No. 14 Wildcats Return Home to Face No. 18 Hawkeyes

10/1/2015 8:58:00 AM | Field Hockey

Northwestern set for first Big Ten home match

By: Nick Brilowski

NORTHWESTERN FIELD HOCKEY: GAME DAY INFORMATION
DATE	OPPONENT	TIME	LOCATION	BROADCAST	LIVE STATS
Friday, Oct. 2	No. 18 Iowa	2:30 p.m.	Lakeside Field (Evanston, Ill.)	N/A	SIDEARM
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EVANSTON, Ill. -- After playing its first three Big Ten games of the season on the road, the 14th-ranked Northwestern field hockey team finally returns home to Lakeside Field on Friday as it takes on No. 18 Iowa. The contest is slated to get underway at 2:30 p.m.

Fans attending the contest will receive a free Northwestern foam finger.

The Wildcats are beginning a stretch that sees them play four consecutive matches at home and four of their final five conference games in Evanston.

Northwestern (8-4, 1-2 B1G) experienced mixed results on the road last weekend. On Friday, the 'Cats rolled to a 5-1 victory at Rutgers as they surged out to a 3-0 halftime lead and scored the first four goals of the contest. Five different NU players scored goals in the contest as it out-shot the Scarlet Knights 24-12 including holding an 18-7 edge in shots on goal.

The Wildcats came up on the short end of their weekend finale as they were edged 3-2 at Indiana on Sunday despite holding advantages of 20-9 in shots and 11-4 in penalty corners. Northwestern experienced some bad luck in the contest as Hoosier defenders combined to make five saves on top of seven saves by Noelle Rother. Eva van Agt had a goal and an assist in the contest, while Isabel Flens notched her team-leading 11th goal of the season.

Flens' goal total ranks second in the Big Ten and fourth nationally, while Dominique Masters is fourth in the league with nine tallies. The seven goals this year for van Agt are the second most of any Big Ten freshman behind only Maryland's Linnea Gonzales (8). Masters ranks atop the league with 69 shots and an average of 5.75 shots per game. She is coming off a season-high 11-shot performance against Indiana, including putting eight on target.

Friday's matchup features the top two scoring teams in the Big Ten. Northwestern ranks first in the league with an average of 3.58 goals per game while Iowa is second with a norm of 3.45 goals per contest.

Scouting Iowa
The Hawkeyes (7-4, 1-1) also suffered a loss at Indiana last weekend, falling 3-1 on Friday. Iowa bounced back by posting a 6-1 victory at Ball State on Sunday behind two goals apiece from Stephanie Norlander and Veronique Declercq. Norlander is the Big Ten leader with 13 goals, a total that ranks third in the nation. In goal, Alexandra Pecora sports a 1.78 goals-against average with a .672 save percentage. Northwestern posted a 3-1 victory over Iowa in last year's regular-season matchup between the teams on Oct. 5 in Iowa City. The Wildcats also defeated Iowa 2-1 in the quarterfinal round of the Big Ten tournament in Ann Arbor. The Wildcats are 4-3 vs. the Hawkeyes under head coach Tracey Fuchs.