Sept. 28, 2004
IOWA CITY –
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This Week
The University of Iowa women’s soccer team is scheduled to face Northwestern and Illinois. The Hawkeyes and the Wildcats will play on Friday at 4 p.m. Iowa is then scheduled for a 2 p.m. match in Champaign, IL against the Illini on Sunday.
Last Week
Iowa opened its Big Ten home schedule with a 1-1 record last weekend. The Hawkeyes played Michigan State to a 1-1 draw in double overtime and fell to No. 16 Michigan 4-0. Against the Spartans, Lindsey Phillips headed a ball into the back of the net off a cross from Whitney Strain to give Iowa the lead. Michigan State scored the equalizer in the 60th minute. Michigan recorded 14 shots on goal and Jamie Artsis had a had trick against the Hawkeyes. Iowa only fired two shots on goal while Britta Vogele recorded nine saves in the loss.
Racking in the Saves
Senior goalkeeper Britta Vogele now has 424 career saves. Vogele is the school record holder in career saves.
Team Leaders
Freshman Jamie Maltman leads the team with 13 shots, including six on goal. Maltman, along with Lindsey Phillips and Whitney Strain all have one assist for the Hawkeyes. Phillips, Kitty Montgomery and Avery Bang all have recorded one goal each for the Hawkeyes. Britta Vogele has played every game in net and has a 1.42 goals against average and a save percentage of .833.
Opponents in the Rankings
Four of Iowa’s opponents are ranked in the Soccer Buzz Top 30. Penn State is currently ranked sixth, Illinois 15th, Michigan 22nd, Ohio State 25th, and Wisconsin 30th. Michigan State is listed as also receiving votes.
Scouting Northwestern
The Wildcats are 5-4-1 overall and 1-2 in conference play. Last weekend, Northwestern defeated Wisconsin in overtime and tied Drake in double overtime. Kelsey Hans leads the Wildcats with eight goals scored. Kelly Sitkowski has three assists on the year for Northwestern. Whitney Jones has played the majority of time in goal and has a 0.99 goals against average. The Wildcats hold a 4-3 advantage in the overall series. Last year, Northwestern defeated the Hawkeyes (3-1) in Iowa City. Northwestern is coached by Jenny Haigh.
Scouting Illinois
The 15th ranked Illini are 8-2 overall and 2-1 in conference play. Last week, Illinois defeated Wisconsin but fell to Illinois State. Tara Hurless leads the team with five goals scored and is one of six players with two assists. Leisha Alcia has played the majority of time in net and has only given up three goals in 10 games. She has a 0.31 goals against average. The Illini hold a 5-4 advantage in the overall series. Last year, Illinois defeated Iowa (2-0) in Iowa City. The Illini are coached by Janet Rayfield.
New Faces
Freshman recruits aren’t the only new faces in the Iowa soccer program this fall. Josh Green and Jen Plante are both in their first season as Hawkeye assistant coaches. Green joins the program from California, where he was an assistant coach at Pepperdine University. While at Pepperdine, Green coached three all-conference goalkeepers and helped lead the team to a top 25 ranking and three straight NCAA tournament appearances. Plante, a North Carolina native and graduate of Ohio State University, joins the staff from Kenyon College in Ohio where she served as an assistant coach. While at Ohio State, Plante received Big Ten Freshman of the Year honors in 1994 and first team all-Big Ten recognition.
The Cy-Hawk Series
Next up in the first season of the Cy-Hawk series is the women’s soccer matchup in Ames on October 31. The Hawkeyes currently lead the series 3-0 after the Iowa football team defeated the Cyclones 17-10 in Iowa City. The winner of the women’s soccer matchup gets two points.
Head Coach Carla Baker
Carla Baker is in her third season as the head coach for the Iowa soccer program. In her inaugural season, Baker led the Hawkeyes to an 11-7-1 record and three of her players won Big Ten honors. In addition to the individual honors, the team was given the NSCAA Team Academic Award. Baker led the Hawkeyes to a 4-12-2 record in 2003 with victories over No. 12 rated BYU, Rutgers and in-state rivals Drake and Northern Iowa. Under Baker, Katelyn Quinn was named to the second all-Big Ten team and third Soccer Buzz Great Lakes Region team. Before moving to Iowa, Baker owned her own soccer consulting company in Dallas, TX, and served on staff as a goalkeeper coach at all levels for United States Soccer Federation youth national teams, U-14 to U-21 age groups. Prior to her move to Dallas in 1999, Baker served as an assistant coach at the Division I level for eight years at the University of Notre Dame and Cornell University. While at Notre Dame, the Fighting Irish won the 1995 National Championship and made four straight NCAA Final Four appearances. Baker’s playing experiences include 12 years on the Canadian National Team. She was the starting goalkeeper at the 1995 Women’s World Cup Championships held in Sweden. Baker also played three years (1987-90) at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, where she obtained her Bachelor of Arts degree in 1990. She was named to the 1987 all-Canadian Team while with the Marauders.
Quoting Coach Baker
“Our level of play is more consistent. We are working hard in every aspect of our game. We need to learn to take quicker advantage of the opportunities we create. We know that we can compete in the Big Ten Conference and our student-athletes realize that. We have another tough weekend with two quality opponents. Northwestern and Illinois will both provide great competition and both teams are very talented. We are looking forward to another weekend of tough conference play.”