Northwestern University Athletics
NU Set to Tangle with Wolverines, Golden Bears
9/25/2008 12:00:00β―AM | Field Hockey
Sept. 25, 2008
EVANSTON, Ill. -- Northwestern travels to Ann Arbor, Mich., this weekend for a pair of contests against ranked opponents in search of its third consecutive win. NU, bolstered by the Big Ten's leading goal scorer in Alexandra Quinn, opens conference play against No. 19 Michigan (3-5) Saturday at 10 a.m. before taking on No. 20 California (5-1) Sunday at noon.
On the Web
Fans wishing to follow the play-by-play of both games can do so with Gametracker.
Last Time Out
Northwestern capped off a successful two-game homestand with a 4-0 shutout victory against Robert Morris to improve to 5-4 on the year. NU received goals from Alison Bullock, Elizabeth Dobbs and two from Alexandra Quinn, who on Monday took home Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week honors for the second time this year. With four goals over the weekend, Quinn overtook Iowa's Caitlin McCurdy for the Big Ten lead in goals with 10. Annie Bosslet also tallied three assists in the 'Cats' third shutout win of the season.
Scouting the Wolverines
Michigan is coming off back-to-back losses by one goal after dropping a 3-2 decision against No. 20 Albany on Friday and a 4-3 loss at No. 4 Connecticut Sunday. Northwestern leads the all-time series with the maize-and-blue, 28-18, but has not beaten Michigan in 16 matches dating back to 1997. Michigan has already had 11 different players score goals, led by senior Sarah Wilhite with five goals and 10 assists. Michigan has split much of the goalkeeping duties between Paige Pickett (five starts) and Christi Barwick (three starts), as the two have combined for a 3.77 goals-against-average in 2008.
Scouting the Golden Bears
California has not played a game since Saturday, Sept. 13 when it hosted then-No. 19 Albany. Cal trailed in the game, 2-0, but rallied to tie and eventually knock off the Great Danes in penalty strokes, 3-2, to win its fourth straight contest. Senior Andrea Lo leads the Golden Bears in scoring with four goals and four assists in 2008 while senior Kelly Knoche is holding opponents to less than one goal per game (0.95) in her six starts. In nine games with California, NU holds a 5-3-1 all-time edge in the series but fell to the Golden Bears, 2-1, in 2007.
