Wildcats Lift Lid on 2016 Season

8/25/2016 2:11:00 PM | Field Hockey

By: Nick Brilowski

NORTHWESTERN FIELD HOCKEY: GAME DAY INFORMATION
DATE	OPPONENT	TIME	LOCATION	BROADCAST	LIVE STATS
Friday, Aug. 26	No. 17 Boston U.	1 p.m. CT	Memorial Field (Durham, N.H.)	N/A	SIDEARM
Sunday, Aug. 28	UMass or UNH	10 a.m. or 1 p.m. CT	Memorial Field (Durham, N.H.)	AmericaEast.TV	StatBroadcast
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EVANSTON, Ill. – No. 16 Northwestern opens up its 2016 season this weekend when it travels to Durham, New Hampshire, for a pair of matches.

The Wildcats get their campaign started at 1 p.m. Central time Friday when they square off against Boston University on the campus of the University of New Hampshire. UNH faces Massachusetts in the second match of the day.

Friday's losers will battle at 10 a.m. CT Sunday while Friday's winners will meet up at 1 p.m.

Coming off a 13-8 season a year ago, the 'Cats return plenty of offensive firepower to lead the charge in 2016. All three of the team's leading goal scorers from 2015 return, including senior Dominique Masters who finished second in the Big Ten in goals (17) and classmate Isabel Flens (16) who ranked third. A third double-digit goal scorer -- sophomore Eva van Agt (11) -- also returns to the lineup.

Masters is expected to make the move to the back from the attack this season to help offset the departure of two-time All-American Lisa McCarthy. In all, head coach Tracey Fuchs and her staff must replace a talented 10-member senior class from a year ago that left as one of the winningest classes in school history and with a pair of Big Ten titles in tow.

NU does return 12 letterwinners from last season's squad while welcoming eight newcomers and a trio of individuals who redshirted as freshmen in 2015. Leading the list of newcomers is junior Elena Curley, a transfer from Ohio University.

Curley, along with Flens and Masters, were recognized by the Big Ten Conference earlier this week as Players to Watch.

Lindsay von der Luft returns for her senior year after playing the entire season in goal for the Wildcats last year. In her first season of play in 2015, she led the Big Ten with six shutouts while ranking third in the league with a 1.48 goals-against average. Annie Kalfas also returns to back up von der Luft a year after redshirting as a freshman.

Scouting Boston University
The Terriers are the preseason pick to win the Patriot League after winning the conference title each of the last two years. Senior Hester van der Laan and Ellie Landsman were named Patriot League Preseason Offensive and Defensive Players of the Year, respectively, while Amanda Cassera joined them on the Preseason All-League Team. NFHCA Hall-of-Famer Sally Starr in is her 36^th season as BU's head coach.

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