Sept. 23, 2008
Complete Release in PDF Format
THIS WEEK
The University of Iowa field hockey team (6-2, 0-0) hits the road again this weekend, opening Big Ten Conference play Friday. The sixth-ranked Hawkeyes will travel to Bloomington, IN, to face the Hoosiers at 2 p.m. (CT). Iowa will then travel to Louisville Sunday to face the Cardinals at noon (CT). Hawkeye fans can track the action this weekend on Hawkeyesports.com. Click on the Gametracker link on the field hockey schedule page to get live scoring and play-by-play.
INDIANA (5-3)
Indiana is 5-3 and is receiving votes in the current STX/NFHCA rankings. This season, the Hoosiers have defeated Saint Joseph’s (3-1), Missouri State (5-1), Saint Louis (4-0), Pacific (4-3, OT) and Ball State (2-0). They lost to Rutgers (3-2, OT), Ohio (2-1, 2OT) and Wake Forest (2-1). Indiana is led by Head Coach Amy Robertson. In her ninth season at the helm of the Hoosiers, she is 72-82 all-time.
LOUISVILLE (4-3, 0-1)
The Louisville Cardinals, a member of the Big East Conference, enter the weekend with an overall record of 4-3 and are ranked 11th in the latest STX/NFHCA rankings. This season the Cardinals have defeated Duke (1-0), Ohio (4-1), Ohio State (5-1) and New Hampshire (4-3, OT). They lost to Michigan State (6-1), Virginia (4-2) and Syracuse (3-0). Louisville is led by 11th-year head coach Pam Bustin. She is 118-100 all-time at the helm of the program.
THE LAST TIME
The Hawkeyes faced both Louisville and Indiana in 2007. Iowa defeated Louisville in Iowa City, 4-3. The Hawkeyes battled the Hoosiers twice last season, with Iowa winning both. The Hawkeyes defeated Indiana, 2-1, in overtime in Iowa City during the regular season and defeated the Hoosiers in the first round of the Big Ten Tournament, 8-2. Iowa is 2-3 all-time against Louisville. The Hawkeyes lead the all-time series against Indiana, 10-5.
GRIESBAUM WINS 100TH
Head Coach Tracey Griesbaum celebrated her 100th win at the University of Iowa with a 3-2 victory at Stanford Sept. 13. She has a record of 103-60 all-time at the helm of the Hawkeye program. Griesbaum won her 100th game as a head coach last season.
MILESTONE REACHED
The Iowa Hawkeye field hockey program reached its 500th all-time victory with a win over American Friday, Sept. 5. With the 4-1 victory at Granf Field, Iowa reached the plateau with an all-time record of 500-177-25. The Hawkeyes’ first season was in 1977.
IN THE RANKINGS
The Hawkeyes remained sixth in the latest STX/NFHCA rankings. Iowa trails only No. 1 Wake Forest, No. 2 Syracuse, No. 3 Maryland, No. 4 Connecticut and No. 5 North Carolina in the latest rankings.
BEAMESDERFER NAMED BIG TEN DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK
The Big Ten Conference Monday named junior back Meghan Beamesderfer Defensive Player of the Week for her play in Iowa’s matches against Central Michigan and Boston University over the weekend. The honor is Beamesderfer’s second career Big Ten weekly honor. It is the second straight week a Hawkeye has been honored and the third for the season. The three weekly honors leads the Big Ten Conference. Friday, the Lititz, PA, native led the Iowa defense as the Hawkeyes shutout Central Michigan, 9-0. Sunday, she anchored the Iowa defense as the Hawkeyes defeated Boston University, 5-1. Over the weekend, Beamesderfer played all but four minutes as the stingy Hawkeye defense limited the Chippewas and the Terriers to a combined 11 shots and five penalty corners. Iowa has outscored its last three opponents by a 22-1 margin.
“Meghan does whatever the team needs and she does it with a great mix of intensity and poise,” said Head Coach Tracey Griesbaum.
SCHEDULE NOTES
Iowa’s last three NCAA Tournament opponents (2004, `06, `07) are on the season’s schedule. Iowa defeated American (4-1) Sept. 5 and defeated Boston (5-1) Sunday. The Hawkeyes lost to American 2-1 in 2004 on the campus of the University of Maryland. The Black and Gold fell to Boston a year ago, 1-0, in double overtime on the campus of the University of Connecticut. Iowa plays Virginia (Oct. 11) on the campus of Penn State University. The Hawkeyes lost to the Cavaliers 1-0 in 2006 on the Campus of Wake Forest.
BALANCED ATTACK
The Hawkeyes have 10 players who have recorded at least one point this season. Seniors Caitlin McCurdy and Caroline Blaum lead the way. McCurdy has 22 points and ranks 10th in the nation in points per game. Blaum has 21 points and is 12th nationally in points per game. Blaum leads Iowa with seven assists. McCurdy leads the Hawkeyes with nine goals. The Hawkeyes have six game-winning goals this season and they have been scored by four different players. Blaum and Sarah Pergine each have two and Jess Werley and McCurdy each have scored one.
HAWKEYES ON THE BIG TEN NETWORK
The Iowa field hockey team will appear on the Big Ten Network more than any other conference school this season – three times. Iowa’s games at Penn State (Oct. 10) and at Michigan State (Oct. 25) will be shown as same-day delays. The Hawkeyes’ final home match against Michigan (Oct. 27) will be shown live.
HAWKEYES LEAD THE WAY
The Iowa field hockey team leads the Big Ten Conference in six different team categories. The Hawkeyes lead in scoring margin (3.00), scoring average (4.38), goals scored (35), goals scored per game (4.38), assists (29) and assists per game (3.62). In addition, Caitlin McCurdy (2.75) and Caroline Blaum (2.62) lead the conference in points per game.
TWO FORMER HAWKEYES NAMED TO NFHCA HALL OF FAME
The National Field Hockey Coaches Association (NFHCA) has announced its ninth Hall of Fame class and former Iowa Head Coach Beth Beglin (1988-99) and player Dawn Chamberlin (1981-85) are two of the six to be honored as part of the Class of 2008. Beglin and Chamberlin will be inducted Jan. 17, 2009, at the 2009 NFHCA Hall of Fame Luncheon in Philadelphia.
Beglin was one of the nation’s most decorated field hockey coaches while coaching the Iowa Hawkeyes for 12 seasons. Beglin had over 20 years of experience as a player and coach. She boasted a 199-57-3 (.774) career record on the Iowa sidelines.
She led the Black and Gold to seven regular-season Big Ten championships, one conference tournament title and 10 NCAA tournament appearances, with trips to the Final Four seven of those 10 seasons. Four of Iowa’s seven Big Ten titles, under Beglin, came with perfect 10-0 league records. Beglin was honored as the 1992, ’95 and ’96 Big Ten Coach of the Year. In 1992, she was recognized as the National Coach of the Year after guiding Iowa to a 20-1 record and a national runner-up finish. Beglin was also a six-time regional Coach of the Year (1990, ’92, ’94, ’95 and ’96). Under her tutelage, 33 Hawkeyes earned all-American laurels. As a team, the Hawkeyes won an NCAA-record, 40-straight home games on Grant Field.
Chamberlin is a 1985 graduate of the University of Iowa, where she was a four-year letterwinner. The Hawkeyes won the Big Ten championship outright from 1981 to 1983, before sharing the top spot in 1984. The `84 squad finished second in the nation. Chamberlin, Iowa’s co-captain as both a junior and senior, was also a member of the national indoor championship team and was selected to the all-Big Ten team her senior year.
Chamberlin is in her 22nd year as head coach at Salisbury University (MD) where she has won three NCAA Division III national championships (2003, `04 and `05), made 20 trips to the NCAA tournament, along with nine final four appearances, and amassed over 300 career victories. This past summer she was elevated to the position of Assistant Athletic Director at SU. Chamberlin’s current record at Salisbury is 326-87-8 through the first seven games of the `08 season.