Michigan Battles Past Iowa, Extends Win Streak to Six

Friday, October 28

Ann Arbor, Mich.

3:00 PM

Michigan

(12-6, 3-3Big Ten)

Iowa

(10-6, 2-3Big Ten)

OT 3

Iowa

Michigan

Michigan Battles Past Iowa, Extends Win Streak to Six

10/28/2005 12:00:00 AM | Field Hockey

Box Score PDF Boxscore

By: Leah Howard

Site: Ann Arbor, Mich. (Ocker Field)
Score: #11 Michigan 2, #10 Iowa 1
Records: U-M (12-6, 3-3 Big Ten), Iowa (10-6, 2-3 Big Ten)
Next U-M Match: Sunday, Oct. 30 -- vs. Louisville (Ocker Field), 1 p.m.

ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The No. 11-ranked University of Michigan field hockey team extended its winning streak to six games with a 2-1 victory over No. 10 Iowa on Friday (Oct. 28) at Phyllis Ocker Field. The Wolverines rallied from an early deficit to even their Big Ten Conference record to 3-3 this season.

Michigan trailed for most of the first half after the Hawkeyes opened scoring at the 14:40 mark on a rebound goal by Caitlin McCurdy. Iowa continued to carry play in the frame -- the Hawkeyes outshot the Wolverines 10-6 in the half -- until just before the halftime intermission when sophomore Lucia Belassi (Paysandu, Uruguay/Liceo #1) knotted the score at 1-1 at the 32:24 mark. Senior Lori Hillman (Gibbsboro, N.J./Eastern Regional HS) set up the play at midfield, firing a long lead pass into the Hawkeye striking circle. Belassi, who stood alone with Iowa goalkeeper Lissa Munley, corralled the pass, maneuvered around a diving Munley and deposited the ball into lower right corner.

The Wolverines continued the momentum coming out of the break as freshman Erin Dallas (Marlow, N.H./Keene HS) tallied the game's deciding goal at 40:03. Off a Michigan free hit, senior/junior Katie Morris (Ann Arbor, Mich./Pioneer HS) gained control of the ball and combined with Dallas to set up a two-on-one situation entering the Iowa circle. Morris sent a pass to Dallas, who one-timed it into the back of the cage.

Michigan, which outshot Iowa 8-1 in the second half, owned the advantage in shots and penalty corners through the contest by 14-11 and 9-5 advantages, respectively. Junior goalkeeper Beth Riley (Palmyra, Pa./Palmrya Area HS) made eight stops in the U-M cage for the win, while Iowa's Munley collected eight saves in the losing effort.

The Wolverines will conclude the regular-season portion of their 2005 slate against Louisville on Sunday (Oct. 30) at Phyllis Ocker Field. The game is scheduled for a 1 p.m. EST start (remember to "fall back").

MATCH SUMMARY

Team	1	2	F
Iowa	1	0	1
Michigan	1	1	2

Scoring, Time (Assist)
1st -- Iowa, Caitlin McCurdy, 14:40 (unassisted)
1st -- U-M, Lucia Belassi, 32:24 (Lori Hillman)
2nd -- U-M, Erin Dallas, 40:03 (Katie Morris)

Shots: U-M 14, Iowa 11
Saves: U-M 8 (Beth Riley), Iowa 8 (Lissa Munley)
Defensive Saves: U-M 0, Iowa 0
Penalty Corners: U-M 9, Iowa 5

NOTES

• With the win, Michigan improved its record in the all-time series against Iowa to 11-32. U-M has won 10 of the last 13 meetings.

• Michigan also improved its season mark to 7-2 against teams from the NCAA West Region with the 2-1 decision against Iowa. The Wolverines will close out the regular season on Sunday (Oct. 30) against Louisville, another regional foe.

• After starting the Big Ten schedule 0-3, Michigan has won its last three conference games.

• Senior Lori Hillman collected her 22nd career assist on Michigan's first-half tally to gain sole possesion of the ninth spot among the Wolverines' all-time assists leaders. She needs one more helper to reach the eighth position on the list, currently held by Shelley Johnson (23, 1996-97).

• Junior goalkeeper Beth Riley made eight stops in the Wolverine cage to surpass 100 saves this season. She has boasted a career-best 106 stops in the U-M cage and only needs nine saves to match the total from her first two seasons combined.

QUOTES

Michigan Head Coach Nancy Cox
On the game ... "We talked to the kids this week about how impressed we have been with Iowa's ability to draw corners. I think our kids today limited the attack penalty corner opportunites for Iowa. I think their corner attack unit is very potent, and we managed to decrease the incidence of their opportunities and increase the incidence of our own opportunities. That was marked improvement in terms of how our defensive group is playing together. Now that we are through our run of illnesses and injuries and trips, I think we're starting to see some good motion defense in the backfield and some better play among our backfield players. I am really pleased with that. On the attacking end, I think our youth on the forward line, each match, they just keep improving, and that's what we ask them to do. We were really focused on ball speed this week, and I think we were able to execute it to a certain degree, but not quite in the total way that we want to execute it."

On the significance of this weekend's games ... "Today's game is a great prelude to the Big Ten Tournament. We have a huge match for Michigan, in terms of intra-region rankings, coming up on Sunday with Louisville. That should be a great challenge for us. This win today for Michigan was huge for those intra-region rankings as well as looking forward to the Big Ten and NCAA tournaments."