Wildcats Open Big Ten Season at Maryland on Big Ten Network

Friday, September 18

College Park, Md.

2:30 p.m.

Northwestern

Maryland

Wildcats Open Big Ten Season at Maryland on Big Ten Network

9/17/2015 4:05:00 PM | Field Hockey

Friday's contest is a rematch of 2014 B1G Tournament title game

By: Nick Brilowski

NORTHWESTERN FIELD HOCKEY: GAME DAY INFORMATION
DATE	OPPONENT	TIME	LOCATION	BROADCAST	LIVE STATS
Friday, Sept. 18	No. 10 Maryland	2:30 p.m. CT	Field Hockey and Lacrosse Complex (College Park, Md.)	BTN and BTN2Go	SIDEARM
Sunday, Sept. 20	Temple	11 a.m. CT	Geasey Field (Philadelphia, Pa.)	owlsports.com	SIDEARM
Social: Twitter (@NUFHCats) \| Instagram (@NUFHCats) \| Facebook

EVANSTON, Ill. – A rematch of the 2014 Big Ten Field Hockey Tournament championship is game is on tap for Friday as No. 12 Northwestern travels to No. 10 Maryland. The contest gets underway at 2:30 p.m. Central time with Big Ten Network providing live television coverage. The game can also be seen online via BTN2Go with Dean Linke and Kelly Druley on the call.

The Wildcats return to nonconference play on Sunday as they make the trip to Philadelphia to face Temple.

Northwestern won both of its matchups with Maryland a year ago when the Terrapins were ranked No. 2 in the nation. In the inaugural Big Ten matchup between the schools, the 'Cats earned a 3-2 win at Lakeside Field behind a pair of goals by Kelley Stump. The teams later faced off on Nov. 9 in Ann Arbor with NU coming away with a 3-1 victory to earn its first Big Ten tournament title in school history.

Northwestern (6-2) enters play this weekend having won its last five contests. Despite winning both of their matches last weekend by a combined 12-1 margin, the Wildcats dropped three spots to No. 12 in this week's Penn Monto/NFHCA Coaches Poll. NU is the second-highest ranked Big Ten team in this week's poll, trailing only Maryland. Iowa (No. 16) and Penn State (No. 18) of the Big Ten also are ranked this week.

The 'Cats are coming off a 6-2 home victory over UC Davis on Tuesday. Following a scoreless first half, the teams exploded for eight second-half goals with six different Wildcats accounting for the team's tallies.

Junior Isabel Flens leads the Wildcats with eight goals this season to rank second in the Big Ten, while Dominique Masters is second on the team and third in the league with seven goals. In goal, Lindsay von der Luft ranks second in the conference with a 1.38 goals-against average.

Scouting Maryland
The Terrapins (3-3) are coming off a 6-1 home win over American on Sunday as senior Sarah Sprink recorded a hat trick. Five of Maryland's goals came off penalty corners. Freshman Linnea Gonzales leads the Terrapins with five goals and 11 points. Jill Genovese has seen the majority of the action in goal for Maryland, posting a 2.46 goals-against average and a .571 save percentage. Northwestern and Maryland have two common opponents this season as both teams competed at the B1G/ACC Cup in Lancaster, Pennsylvania two weeks ago. Both teams lost to Duke 2-1 while the 'Cats defeated Boston College 3-1 and the Terrapins lost the Eagles 3-2 in overtime. Maryland leads the all-time series with Northwestern 12-7, including a 6-1 edge in College Park.

Scouting Temple
The Owls (2-4) travel to Monmouth on Friday prior to hosting Northwestern. Temple dropped a 2-1 home decision to Penn on Sunday. Alyssa Delp tallied her fourth goal of the season in defeat. Sarah Deck paces the squad with five goals this season. Haley Mitchell has started all six matches in goal for the Owls and has a 2.90 goals-against average with a .622 save percentage. The Wildcats will represent Temple's third Big Ten opponent already this season as the Owls have lost to Maryland (4-2) and Penn State (2-0). Northwestern holds a slim 3-2 lead in the all-time series with the Owls, including winning both previous matchups in Philadelphia.