Oct. 21, 2008
Complete Release in PDF Format
THIS WEEK
The University of Iowa field hockey team (11-4, 2-2) travels to Michigan State for its final regular season road contest. The Hawkeyes and Spartans will battle Saturday at noon (CT) at Ralph Young Field in East Lansing, MI. The game will be televised by the Big Ten Network. It will be shown as a same-day delay at 4 p.m. (CT). Dan Gutowsky and Kara Lenz will call the game.
MICHIGAN STATE
Michigan State enters Saturday’s match with a record of 13-3 overall and 3-1 in Big Ten Conference play. They are currently ranked eighth in this week’s STX/NFHCA rankings. The Spartans have defeated Delaware (3-2), Louisville (6-1), Stanford (3-2, OT), Boston University (2-0), New Hampshire (5-1), Miami University (5-1), Pacific (7-1), Ohio State (3-1), California (3-2 , OT), Indiana (9-1), Temple (9-0), Northwestern (3-1) and Ohio (2-1, 2OT). Michigan State lost to Syracuse (3-1), Wake Forest (2-1) and Michigan (1-0). Michigan State is led by Head Coach Rolf van de Kerkhof. In his third season at the helm of the Spartans, he is 37-21 all-time.
THE LAST TIME
Iowa and Michigan State split two matches in 2007. The Spartans defeated the Hawkeyes in the regular season, 1-0, in Iowa City. Iowa then defeated Michigan State, 3-2 in OT, in the second round of Big Ten Tournament en route to its second consecutive championship. The Hawkeyes are 42-9-1 all-time against the Spartans. This includes a record of 14-4 against the Green and White in East Lansing.
IN THE RANKINGS
The Hawkeyes are ranked 10th in the latest STX/NFHCA rankings. Iowa is also ranked 10th in Women’sFieldHockey.com’s latest poll.
Iowa has played or will play nine of the STX/NFHCA top 20 this season. In addition, the Hawkeyes have played or will play two of the teams receiving votes in the latest poll.
The Big Ten Conference currently has four teams ranked in the top 20. Michigan State sits at eighth in the latest rankings. Joining the Spartans are the Hawkeyes (No. 10), Penn State (No. 9), and Ohio State (No. 19). Michigan is receiving votes in the latest rankings.
The Hawkeyes have been ranked in the top 20 of the NFHCA Division I Coaches Poll for 19 straight weeks dating back to 2006. In 2007 and 2008, the Hawkeyes have yet to fall out of the top 10 of the poll.
TWO KEY MATCHES ON THE HORIZON
The Hawkeyes have two key Big Ten matches remaining in the regular season. The Hawkeyes travel to East Lansing for a showdown with the eighth-ranked Spartans Saturday. Iowa then returns home on Nov. 2 for the home finale at Grant Field against Michigan. All matches will have a major impact on the Big Ten Conference championship race. Additionally, Iowa will only have one contest per week. For the first seven weeks of the regular season, the Hawkeyes played at least two matches a weekend.
HAWKEYES DOMINATE BIG TEN WEEKLY HONORS
The Big Ten Conference named University of Iowa senior back Lauren Pfeiffer Defensive Player of the Week on October 6 for her play in Iowa’s matches against Northwestern and Missouri State. It was Pfeiffer’s second career Big Ten weekly honor.
The Mt. Laurel, NJ, native led the Iowa defense as the Hawkeyes shutout Northwestern, 2-0. In the victory, the Hawkeyes only allowed three penalty corners and four shots. She also anchored the Iowa defense as the Hawkeyes dominated Missouri State, 8-0. The stingy Hawkeye defense allowed only three penalty corners and four shots during the shutout. In addition, the senior tallied three goals against the Bears. It is the second time this season the senior recorded three goals in one contest. During Iowa’s eight-game winning streak, the Hawkeyes outscored their opponents by a 42-4 margin. It was the fourth-straight week a Hawkeye was honored and the fifth for the season. Iowa leads the Big Ten in weekly honors earned.
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HAWKEYES ON 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 game at Penn State on Oct. 10 was televised by the Network. The Hawkeyes battle with No. 8 Michigan State Saturday will be shown as a same-day delay. The Hawkeyes’ final home match against Michigan (Oct. 27) will be shown live.
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.
The captain of the U.S. National Team from 1985-88, Beglin led the squad during the 1988 Summer Olympics. A midfielder, she played on the U.S. team that captured the bronze medal at the 1984 Olympics and was a member of the 1980 team that did not compete due to the U.S. boycott of the Olympics.
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.
While at Iowa, she also received the Women’s Intercollegiate Athletic Academic Award (1982-1985) and the Physical Education Academic Achievement Award (1983-1985).
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.
Chamberlin has been distinguished as the NCAA Division III National Coach of the Year in back-to-back seasons (2004, `05), named the NFHCA South Region Coach of the Year seven times and Capital Athletic Conference Coach of the Year 11 times. The Sea Gulls have won 13 consecutive CAC championships and have posted 20 winning seasons, 14 in a row, under the tutelage of Chamberlin.
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 105-60 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 Grant Field, Iowa reached the plateau with an all-time record of 500-177-25. The Hawkeyes’ first season was in 1977.
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) Sept. 21. 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 defeated Oct. 11 (3-2) on the campus of Penn State University. The Hawkeyes lost to the Cavaliers 1-0 in 2006 on the Campus of Wake Forest.