Northwestern University Athletics
'Cats Set to Battle Two Top-10 Teams
10/9/2008 12:00:00β―AM | Field Hockey
Oct. 9, 2008
EVANSTON, Ill. -- This weekend, Northwestern welcomes two teams ranked among the best in the nation to Lakeside Field, where the Wildcats have outscored opponents 21-2 in 2008. NU takes on Big Ten foe Michigan State, ranked No. 6 in the NFHCA Coaches Poll, at 3 p.m. on Friday before taking on the Demon Deacons of Wake Forest, ranked No. 3, at noon on Sunday.
ON THE WEB
Live statistics and play-by-play information will be available for both contests via the Gametracker link on the front page of NUsports.com.
LAST TIME OUT
Head coach Kelly McCollum and the Wildcats are coming off a 5-3 win against Missouri State last Saturday in which they built a 4-0 lead at halftime. Senior Alexandra Quinn (Watertown, Mass./Watertown) and junior Elizabeth Dobbs (Wellesley, Mass./St. Ignatius (San Francisco)) both had two goals apiece for NU. In just her second start of the season, Dobbs wasted no time making her presence known at the beginning of the game. In the fourth minute, she found herself alone with the ball off a penalty corner and slotted it past Missouri State goalkeeper Jessica Schuster from eight yards out. Just four minutes later, Dobbs was in the right place at the right time again as Quinn dribbled along the end line and found Dobbs cutting to the goal. The Wellesley, Mass., native converted the easy finish for her seventh goal of 2008. Dobbs was named NU's Hilton Garden Inn Female Athlete of the Week for her efforts
SCOUTING THE SPARTANS
No. 6 Michigan State (11-1) has won its last nine contests, including its last two games by a combined score of 18-1 against Indiana and Temple. The Spartan attack is spearheaded by junior Floor Rijpma, a native of Bunnik, Netherlands, who ranks ninth nationally in goals per game (1.08) and 15th in points per game (2.42). Junior Elissa Unger has played all but two minutes in goal this year en route to a 1.24 goals against average.
SCOUTING THE DEMON DEACONS
No. 3 Wake Forest (10-2) is coached by Northwestern alumnus Jennifer Averill, who lettered for NU from 1983-86 and led NU to a pair of NCAA semifinal appearances (1983, 1985). Averill became the first Wildcat to win the Honda Broderick Cup as the nation's top collegiate field hockey player in 1986 and garnered honors as the Big Ten Athlete of the Year in 1987. Now in her 17th year as Wake Forest's head coach, Averill is making her first trip to Evanston in that position. Junior Hilary Moore leads WFU in goals this year with 12 while senior Michelle Kasold has already recorded 18 assists in 2008.
SERIES RECORDS
NU leads the all-time series with Michigan State, 32-17, and last defeated the Spartans in a 3-2 overtime victory in 2006 on the strength of two goals by Jill Putnam (Greenfield, Mass./Greenfield). In four all-time match-ups with Wake Forest, NU has registered one win, which came in the 1998 season-opener.
