'Cats Open Big Ten Tournament Title Defense Thursday

11/4/2015 3:05:00 PM | Field Hockey

Northwestern faces Ohio State in quarterfinal round

By: Nick Brilowski

NORTHWESTERN FIELD HOCKEY: GAME DAY INFORMATION
DATE	OPPONENT	TIME	LOCATION	BROADCAST	LIVE STATS
Thursday, Nov. 5	Ohio State	9 a.m. CT	IU Field Hockey Complex (Bloomington, Ind.)	BTN and BTN2Go	SIDEARM
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EVANSTON, Ill. -- Fourth-seeded and 17th-ranked Northwestern opens defense of its conference tournament title Thursday when the 'Cats take on fifth-seeded Ohio State in the quarterfinal round of the 2015 Big Ten Field Hockey Tournament in Bloomington, Indiana.

The teams square off in the first match of the day at 9 a.m. Central time. The contest is being televised live by Big Ten Network.

Thursday's contest is a rematch an Oct. 25 matchup in Columbus won by Northwestern, 2-0. The Wildcats dominated the contest, out-shooting the Buckeyes by a 29-2 margin. Isabel Flens tallied a first-half goal while Pascale Massey added an insurance goal in the second half.

The winner of Thursday's match faces either top-seeded Maryland or eighth-seeded Michigan State in Friday's first semifinal at 12:30 p.m. Central. Sunday's championship match is set for 11 a.m.

The Wildcats won their first conference tourney title a year ago, defeating No. 15 Iowa 2-1 in the quarterfinals, host and 12^th-ranked Michigan 2-1 in overtime in the semifinals before topping second-ranked Maryland 3-1 in the championship match. By virtue of the tournament title, the Wildcats earned an automatic berth into the NCAA tournament.

Northwestern (12-7, 4-4 Big Ten) have been through their share of ups and downs throughout the 2015 campaign. Of Northwestern's seven losses this season, six of them have been by a one-goal margin including four to ranked opponents and two in overtime. The Wildcats have only been out-shot by their opponent three times this season and not since a Sept. 18 contest at Maryland. Even in the team's lone multi-goal loss this season, the Wildcats out-shot top-ranked and defending national champion UConn 15-8 and had a 10-0 advantage in penalty corners.

Senior back Lisa McCarthy (first team), senior Charlotte Martin, senior forward Caroline Troncelliti and junior forward Isabel Flens (second team) were named All-Big Ten selections on Wednesday. McCarthy has been named a first-team choice each of the last two seasons after earning second-team recognition as a freshman and sophomore. Martin repeated her second-team selection from a year ago.

Northwestern is seeking a Big Ten title for the third consecutive season. In addition to last year's tournament title, the Wildcats won a share of the regular-season crown in 2013.