Weekly Release #6

UPCOMING SCHEDULE
Friday, Sept. 29 -- at Iowa (Iowa City, Iowa), 4 p.m. CDT
Saturday, Sept. 30 -- vs. Southwest Missouri (Iowa City, Iowa), 1 p.m. CDT
Friday, Oct. 6 -- vs. Northwestern (Ocker Field), 4 p.m.
Saturday, Oct. 7 -- vs. Central Michigan (Ocker Field), 1 p.m.

This Week
The University of Michigan field hockey team takes on last year's Big Ten Conference regular-season champion, Iowa, on Friday (Sept. 29) and Southwest Missouri State on Saturday (Sept. 30). Both games will be played at Grant Field in Iowa City, Iowa. The fourth-ranked Wolverines (10-1, 2-0 Big Ten) are on an eight-game win streak after disposing of Indiana and Ohio State this past weekend to go 2-0 in the conference.

The Skinny Against the Hawkeyes
Historically, Iowa has owned the Maize and Blue, having the more all-time victories (33) over the Wolverines than any other school. Before the Marcia Pankratz era took over at U-M, the Maize and Blue were 0-31 against Iowa. The 1997 squad stopped the Hawkeyes' 31-game win streak with a 2-1 victory and U-M has won four of the last six, including the 1999 Big Ten Tournament final, where the Maize and Blue took the title with a 2-1 victory.

This year the Hawkeyes (5-5, 0-1 Big Ten) haven't returned to the form that led them to the 1999 NCAA Final Four. They have a new head coach in Tracy Griesbaum and they lost six seniors from last year's team. This season the Hawkeyes have taken three teams to overtime, winning two -- Richmond 2-1, Stanford 2-1 -- and losing one -- Syracuse 1-2. Iowa will play U-M coming off a 4-1 loss to fifth-ranked Penn State. The Hawkeyes on the Internet: www.hawkeyesports.com.

Marcia Pankratz's Coaching Record vs. Iowa (5-4)

Season	Score	Site
1996	L, 1-6	Iowa City, Iowa
	L, 0-3	Ocker Field
1997	W, 2-1	Ocker Field
	W, 3-2	Iowa City, Iowa
1998	W, 2-0	Iowa City, Iowa
	L, 0-3	Ocker Field
1999	W, 1-0	Ocker Field
	L, 0-1	Iowa City, Iowa
	W, 2-1	Columbus, Ohio (Big Ten Final)

Pankratz on Iowa
"Iowa is always a difficult game, especially on their turf, so we have to be real focused. They're struggling a little this year, so I know they will practice extra hard for us."

Playing the Bears
Southwest Missouri State is 5-4 overall and 3-1 in the Northern Pacific Field Hockey Conference. Michigan holds a 5-1 all-time mark against the Bears and has shut out SMS the last two times they have faced -- 1-0 in 1998 and 7-0 in 1997, both at Ocker Field. The Bears lost 6-0 in an early season contest to Ohio State (Aug. 27). The Bears on the Internet: www.sports.smsu.edu.

A Blowout and a Thriller
The Wolverines opened up Big Ten play with an 8-0 road spanking of Indiana (Sept. 22) followed by a 2-1 last-minute home victory over 16th-ranked Ohio State (Sept. 24).

Kristi Gannon (Escondido, Calif./San Pasqual HS) took over the game against the Hoosiers, scoring four goals and adding an assist. Three of Kristi Gannon's goals came off penalty corners, with two of the assists going to Courtney Reid (South Deerfield, Mass./Northfield Mt. Hermon HS) and Ali Balmer (Ephrata, Pa./Ephrata HS) and the other to Reid and Catherine Foreman (Happy Valley, S. Australia/Westminister). Rounding out the scoring for the Maize and Blue were Reid, Kelli Gannon (Escondido, Calif./San Pasqual HS), Jessie Veith (Oak Park, Ill./Oak Park-River Forest HS) and Molly Powers (Oak Park, Ill./Oak Park-River Forest HS). Freshman goalkeeper Molly Maloney (Lake Bluff, Ill./Lake Forest HS) didn't have to make a save, but she recorded her second career shutout.

The Buckeyes put the Maize and Blue in an unusual situation: having to score with a minute left for the victory. Michigan has dominated opponents this year without having to worry about late heroics, but freshman April Fronzoni (Larksville, Pa./Wyoming Valley West HS) proved she can be counted on when the game is on the line, scoring with 56 seconds left to break the 1-1 tie. Powers scored in her fifth straight game, with an assist to Kristi Gannon. Despite the close score, Michigan outshot the Buckeyes 23-5 and had 18 penalty corners to OSU's Five.

Only Young in Age
Freshmen April Fronzoni and Kristi Gannon are emerging as the team's go-to players. They scored four goals in back-to-back games this season and are 1-2 on team and the Big Ten in scoring with 28 and 24 points, respectively.

Big Ten Elite
With the Wolverines' scoring sprees, the Maize and Blue owns the scoring chart in the Big Ten. As of Sunday (Sept. 24), the Wolverines have of the five top spots on the list.

Big Ten Players with 20 or More Points

Player	Goals	Assists	Points
April Fronzoni, U-M	13	2	28
Kristi Gannon, U-M	9	6	24
Kelli Gannon, U-M	7	9	23
Molly Powers, U-M	10	2	22
Courtney Reid, U-M	4	14	22
Katie Hobson, OSU	7	7	21
Traci Anselmo, PSU	8	4	20

No-Show Stoppers
The advantage for a Michigan goalkeeper is the lack of scoring opportunities they will face. In the victories over Indiana and Ohio State, Molly Maloney and Maureen Tasch (Ann Arbor, Mich./Pioneer HS) had to make one save. Maloney was credited with a shutout against the Hoosiers without seeing a shot and Tasch had to make the lone save against OSU.

Death, Taxes and Powers
It's been almost a sure thing that Molly Powers will score a goal when the Maize and Blue are playing. Powers has scored in five straight games and nine of the 11 this season.

Streak Snapped
Co-captain Kelli Gannon's 10-game point streak ended in the 2-1 victory over Ohio State. Gannon had seven goals and nine assists during the streak. The Wolverine did continue her consecutive-games streak (64) this past weekend.

I'll Take the Zero
Twenty-four of Marcia Pankratz's 68 victories as head coach of the Maize and Blue have been shutouts.

Assist-O-Meter
Courtney Reid distributed three assists in the Big Ten opener against Indiana. She leads the team with 14 and has raised her all-time Michigan mark to 48. Reid's 22 assist last year tied the single-season record.

Seniors Chasing History
Kelli Gannon is now two points shy of tying Julie Flachs for second place all-time on Michigan's career points list. Gannon scored a goal and an assist in the victory over Indiana. Courtney Reid had five points (1-3-5) in the Indiana game to move into sixth place and is now four shy of Marty Maugh for fifth.

U-M Career Points Leaders

	Player	Points	Years
1.	Mary Callam	136	1978-80
2.	Julie Flachs	106	1994-97
3.	Kelli Gannon	104	1997-present
4.	Kay McCarthy	92	1980-83
5.	Marty Maugh	87	1979-82
6.	Courtney Reid	84	1997-present
7.	Dawn Kohut	80	1976-77

Lucky Seven
Head coach Marcia Pankratz needs seven more wins to become Michigan field hockey's all-time leader. Pankratz has a 68-31 overall record, which is second to her predecessor, Patti Smith, who coached the Maize and Blue from 1989-95. Smith had a 74-60-4 mark at U-M.

Dishing Ali
Midfielder Ali Balmer supplied an assist trifecta against the Hoosiers. Balmer has five assists on the season.

Torrid Pace Continues
Michigan is averaging 4.81 goals per game through 11 games this season. The Wolverines are on pace to shatter last season's scoring record (76) with 94 goals.

Still Undefeated at Home
Michigan is 6-0 at home this season. U-M has never been undefeated the entire season in the history of the program. Since 1997, the Wolverines have been almost unbeatable at Ocker Field, losing only four times in 34 games. The last defeat was to Iowa, 1-0 on Oct. 24, 1999.

U-M at Ocker Field Since 1997

Season	W	L	T	Pct.
1997	9	1	0	.900
1998	8	2	0	.800
1999	7	1	0	.875
2000	6	0	0	1.000
Totals	30	4	0	.882

Wolverines Stay in Fourth in the NFHCA Poll
Michigan remains fourth in the NFHCA coaches poll. Maryland stayed at the top despite losing 5-3 to Wake Forest, who moved up three spots to the third position. New additions to the top 20 are Duke (17), Kent State (19) and Harvard (20) and dropping from the poll were Louisville, Syracuse and Drexel. Two Big Ten schools dropped -- Penn State from five to six and Michigan State from 15 to 18 -- and Ohio State remained at 16th.

STX/NFHCA Division I National Coaches Poll (9/26/00)

 Team Record Pts Prev 1. Maryland (9) 7-1 529 1 2. Old Dominion (5) 8-1 522 3 3. Wake Forest (14) 9-0 521 6 4. MICHIGAN 10-1 446 4 5. North Carolina 8-1 442 3 6. Penn State 5-2 429 5 7. Connecticut 8-2 380 7 8. Princeton 5-0 319 11 9. Massachusetts 6-2 307 10 10. Virginia 3-3 285 8 11. Northeastern 6-3 249 13 12. James Madison 5-3 227 12 13. William & Mary 7-2 225 9 14. Boston College 6-3 184 14 15. Boston 6-2 153 17 16. Ohio State 7-4 148 16 17. Duke 5-5 104 NR 18. Michigan State 6-3 99 15 19. Kent State 7-3 77 NR 20. Harvard 5-1 42 NR

Contact: Jason Binge (734) 763-4423