Michigan
Iowa
Wolverines to Host No. 9 Iowa in Regular-Season Finale
10/30/2019 5:08:00 PM | Field Hockey
» No. 8 Michigan will wrap up its regular season against No. 9 Iowa at 11 a.m. on Sunday (Nov. 3) at Phyllis Ocker Field.
» Michigan, which leads the nation with a 608 average attendance, has won seven straight home games since dropping its season opener to No. 1 North Carolina.
» U-M will honor its senior class -- Meg Dowthwaite, Guadalupe Fernandez Lacort, Fay Keijer and Kate Walker -- prior to Sunday's regular-season finale.
THIS WEEK
Sunday, Nov. 3 -- vs. Iowa (Phyllis Ocker Field), 11 a.m.
TV: BTN | Live Stats | Live Video
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PROMOTIONS
• Nov. 3: Senior Day
• Full Promotions Schedule
The No. 8-ranked University of Michigan field hockey team (13-4, 5-2 Big Ten) will close out the regular-season portion of its 2019 schedule this Sunday (Nov. 3) when it hosts No. 9-ranked Iowa (12-4, 6-1 Big Ten) in an 11 a.m. slate at Phyllis Ocker Field.
Wolverine Bites
• Michigan will honor its four-member senior class prior to Sunday's regular-season finale. Meg Dowthwaite, Guadalupe Fernandez Lacort, Fay Keijer and Kate Walker have already combined for a 60-22 record over their Michigan tenure, two Big Ten regular-season and Big Ten Tournament title plus three trips to the NCAA Tournament.
• Sunday's game will carry significant Big Ten Tournament implications. Iowa lists second in the conference standings with a 6-1 mark -- Maryland has already clinched at least a share of the regular-season title with a 7-1 mark -- while Michigan ranks third with a 5-2 record. The winner of Sunday's game will earn the tournament's No. 2 seed.
• Michigan enters the final weekend with a 7-1 record at home and has won seven straight since dropping its season opener against No. 1 North Carolina (Aug. 30). Since 2010, the Wolverines have posted a stout 81-17 record at Ocker Field, including a perfect 9-0 record last season -- the first time Michigan went unbeaten at home since 2013.
• The Wolverines lead the nation with an average attendance of 608 and rank second nationally to Maryland with a 4,862 total attendance. U-M boasted a season-high crowd of 1,058 for its rivalry contest against Michigan State on Oct. 16.
• Junior Halle O'Neill notched the Wolverines' game-tying goal in the third quarter at Saint Joseph's last Sunday (Oct. 27) and assisted on the fourth-quarter game-winner to become the 13th different Wolverine player to tally goals this season. Among the baker's dozen of Wolverines, freshmen Nina Apoola and Sarah Pyrtek have registered their first collegiate tallies.
• Michigan has boasted eight shutout wins on the season, including seven over its last 12 games while an eighth over that stretch required a shootout to break a scoreless tie -- and for which sophomore goalkeeper Anna Spieker was credited a complete-game shutout.
• Spieker ranked second in the Big Ten, and sixth nationally, with a career-best 0.98 goals-against average -- she is one of six players nationally with a GAA below 1.00 -- while the Wolverine defense has allowed just 5.4 shots per game. Spieker posted complete-game shutouts against No. 10 Wake Forest (Sept. 1), Appalachian State (Oct. 5), Michigan State (Oct. 6) and Maryland and combined with junior Sidonie LaPlante for U-M's other four shutout wins. As a team, the Wolverines boast a 0.97 goals-against average.
• Senior Meg Dowthwaite shares the team lead with seven goals. Dowthwaite, who has posted double-digit goals in each of the last two seasons -- including a team-best 19 en route to All-America honors in 2017 -- boasts 41 career goals, moving her into the eighth spot among U-M's all-time leaders in the category. Dowthwaite also boasts 102 career points and similarly ranks eight among U-M's leaders.
• Junior/sophomore Emma Tamer, who tallied her second multi-goal effort in three games with her two markers against Penn State (Oct. 20), was named the Big Ten and NFHCA National Defensive Player of the Week last week. As a back, she also contributed to a defensive effort that allowed just one goal and six shots on goal on the weekend. Tamer shares the team lead with seven goals -- the first markers of her collegiate career -- all scored over the last seven games.
• Senior Fay Keijer is enjoying a career year as a senior this season. She ranks fourth on the team with 16 points off six goals and four assists. She has already matched her career high in goals -- she also recorded six as a sophomore (2017) -- and has surpassed her best assists and points marks.
• Head coach Marcia Pankratz earned her 300th career win in dramatic fashion with the Wolverines' 1-0 decision against No. 2 Maryland on Oct. 18. She is now 302-131 over her 20 seasons at the helm of the Michigan program (1996-2004, '09-19). Pankratz ranks 12th all-time among NCAA Division I coaches with a .697 win percentage -- seventh among active coaches -- and lists 18th in total wins.
• Two of the Wolverines' four losses on the season have come in the shootout -- at No. 21 Stanford (3-2, Sept. 6) and at No. 7 Northwestern (1-0, Sept. 29) -- and both required a sixth round of attempts. They are U-M's first shootout games since the format replaced penalty strokes in 2012.
Scouting the Opposition
Iowa -- The Hawkeyes are 12-4 on the season and 6-1 in Big Ten play after defeating Northwestern, 2-1, at home last Saturday (Oct. 26). Maddy Murphy leads Iowa with 11 goals and 30 points on the season, while nine Hawkeyes boast multiple goals. Goalkeeper Leslie Speight carries a 1.19 goals-against average and .644 save percentage. Michigan trails, 42-25, in the all-time series against Iowa but has claimed six of the last seven meetings. The teams split a pair of games last season, with U-M earning a 2-1 decision in the regular-season meeting in Iowa City and the Hawkeyes winning 2-1 in the Big Ten Tournament semifinals.
Last Time Out
The Wolverines split a pair of road games against ranked opposition last weekend, falling to No. 18 Rutgers, 3-0, on Friday (Oct. 25) before rebounding with a 4-3 comeback win at No. 11 Saint Joseph's on Sunday (Oct. 27). U-M scored three unanswered goals in the second half against the Hawks. Junior Kayla Reed scored the game-winning goal off a penalty-corner tip at the 53:10 mark in the fourth quarter, while junior Halle O'Neill notched the tying goal -- also on a penalty corner -- and assisted on the game-winner. [ Recaps: Rutgers | Saint Joseph's ]
Up Next
Thursday, Nov. 7 -- vs. TBD - Big Ten Tournament Quarterfinals (State College, Pa.)
