Wolverines to Kick Off Postseason at Big Ten Tournament

ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The No. 15-ranked University of Michigan field hockey team (9-6) will begin the postseason portion of its 2025 schedule as the No. 4 seed at the Big Ten Conference Tournament. The Wolverines will face No. 17-ranked and No. 5-seeded Rutgers (9-8) in the quarterfinals at 11 a.m. on Thursday (Nov. 6) at Indiana's Deborah Tobias Field in Bloomington, Ind.

The winner will face top-seeded and No. 2-ranked Northwestern in the semifinals at 1 p.m. on Friday (Nov. 7). Thursday's matchup will be streamed live on B1G+, while the semifinals and final will be broadcast live on Big Ten Network.

Notes

• Michigan owns the most Big Ten Tournament titles in conference history with nine and has won two of the last three titles, including last season in College Park, Md. The Wolverines won back-to-back crowns in 1999 and 2000, again in 2004 and 2005 and claimed titles in 2010, 2017, spring 2021, 2022 and 2024. U-M also has advanced to the Big Ten Tournament championship game in four of the last five years -- and 17 times in 27 seasons.

• The Wolverines captured the 2024 Big Ten Tournament title after beating all three teams that defeated them in regular-season conference play -- Indiana (1-0 OT), Maryland (4-3, SO) and Northwestern (1-0). Lora Clarke earned Tournament MVP with a goal and two assists, as well as a goal in the shootout win over Maryland, while Erin Reilly also earned All-Tournament honors.

• Michigan will open the Big Ten Tournament against Rutgers and looks for its second win this season over the Scarlet Knights after earning a 2-1 comeback victory on Oct. 5 at Ocker Field. U-M scored twice off its penalty corner in the second half. Junior Juliette Manzur netted the equalizer with time expired in the third before graduate student Abby Tamer posted the game-winner with just 2:07 remaining in the fourth. Michigan outshot RU 15-9 and outcornered them 8-5.

• Rutgers enters the postseason with a 9-8 record and, like Michigan, went 4-4 in Big Ten play. The Scarlett Knights ended the regular season with a 4-2 win on the road against Penn State last Friday (Oct. 31). Olivia Fraticelli leads Rutgers with 10 goals and two assists, while goalkeeper Emily Nicholls owns a 1.61 goals-against average and .784 save percentage. Michigan leads 14-4 all-time against Rutgers and has won the last two meetings.

• Michigan finished the regular season tied for fourth place -- with both Indiana and Rutgers -- in the Big Ten standings with a 4-4 record against league opponents. The Wolverines won all four of their conference home games and dropped their four road games and registered a combined 17-11 goal differential.

• Tamer leads the Wolverines in scoring with eight goals, two assists and 18 points. Tamer, a 2024 first team All-American, also led U-M in scoring last season with 12 goals, 14 assists and 38 points. Tamer has nine game-winning goals over her Michigan career; in addition to the three this season -- all scored within the final three minutes of the fourth quarter, including two in the final 30 seconds. She also tallied the game-winner in the Wolverines' comeback win against Wake Forest last season.

• Tamer boasts career totals of 33 goals, 27 assists and 91 points and stands within striking distance of cracking the Wolverines' top 10 leaderboard in all three categories. Notably, she is just two assists away from the eighth spot -- shared by Lori Hillman (2002-05), Sharon Cantor (1986-89) and Paige Laytos (2006-10) with 27 -- and six points shy of the 10th spot, currently held by Molly Powers (97, 1999-2002).

• Manzur suffered a season-ending injury in the Wolverines' game at Ohio State (Oct. 12). She tied her career highs in goals (five) and assists (five) and still ranks second on the team with a career-best 15 points. Of her goals this season, she scored U-M's game-tying marker with time expired in the third quarter against Rutgers and the game-tying goal in the fourth quarter against Wake Forest -- and contributed the Wolverines' first goal in their 3-2 comeback win at Stanford.

• Thirteen Wolverines have scored this year, just one shy of last season's total of 14. Junior Abby Burnett tallied her first goal of the season -- and just her second collegiate goal, first since 2023 -- in the first quarter against Indiana last Friday (Oct. 31).

• Michigan has outscored opponents 26-12 in the second half this season and 14-4 in the fourth quarter. Last season, U-M outscored its opposition 15-4 in the fourth quarter.

• Junior/sophomore goalkeeper Hala Silverstein ranks seventh nationally and third in the Big Ten with her .784 save percentage and 12th nationally and third in the Big Ten with a 1.06 goals-against average. Overall, Michigan carries a 1.29 GAA, while its defensive corps has allowed just 9.1 shots and 4.3 corners per game this season.

• Michigan scored two of its three goals against Indiana on its attack penalty corner -- and similarly scored two corner goals apiece in Big Ten games against Penn State and Rutgers. Michigan owns 19 corner goals this season, exactly half of its overall goal total (38). Michigan's corner conversion on the season is 17.8 percent (19-for-107).

• Michigan has held opponents to just six total goals off penalty corners this season -- one apiece against North Carolina, Stanford, Ohio State, Northwestern, Iowa and Indiana -- and a scant conversion rate of 9.2 percent (6-for-65).