No. 4 Northwestern to Meet No. 18 Rutgers in Big Ten Tournament

11/1/2022 11:55:00 AM | Field Hockey

NORTHWESTERN FIELD HOCKEY: GAMEDAY INFORMATION
DATE	OPPONENT	TIME	LOCATION	TELEVISION	STATS
Thursday, November 3	No. 18 Rutgers	4 p.m. CT	Columbus, Ohio	Big Ten Plus	Live Stats
Social: Twitter: @NUFHCats Instagram: @NUFHCats

COLUMBUS, Ohio – No. 4 Northwestern (three seed) kicks off its postseason campaign Thursday No. 18 Rutgers (six seed) in the Big Ten Tournament. All three rounds of the conference tournament will be hosted in Columbus, Ohio with Northwestern's first game set to begin at 4 p.m. CT on Big Ten Plus.

STORYLINES

» Northwestern enters the Big Ten Tournament on a five-game winning streak that dates back to Oct. 14. The Wildcats secured the three seed in the tournament and a 5-3 regular season conference record last weekend with a 2-1 win over Indiana, holding the tiebreaker over Michigan due to the head-to-head record. Northwestern has won a top-three seed in three of the last four conference tournaments and has won five games in the Big Ten each of the last four seasons.

» The Wildcats finished its non-conference schedule with a perfect 10-0 record after defeating Miami (OH) in the regular-season finale last weekend, winning those games by a combined 37-9. Seven of Northwestern's non-conference opponents were ranked, including four in the top 15. Overall, Northwestern has gone 10-3 against ranked competition in 2022.

» Northwestern's primary penalty-corner unit of Alia Marshall, Kayla Blas and Bente Baekers combined on a goal in both games last weekend. The group has connected on six goals from the penalty corner this season, more than any other trio in the Big Ten.

Bente!!! Number 2??1??!!!

Northwestern takes the 2-0 lead as we head to the fourth quarter ?? pic.twitter.com/69U319MHzc
— Northwestern Field Hockey (@NUFHCats) October 28, 2022

» Fifth-year midfielder Kayla Blas, already the record holder for games played as a Wildcat, competed in her 98th career game in the regular-season finale and is in line to become the first Northwestern student-athlete to play in 99 career games Thursday. She has assisted a goal in four straight games, bringing her to 12 on the season, second most in the Big Ten and the most on the team.

» Fifth-year Forward Bente Baekers scored in back-to-back games while adding an assist last weekend to secure the national lead in points. Baekers has scored 51 points this year on 22 goals, second most in the country and most in the Big Ten, and seven assists. She has found the back of the cage in 14 of the Wildcats' 18 games this season.

MATCHUP INFO

NO. 18 RUTGERS (Thursday, November 3, 4 p.m. CT)

» Thursday's matchup will be the 14th all-time meeting between Northwestern and Rutgers, a series the Wildcats lead 8-5.

» Northwestern has won all three postseason matchups against Rutgers with all three coming in the first round of the Big Ten Tournament. Most recently, the Wildcats prevailed 2-1 over the Scarlet Knights in the 2021 spring tournament.