Hawkeyes edged Northwestern 4-3.
Northwestern, however, took the last regular-season home match with Iowa, a 1-0 decision in double overtime. The Hawkeyes are 2-2 on the road this season.
Iowa (8-5, 1-2) is coming off a 4-0 conference loss to Penn State.
Iowa is led by the trio of Caitlin McCurdy, Lauren Pfeifer and Debbie Birrell, who each have over 15 points on the season. The Hawkeyes boast the nation's 12th-best offense, tallying 3.25 goals per game.
