Northwestern University Athletics
Northwestern
Ball State
Northwestern Hosts Ball State, Colgate to Open Home Slate
9/8/2016 4:01:00β―PM | Field Hockey
| NORTHWESTERN FIELD HOCKEY: GAME DAY INFORMATION | |||||
| DATE | OPPONENT | TIME | LOCATION | BROADCAST | LIVE STATS |
| Friday, Sept. 9 |
Ball State | Noon | Lakeside Field | Studio N Live | SIDEARM |
| Sunday, Sept. 11 |
Colgate | Noon | Lakeside Field | Studio N Live | SIDEARM |
| Social: Twitter (@NUFHCats and @NU_SportsLive) | Instagram (@NUFHCats) | Facebook | |||||
EVANSTON, Ill. β No. 17 Northwestern gets its home season started this weekend with a pair of matches at Lakeside Field. The Wildcats host Ball State at noon Friday before taking on Colgate at the same time on Sunday.
NU (2-2) has opened its 2016 with four consecutive neutral-site matches. The Wildcats have faced a challenging schedule thus far, taking on three ranked opponents. NU defeated its first ranked team of the season last weekend, taking down then-No. 8 Boston College, 2-1, on Kirsten Mansfield's goal off a penalty corner with no time remaining.
The Wildcats battled back to force overtime against then-No. 4 Duke in their most recent game on Sunday thanks to freshman Saar de Breij's first collegate goal with 1:20 remaining in regulation, but the Blue Devils eventually pulled out a 3-2 win. Lindsay von der Luft made a career-high 13 saves in goal for the 'Cats.
Seniors Isabel Flens and Dominique Masters and junior Elena Curley lead the Wildcats with two goals apiece this season. Flens also paces the squad with three assists. Masters is NU's active leader in both goals (42) and points (105). In goal, von der Luft leads the Big Ten with an average of 6.30 saves per game while ranking second with a .806 save percentage.
Scouting Ball State
Ball State (3-1) raced out to a 3-0 start to the season, including earning overtime wins over Davidson and Brown, surpassing the team's win total from all of 2015 when the Cardinals posted a 2-16 mark. Mikayla Mooney and Darbi Gullett lead the team with two goals apiece. The Cardinals suffered their first loss of the year, a narrow 1-0 defeat to Richmond, in their most recent game last Saturday. Northwestern won the most recent meeting with Ball State in Muncie, 3-1, on Sept. 8, 2015. Kelley Stump scored a pair of second-half goals to pace the Wildcats. NU leads the all-time series between the schools, 20-7-2. Christy Longacre is in her first season as the head coach at Ball State after serving as an assistant coach for the Cardinals the last two years.
Scouting Colgate
The Raiders take a 1-4 record into Saturday's game against Ball State in Evanston prior to facing Northwestern on Sunday. Colgate opened its season with a 1-0 overtime win over Bryant but has struggled since, dropping each of their last four matches by a combined 18-2 margin. Emily Brash, Molly Klare and Kayla Robinson each have tallied a goal for the Raiders this season. Northwestern has won both previous meetings with Colgate. The teams last met Aug. 30, 2010 when the Wildcats notched a 4-1 victory at Colgate. Cathy Foto is in her 28th season as the head coach of the Raiders.
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