Northwestern University Athletics
Second-Half Outburst Propels NU Past Iowa in Exhibition
8/20/2010 12:00:00β―AM | Field Hockey
Aug. 20, 2010
Northwestern 5, Iowa 0 -- Box Score 
Site: Evanston, Ill. (Lakeside Field)
Score: Northwestern 5, Iowa 0 (exhibition)
Next NU Event: Friday, Aug. 27 at Syracuse (Syracuse, N.Y.)
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EVANSTON, Ill. -- For the opening 35 minutes of Northwestern's exhibition contest against Iowa, most of the action took place in the midfield with both teams struggling to create scoring chances. All that changed in the second half, however, as NU scored five goals -- three of them off penalty corners -- to defeat the Hawkeyes, 5-0, Friday at Lakeside Field.
"This was a great step forward for our team and definitely a performance we can learn from and build off during our last week of training camp," said Northwestern head coach Tracey Fuchs. "In the second half we really did a nice job pressing them in their end of the field and being dangerous on attack. We also converted on about 30 percent of our corner plays which is a percentage I'll take all season long."
Sophomore forward Chelsea Armstrong picked up right where she left off in 2009, scoring two goals and assisting on a third to pace the Wildcats. Armstrong put NU on the board early in the second half when she collected a loose ball at the top of the arc and fired it past Iowa netminder Kathleen McGraw.
Later in the half, Northwestern received a goal by freshman Catherine Franklin, who gave NU a 2-0 lead with a blast in the 50th minute. Franklin was one of four freshmen who played significant roles in Friday's exhibition, coming off the bench to score after forward Nikki Parsley started the game on the attack line. Defender Julia Retzky and midfielder Maria Kovalchuk each also gave NU a lift in reserve roles.
Senior Sarah Marcincin gave Northwestern a three-goal cushion when she deflected home a hit by Armstrong off a penalty corner. Barely two minutes later, Armstrong converted a penalty corner shot of her own, one of a game-high five shots she took on the afternoon.
Senior Olivia Standa rounded out the scoring for the Wildcats in the 68th minute, firing a blast from the right side of the circle across the goal mouth that beat McGraw and slammed into the corner of the cage.
Northwestern picked up the combined shutout as senior Katie Lynch and sophomore Amanda Wirth split the goalkeeping duties on the afternoon.
NU's season begins in earnest one week from today when the `Cats travel to take on Syracuse on Friday, Aug. 27.
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