Three Unanswered Goals Push U-M to Victory at No. 17 Northwestern

Friday, October 2

Evanston, Ill.

3:00 PM CT

Michigan

(4-7)

Northwestern

(9-4)

Michigan

Northwestern

Three Unanswered Goals Push U-M to Victory at No. 17 Northwestern

10/2/2009 12:00:00 AM | Field Hockey

Box Score PDF Boxscore

By: Matt Trevor

Site: Evanston, Ill. (Lakeside Field)
Score: Michigan 3, #17 Northwestern 1
Records: U-M (4-7, 2-1 Big Ten), Northwestern (9-4, 0-2 Big Ten)
Next U-M Match: Saturday, Oct. 3 -- vs. Saint Louis (Evanston, Ill.), 2 p.m. CT

EVANSTON, Ill. -- The University of Michigan field hockey team won its second straight Big Ten contest by defeating No. 17 Northwestern, 3-1, on Friday (Oct. 3) at Lakeside Field. The Wolverines fell behind 1-0 but responded with a pair of goals eight minutes apart in the first half. They added a second-half goal to clinch the win.

Alicia Mayer

Junior Alicia Mayer (Selinsgrove, Pa./Selinsgrove) led the Maize and Blue with a pair of goals, the first of which was the game-winning tally. Junior Meredith Way (Newmanstown, Pa./Warwick) tied the game at 1-1 with her team-best eighth goal of the season. She has five goals in the last four games.

Mayer's game-winning goal occurred at 30:07 of the first half on a penalty corner. Sophomore Bryn Bain (Berlin, N.J./Eastern Regional) took the initial pass and hit to the far-left post, where Mayer was waiting to tap the ball into the cage.

Goalkeeper Christi Barwick (San Diego, Calif./Torrey Pines) made her first start of the season and had six saves.

Michigan remains in Evanston, Ill., to face the Saint Louis Billikens on Saturday (Oct. 3). The neutral-site contest will begin at 2 p.m. CT.

GAME SUMMARY

By Periods	1	2	F
Michigan	1	2	3
Northwestern	1	0	1

Scoring, Time (Assist)
1st -- NU, Elizabeth Dobbs,11:08 (unassisted)
1st -- U-M, Meredith Way, 22:32 (unassisted)
1st -- U-M, Alicia Mayer, 30:07 (Bryn Bain)
2nd -- U-M, Mayer, 48:20 (unassisted)

Shots: U-M 9, NU 12
Saves: U-M 6 (Christi Barwick), NU 5 (Katie Lynch)
Defensive Saves: U-M 0, NU 0
Penalty Corners: U-M 8, NU 5

NOTES

• Michigan won its 18th straight game against Northwestern, dating back to 1997. The Wolverines are 20-28-0 all-time vs. NU.

• Meredith Way has six goals in the last six games, including an active four-game goal streak. She posted two goals vs. Penn State on Sept. 27. She leads the Wolverines with eight goals and 16 points.

• Alicia Mayer recorded the third multi-goal game of her career this afternoon. The first of her two markers was her second career game-winning goal. Mayer is third on the U-M roster in goals (4) and points (10) for the season.

• Christi Barwick earned her first start in goal since Oct. 3, 2008, when she collected the win against Temple. Today marked her first complete game since Sept. 25, 2008, when she suffered a 3-2 overtime loss against California. Barwick's only other action this season came in relief against Connecticut on Sept. 12.

QUOTES

Michigan Head Coach Marcia Pankratz
On today's win ... "They played smart, they played together. There was really great urgency on defense. It just was the best game of the year that we've played. Jenner Johnson was off the chart. She played fantastic today and really set the tone and was a great leader for our team today. Meredith Way played great today. She's coming into her own. She's stepping up and making a big difference. And I thought Paige Laytos played well today too. It was a good team effort. Everyone played solidly."

On Christi Barwick's play in goal ... "For Christi to come in for her first start of the year, against a Big Ten opponent, she made some very critical saves to keep us in the game."

On Alicia Mayer's two goals ... "She's starting to finish. We've had an awful lot of chances and she's starting to get her stick on the ball in the circle. She's really going after the balls that are loose in the circle and getting a nose for the back of the board. That's nice to see."