Michigan
Northwestern
U-M Nips Northwestern, Clinches Share of Big Ten Title
10/20/2002 12:00:00 AM | Field Hockey
Site: Ann Arbor, Mich. (Ocker Field)
Score: #2 Michigan 1, Northwestern 0
Records: U-M (14-1, 5-0 Big Ten), NU (4-11, 0-4 Big Ten)
Next U-M Match: Friday, Oct. 25 -- at Penn State (State College, Pa.), 3 p.m.
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- Playing in its final regular-season home game at Ocker Field, the No. 2 University of Michigan field hockey team clinched a share of its third Big Ten Conference regular-season title on Sunday (Oct. 20), downing Northwestern 1-0 on the team's annual Senior Day. With the victory, the Wolverines also increased their win streak to a school-record 13 games, keeping pace with Lafayette for the longest win streak in the nation.
Northwestern's defense was stingy during the entire game, limiting the Wolverines to just 13 shots, including six in the first hale. Michigan kept the Wildcats at bay as well, allowing only five scoring chances during a game that was spent between the 25-yard lines.
After a scoreless and frustrating first half, the Wolverines got all the offense they would need just 5:29 into the second stanza when junior forward April Fronzoni (Larksville, Pa./Wyoming Valley West HS) beat NU keeper Kendra Mesa for the game-winning tally. With U-M in transition, junior midfielder Laura Woitkewitsch (Cologne, Germany) fed the ball up the left side of the field, through a Northwestern defender, to the stick of sophomore forward Adrienne Hortillosa (Chula Vista, Calif./Bonita Vista HS). Hortillosa took the ball to the edge of the circle and found Fronzoni, who worked her way in front of the cage for an uncontested shot.
The Wildcats pressured the U-M defense until the final seconds of the game but could not get a shot off to equal the score. Sophomore Molly Maloney (Lake Bluff, Ill./Lake Forest HS) made two stops while posting her eighth shutout of the season, tying Maureen Tasch for the school's single-season shutout record.
Michigan will now take to the road for its final four regular-season contests, beginning with a stop in State College, Pa., to face No. 6 Penn State and No. 3 Old Dominion. The Wolverines will wrap up Big Ten play on Friday, Oct. 25, against the Nittany Lions at 3 p.m. before taking on the Monarchs in a neutral-site game on Saturday, Oct. 26, at 2 p.m. Both games will be played at PSU's Bigler Athletic Complex.
MATCH SUMMARY
| Team | 1 | 2 | F |
| Northwestern | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Michigan | 0 | 1 | 1 |
Scoring, Time (Assist)
2nd -- U-M, April Fronzoni, 40:29 (Adrienne Hortillosa)
Shots: U-M 13, NU 5
Saves: U-M 2 (Molly Maloney), NU 4 (Kendra Mesa)
Defensive Saves: U-M 0, NU 1 (Christina Nannicelli)
Penalty Corners: U-M 9, NU 4
Penalty Strokes: U-M 0, NU 0
QUOTES
Michigan Head Coach Marcia Pankratz
On the game and setting the Michigan record for consecutive wins at 13 ... "We're really happy to escape with a win. We knew that Northwestern was going to give us a really tough battle. They always do. We always struggle against Northwestern because they're very feisty and very aggressive. They make it difficult for us to play the game that we like to play, which is an up-tempo passing game. They slowed the game down a lot and stopped the play, which caused a lot of problems with our passing and speed."
On having a sub-par first half ... "We were tentative. On Senior Day everyone loses their focus a little and they put too much emotional emphasis on the game. We weren't really coming out with a lot of the normal fire that we do. We were a little tentative and sluggish."
On clinching a share of the Big Ten title ... "We're happy to have it back. We didn't win Big Tens last year and that's always a goal of ours so we're very thrilled about that milestone. It's one of the goals for the team. It also takes a lot of pressure off of us to go into Penn State and just go play and not worry about anything. That makes it easier on us."
On the challenges Penn State presents ... "They're a very good team. They're very skilled. They play well as a team and they're well coached. They're playing at home where is very emotional. It's hard to play in Happy Valley. They always have a large crowd and it will be quite a challenge for us."
U-M Junior Forward April Fronzoni
On tying her point total of 30 from last season ... "I don't want to really think about that right now. I'm just concerned with the team playing well and us cruising on to the end of the season with some wins. Whoever scores, that's great. I'm not really concerned about my statistics."
On her goal and what she thinks about in the circle ... "I start thinking a lot and then that doesn't really help me so I just try to play my game. In the beginning I was thinking a lot but with that play I just knew I had to make a quick decision and put the ball in. I just pulled the ball over and made a face stick shot."
On the adjustments made at halftime ... "We just wanted to pick up the ball tempo and use our transfer and our speed to go around them. We were getting into one-on-one battles with them and they have low defense all the way around so we just tried to go two-on-one and transfer the ball around them. That was the big thing we talked about in the second half."
U-M Sophomore Goalie Molly Maloney
On tying the single-season record for shutouts at eight ... "The shutouts have not so much to do with me as a single person but they have a lot to do with the team. I am so proud that our team has achieved that together. Eight shutouts are great so let's go get nine. Let's just keep going."
On breaking the record for consecutive wins with 13 ... "We're excited to take that into next weekend against Penn State. That's a great thing to have in our back pocket just to say that we've got 13 wins behind us and let's get 14. It's definitely going to keep pushing us to try to get more but we're going to take one game at a time and see how it goes."
On the Penn State game ... "It's huge. If we beat Penn State we have the whole thing (Big Ten regular-season title) in the bag. I really want to beat the Nittany Lions really bad. We have Old Dominion after that so we have a big weekend this weekend so it's just a matter of buckling down and staying on the game plan and seeing how it goes."
NOTES
• Michigan has won a school-record 13 straight games, surpassing the previous mark of 12, set during the 2000 campaign.
• The Wolverines clinched a share of their third Big Ten regular-season title. U-M previous won Big Ten crowns in 1997 and 2000.
• A win by the Wolverines against Penn State will give U-M the Big Ten title outright and guarantee it the top seed in the Big Ten Tournament, which results in a bye during the first round.
• Entering their final week of Big Ten play, the Wolverines lead the conference with a 5-0 mark. Michigan State and Penn State trail the Wolverines with 3-1 records.
• April Fronzoni equaled her goal and point total from last year with her 13th marker. Fronzoni has 13-4-30 totals this season and is tied for the team's goal-scoring lead with Molly Powers.
• Molly Maloney posted her eighth shutout of the year, tying the single-season mark set by Maureen Tasch a year ago.
• Three seniors -- Jessica Rose (Lititz, Pa./Warwick HS), Krista Meckley (Hanover, Pa./Southwestern HS) and Molly Powers (Oak Park, Ill./Oak Park-River Forest HS) -- played their final regular-season game at Ocker Field and were honored in a pregame ceremony.
