Michigan
Stanford
U-M to Head to West Coast to Face No. 21 Stanford, Cal
9/4/2019 2:59:00 PM | Field Hockey
» No. 7 Michigan will head west for non-conference games at No. 21 Stanford (Friday, Sept. 6; 7 p.m. PDT) and California (Sunday, Sept. 8; noon PDT).
» Meg Dowthwaite and Kathryn Peterson have had a hand in four of the Wolverines' five goals on the season; Dowthwaite ranks among the nation's leaders with a 1.5 goals-per-game average.
» Michigan is 1-1 on the season after splitting its ACC/Big Ten Challenge contests; U-M has posted a 4-4 mark at the annual event over the last four seasons.
THIS WEEK
Friday, Sept. 6 -- at #21 Stanford (Palo Alto, Calif.), 7 p.m. PDT
Live Stats
Sunday, Sept. 8 -- at California (Berkeley, Calif.), noon PDT
TV: Pac-12.com | Live Stats | Live Video
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The No. 7-ranked University of Michigan field hockey team (1-1) will hit the road for the first time this season and as it heads to the West Coast for a pair of non-conference games in the Golden State. On Friday (Sept. 6), the Wolverines will face No. 21 Stanford (1-2) at 7 p.m. PDT at Varsity Field Hockey Turf in Palo Alto, California, before wrapping the road trip at noon PDT on Sunday (Sept. 8) against California (1-1) at the Golden Bears' brand-new Underhill Field in Berkeley.
Wolverine Bites
• Michigan came out of the season-opening ACC/Big Ten Challenge with a 1-1 record, as it split its games in a 4-2 loss to No. 1 North Carolina, 4-2, and a 3-0 win over No. 10 Wake Forest. The Wolverines are 4-4 at the annual event over the last four seasons after they posted a 2-26 mark over their first 14 years. U-M owns two wins apiece against UNC and Wake over the four-year stretch.
• Senior Meg Dowthwaite already ranks fifth among the nation's goal-scoring leaders with three markers through two games for a 1.5 goals-per-game average. Dowthwaite has posted double-digit goals in each of the last two seasons, including a team-best 19 en route to second team All-America honors in 2017. She boasts 37 career goals, tying her with Wolverine assistant Kristi Gannon (2000-03) for 11th among U-M's all-time leaders in the category.
• Sophomore Kathryn Peterson, like Dowthwaite, has had a hand in all but one of the Wolverines' goals on the season, including all three in U-M's win over Wake Forest. As Michigan's new penalty-corner insert, she boasts a team-best three assists and tallied a goal on a reverse chip in the third quarter against the Demon Deacons.
• Four of Michigan's five goals last weekend came off its penalty corner -- a weakness in the Wolverines' game last season. U-M scored two goals apiece against UNC and Wake Forest on the corner attack, with Dowthwaite tallying three markers and junior Kayla Reed adding the fourth off a tip.
• Sophomore goalkeeper Anna Spieker secured the fourth complete-game shutout of her collegiate career with Michigan's 3-0 win against Wake Forest. She made a stop on the Demon Deacons' lone shot of the contest early in the fourth quarter. The Wolverines posted five total shutout wins last season.
• Freshman Sarah Pyrtek was the first Wolverine rookie to make her collegiate debut, starting both games last weekend at forward. After she unofficially scored two goals in Michigan's preseason scrimmage game against Ohio State, Pyrtek posted her first collegiate assist against Wake Forest with the stop on Dowthwaite's second penalty-corner tally.
Scouting the Opposition
Stanford -- The Cardinal enter the weekend with a 1-2 record, rebounding with a 4-1 win over Quinnipiac last Tuesday (Sept. 3) after it narrowly fell to No. 15 Northwestern, 4-3, in a shootout and No. 4 UConn, 3-2, over their opening weekend. Corinne Zanolli, a 2018 National Field Hockey Coaches Association (NFHCA) All-American, owns four goals and an assist already on the season, while goalkeeper Kelsey Bing, also an All-American, carries a 2.40 goals-against average and .771 save percentage. The Wolverines hold a 9-4 advantage in the all-time series against Stanford and had claimed three in a row until the Cardinal snapped the streak with a 4-2 decision last season in Iowa City, Iowa.
California -- The Golden Bears are 1-1 on the season after they defeated Quinnipiac, 5-1, and fell to Northwestern, 3-0, last weekend. Maddie Cleat leads Cal with a pair of goals, while goalkeeper Natalie Dalton owns a 2.00 goals-against average and .778 save percentage. Michigan is 6-2 in the all-time series against Cal and snapped a two-game series skid with a dominant 5-0 win in the most-recent meeting, in 2016 in Berkeley.
Last Time Out
The Wolverines split their two games at the annual ACC/Big Ten Challenge last weekend, as they fell to No. 1 North Carolina, 4-2, before they cruised to a 3-0 decision to No. 10 Wake Forest at Ocker Field. Senior Meg Dowthwaite scored three goals and assisted on another over the weekend, while sophomore Kathryn Peterson posted a goal and three assists. Sophomore goalkeeper Anna Spieker posted three saves over the weekend, including one in the shutout effort against Wake. [ Recaps: North Carolina | Wake Forest ]
Up Next
Fri., Sept. 13 -- vs. Connecticut (Phyllis Ocker Field), 6 p.m.
Sun., Sept. 15 -- at Central Michigan (Mount Pleasant, Mich.), 1 p.m.
