Northwestern University Athletics
Wildcats Wrap Up Big Ten Home Slate Against Buckeyes Saturday
10/24/2014 12:00:00β―AM | Field Hockey
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| #9 Northwestern vs. Ohio State |
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| Date | Saturday, Oct. 25 | Noon |
| Location | Lakeside Field | Evanston, Ill. |
| Live Video | BTN Plus on BTN2Go |
| Live Stats | GameTracker |
| Twitter Updates | @NU_SportsLIVE |
| Social Media | @NUFHCats | Facebook |
EVANSTON, Ill. -- No. 9 Northwestern winds its 2014 Big Ten home season to a close Saturday as it takes on Ohio State at noon at Lakeside Field.
All fans who attend the contest will receive a Northwestern Field Hockey t-shirt.
The Wildcats (11-5, 5-1 Big Ten) are returning to their home field for the first time since Sept. 28 when they posted a 3-0 victory over No. 17 Indiana. Since then, NU has played five consecutive games on the road.
Northwestern entered the penultimate weekend of Big Ten play on Friday sitting in a tie for first place in the conference standings at 5-1 with Michigan and Maryland. However, Michigan's 2-1 loss to Michigan State on Friday has left NU in control of its own destiny for winning the league's regular season title and earning the No. 1 seed in the Big Ten tournament. The Wildcats will wrap up their league slate at Penn State next Friday, Oct. 31.
NU was knocked from sole possession of first place after suffering a 2-1 loss at then-No. 14 Michigan last Friday. However, the Wildcats bounced back to defeat Michigan State 5-2 in East Lansing on Sunday. Sophomore Dominique Masters scored Northwestern's lone goal against the Wolverines before notching two goals and an assist against the Spartans.
The 'Cats enter Saturday's contest having won their last 10 conference home matches. NU's last Big Ten home loss came all the way back on Oct. 28, 2011 when it suffered a 3-1 defeat at the hands of Ohio State. Since that contest, Northwestern has won 20 of its last 21 games at Lakeside Field.
Isabel Flens' goal with 15 seconds left in last Sunday's win at Michigan State allowed her to tie Masters for the team lead in goals this season with 10. Caroline Troncelliti has contributed nine goals to the Wildcats' balanced scoring attack, while Kelley Stump has seven. Charlotte Martin paces NU with 12 assists.
In goal, two-time Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week Maddy Carpenter sports a 1.73 goals-against average with a .716 save percentage. Northwestern has surrendered only 13 goals to the opposition in the last 12 matches after allowing nine in the first four. The 'Cats have out-scored their foes 26-7 in the first half of matches this season.
Scouting Ohio State
The Buckeyes (6-9, 1-5 Big Ten) are coming off a 4-2 loss at Iowa on Sunday. The Hawkeyes scored the first four goals of the match before Ohio State got goals in the last two minutes of the second half from Peanut Johnson and Annabel Sams. Maddy Humphrey leads OSU with 11 goals and 8 assists while Johnson has contributed 7 goals and 11 assists. Liz Tamburro has a 2.93 goals-against average with a .690 save percentage in goal for the Buckeyes. Northwestern defeated Ohio State 5-0 in Evanston a year ago in the regular-season finale to help the Wildcats earn a share of the Big Ten regular-season title. However, the Buckeyes defeated NU 3-2 in the opening round of the conference tournament. Northwestern holds a slim 28-27-1 lead in the all-time series.
