Northwestern University Athletics
Northwestern
Iowa
Wildcats Fall to No. 12 Hawkeyes, 4-3
10/4/2005 12:00:00β―AM | Field Hockey
Oct. 4, 2005
Iowa 4, Northwestern 3
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EVANSTON, Ill. -- Jill Putnam (Greenfield, Mass./Greenfield) scored her ninth and 10th goals of the season, while Meghan Small (Bethlehem, Pa./Moravian Academy) notched her seventh, but Northwestern's field hockey team fell to No. 12 Iowa Tuesday, 4-3.
The Hawkeyes scored first a little over three minutes into the match, but Northwestern quickly recovered when Putnam took an Ellen Schlafly (St. Louis, Mo./MICDS) pass and put it past the Iowa keeper, tying the match at 1-1 less than six minutes into the contest.
That's how it would stay or the remainder of the first stanza as a defensive battle ensued. The Wildcats held the nations 12th-ranked team to only three shots in the first half, but didn't take advantage on the offensive end.
"I'm disappointed in how we started," head coach Kelly McCollum said. "I felt like we let Iowa get the edge on us early, and it continued throughout the first half."
Iowa tallied two quick goals 10 minutes into the second frame, to gain a 3-1 lead.
With a little more than 20 minutes to play, Small stepped up and shot home an unassisted goal to bring the Wildcats within one.
The Hawkeyes struck again at 58:21 as Kara Zappone slipped one past junior goalkeeper Sherri-Anne Nyberg (Kelowna, British Columbia/Kelowna Secondary) to extend Iowa's lead to 4-2.
There was still fight left in the 'Cats, however, and their persistence was rewarded when Alexandra Quinn (Watertown, Mass./Watertown) set up Putnam for her second goal of the match. With the score, Putnam notched her third multi-goal performance of the year.
The match ended at 4-3, dropping Northwestern to 6-5 overall.
"We got ourselves into a hole early. I think our kids fought hard, but we dug ourselves into too big of a hole to get out of," McCollum said.
Statistically, the game was nearly even. Iowa had 18 shots to Northwestern's 15, and each team tallied eight penalty corners. Nyberg recorded five saves in the match, while Iowa keeper Lisa Munley had three.
Northwestern remains 0-2 in conference play, as Tuesday's match was not officially considered a Big Ten contest. Northwestern resumes conference play at 2 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 8 at No. 7 Indiana.
