No. 11 Iowa Set for Regular Season Finale

Oct. 26, 2011

• 2011 Media Guide
• USA Field Hockey
• Download your Iowa Hawkeye iPhone app!
• Iowa and the Big Ten Network
• Big Ten Network: Free Hawkeye Video
• 24 Hawkeyes to Watch

Complete Release

THIS WEEK
The University of Iowa field hockey team, ranked 11th nationally, continues action Friday when it travels to Muncie, Ind., to face Ball State. The Hawkeyes (13-3, 4-2) and Cardinals (4-13) play at 2 p.m. (CT). The match will be Iowa’s regular season finale.

ON THE NET
Iowa field hockey fans can follow the Hawkeyes with live stats on hawkeyesports.com. Click on the `Live Stats’ link found on the field hockey schedule page.

FINISHING STRONG
Iowa’s game at Ball State Saturday will mark its final game of the regular season. The Hawkeyes, winners of five-straight overall, are 13-3 overall. A win in the regular season finale at Ball State would give Iowa a 14-3 record, its best since the 2007 season when it finished 14-3. The Hawkeyes finished 13-4 during the 2008 regular season. The Black and Gold advanced to the NCAA Final Four that year. Prior to 2007, Iowa’s highest regular season win total came in 1999, when the team finished 16-1. The Hawkeyes’ highest win total ever during the regular season is 23 wins (23-3-1 in 1981).

HAWKEYES IN BIG TEN PLAY
Iowa (13-3, 4-2) has concluded regular season conference action. Iowa sits a half-game behind Michigan for first place in the league. Michigan is 4-1 in Big Ten play, and hosts Indiana Friday in its final conference game. Penn State sits in third place at 3-2. The Nittany Lions will host Michigan State Sunday in their Big Ten finale. The Hawkeyes are 215-83-6 against current Big Ten teams and lead every series: (Indiana: 14-6), (Michigan: 39-17), (Michigan State: 46-11-1), (Northwestern: 51-18-4), (Ohio State: 42-13), (Penn State: 23-18-1). Iowa has claimed 11 Big Ten regular season titles in school history and four Big Ten Tournament championships.

A BIG ROAD WEEKEND
The Hawkeyes swept No. 20 Northwestern and Pacific last weekend in Evanston, Ill. Iowa defeated the Wildcats Saturday in its final Big Ten game, 5-2. Iowa blanked Pacific Sunday, 4-0.

SCOUTING BALL STATE
Ball State is led by head coach Beth Maddox. Maddox is in her second season at the helm of the program. The Cardinals are 4-13 this season and 3-5 at home. They have fallen to five Big Ten teams this season: Indiana (4-1), Northwestern (3-1), Michigan (5-0), Ohio State (5-0) and Michigan State (1-0).

SERIES HISTORY
Iowa is 19-2 all-time against Ball State, including a record of 2-2 in Muncie. The two teams first met in 1983. The Hawkeyes defeated the Cardinals last season in Iowa City, 2-0.

CLIMBING THE RANKINGS
The Hawkeyes are ranked 11th in the NFHCA rankings this week. Iowa will play or has played six of the NFHCA top 20 this season. In addition, the Hawkeyes will play or have played four of the teams receiving votes in the most recent poll. The Big Ten currently has five teams ranked in the top 20. Michigan sits seventh in the rankings. Joining the Wolverines is Penn State (No. 8), Iowa (No. 11), Ohio State (No. 17) and Northwestern (No. 20).

IOWA AT GRANT FIELD
The Hawkeyes finished the regular season with a 6-1 record at Grant Field. Iowa is 133-42 all-time on its home turf, including a 59-23 conference record.

ROAD WARRIORS
The Hawkeyes’ regular season finale at Ball State Friday will mark a stretch where Iowa concluded the regular season with six of seven of its final games on the road. The Black and Gold are 7-2 away from Grant Field this season, 4-1 at road sites and 3-1 at neutral sites.

TEAM CAPTAINS
Iowa has a trio of captains in 2011, senior Becca Spengler and juniors Jessica Barnett and Kathleen McGraw.

McGRAW MAKING STOPS
Junior goalkeeper Kathleen McGraw ranks ninth nationally in goals against average (1.29) and sixth in the country in save percentage (.787). She has recorded a conference-leading six shutouts this season, giving her 11 for her career.

BARNETT ON A ROLL
Junior Jessica Barnett has been key for Iowa during the five-game win streak. Barnett has recorded six goals in the last five games and has tallied three defensive saves. All of her goals on the season (six) have come during the win streak.

SCRAPING THE TOP OF THE CHARTS
Sophomore Kim Scraper ranks 14th nationally in points per game (2.54) and seventh in the country in goals per game (1.23). Scraper has recorded 16 goals and 33 points, marking the most for a Hawkeye in a season since former All-American Lauren Pfeiffer notched 20 goals and 44 points in 2008. Ellen Egan holds the Iowa records with 42 goals and 93 points in 1983. Scraper has scored at least one goal in nine of the 10 Hawkeye wins.

BIG TEN LEADERS
The Hawkeyes lead the Big Ten in a number of categories, including scoring margin (2.19), shutouts (six), goals against average (1.25), shots per game (16.50) and goals allowed (20). The Hawkeyes’ 10 goals and 21 points against Missouri State are the most of any conference team in a game this season. Iowa notched 37 shots at Brown (Sept. 10), marking the most for a league team in a contest this year. The Hawkeyes own the three highest scoring games in the Big Ten this season (10 goals vs. Missouri State, 7 vs. Kent State and Brown).

CELEBRATING 25 YEARS
The 2011 season marks the 25th anniversary of Iowa’s 1986 national championship team. Iowa honored the team at its game against Massachusetts Sept. 4 at Grant Field.

ROSTER BREAKDOWN
Four Hawkeyes (freshmen Brittany Evangelisti and Corinne Allen, sophomore Kelsey Mitchell, junior Geena Lesiak) hail from Eastern Regional High School in New Jersey. The school has won 12 consecutive New Jersey state championships. Jessica Barnett and Karli Johansen are both from Handsworth Secondary School in North Vancouver, Canada. Seven Hawkeyes hail from New Jersey, three from Pennsylvania, three from Canada, two from California, and one each from Delaware, Michigan, Belgium and Germany.

HAWKEYES HONOR SPENGLER
Senior Becca Spengler played her final regular season game at Grant Field Oct. 15. Iowa honored Spengler prior to the start of the match. The former Warwick High School standout has appeared in 61 career games for the Hawkeyes and has made 50 starts. She has tallied eight career goals and 20 points. Spengler is a two-time Academic All-Big Ten selection and a three-time NFHCA National Academic Squad member. A three-time team captain, she has been named Iowa field hockey’s Big Ten Sportsmanship Award honoree each of the last two years and has received the Nancy McLinden Carr Award in each of the past two seasons. Spengler is a representative for Iowa’s student-athlete leadership group, ISAAC. She helped the Hawkeyes win their third-straight Big Ten Tournament title and reach the NCAA Final Four as a freshman in 2008.

KOBOLDT NAMED TO IOWA HALL OF FAME
Former Hawkeye Mary Koboldt was one of six individuals inducted by the National Iowa Varsity Club and the University of Iowa Athletics Department into the Athletics Hall of Fame this year. A member of the 23rd class, she was honored and inducted into the National Varsity Club Athletics Hall of Fame at Iowa’s home football game against Tennessee Tech Sept. 3. The Hawkeye honored Koboldt at their game Sept. 4 against Massachusetts. A Hawkeye midfielder from 1982-85, the former U.S. National Team member and U.S. Olympian was a three-time All-Big Ten honoree and a two-time All-American. Koboldt, a member of four NCAA Tournament teams and two Big Ten championship teams, was named to the NCAA All-Tournament team after leading Iowa to its first ever trip to the NCAA Final Four in 1984. As a senior in 1985, she was named the Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year and was a nominee for the Honda Broderick Award, as the top collegiate female athlete in the country.

BIG TEN HONORS HAWKEYES A FIFTH TIME
Iowa junior Jessica Barnett was named Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week Tuesday, earning Iowa’s fifth weekly nomination of the season. It marks the most honors the Black and Gold have received in a season since 2008, when the team had seven weekly award winners.

BARNETT EARNS WEEKLY HONOR
Iowa junior Jessica Barnett was named Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week Tuesday. Barnett, a midfielder, garners her second weekly honor of the season and career. She earned her first weekly honor Oct. 11. Barnett played a key role in helping Iowa sweep No. 20 Northwestern and Pacific last weekend in Evanston, Ill. Last Saturday, the Hawkeyes downed the Wildcats, 5-2, in their final Big Ten regular season contest. Barnett recorded two goals and a defensive save, marking the third-straight game she registered a defensive save. A key contributor on Iowa’s offensive and defensive penalty corners, the North Vancouver, Canada, native tallied an assist in the 4-0 victory against Pacific last Sunday. For the weekend, she notched five total points, two goals, one assist and a defensive save. Barnett has scored six goals during the Hawkeyes’ current five-game win streak. She has tallied six goals and 14 points on the season.

TWO HAWKEYES GARNER WEEKLY HONORS
Jessica Barnett and Kathleen McGraw earned Big Ten weekly honors Oct. 11. Barnett, a midfielder, was named Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week and McGraw, a goalkeeper, was named Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week. It is the first career weekly honor for both. It marked Iowa’s third and fourth weekly honors of the season. Kim Scraper won back-to-back offensive weekly awards Sept. 6 and Sept. 13. McGraw becomes Iowa’s first defensive winner since Meghan Beamesderfer in 2009 (Nov. 2). The honors also marked the first time Iowa has had two weekly winners in the same week since Nov. 2 of 2009, when Sarah Drake garnered Freshman of the Week honors. Barnett played a key role in wins over Ohio State (Oct. 8) and Ohio (Oct. 9), tallying three goals on four shots and a crucial defensive save. In the 3-0 win over the 18th-ranked Buckeyes, Barnett scored two goals on two shots. The North Vancouver, Canada, native scored the game-winning goal against Ohio and added a defensive save. McGraw tallied 11 assists and recorded her fifth shutout of the season in the win at Ohio State. The native of Atherton, Calif., came up big again for Iowa, as she led Iowa to a 2-1 win at Ohio. She allowed only one goal and saved 10 shots. For the weekend, the Hawkeye goalkeeper notched 21 saves, one shutout and allowed only one goal in 140 minutes of action.

SCRAPER NAMED BIG TEN PLAYER OF THE WEEK TWICE
Iowa forward Kim Scraper was named Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week for the second consecutive week on Sept. 13. Scraper led Iowa to a sweep of Providence and Brown in Providence, R.I., tallying six of Iowa’s 11 goals scored in the two contests. On Sept. 9, in Iowa’s 4-1 win at Providence, the sophomore scored two goals en route to her third multi-goal game of the season. She helped Iowa blank Brown on Sept. 10, 7-0. Scraper tallied her fourth multi-goal game of the year as she recorded four scores in the victory. It marked the first time a Hawkeye had recorded four scores in a game since Pattie Gillern scored five in a win over Missouri State on Sept. 28, 2003. The honor marked the first time Iowa won the conference offensive weekly award multiples times in a season since 2008, when the team earned three offensive weekly accolades. The last time a Hawkeye won the offensive award in back-to-back weeks was Caitlin McCurdy in 2005 (Oct. 17 and Oct. 24).

FOLLOW THE HAWKEYES
Become fans of the official Iowa Field Hockey fan page by going to facebook.com/iowafieldhockey to follow the Hawkeyes on Facebook. Fans can also follow the Black and Gold on Twitter at twitter.com/iowafieldhockey.

ON THE HORIZON
The Hawkeyes will travel to the Big Ten Tournament on the campus of Penn State University in University Park, Pa. First round play begins Thursday, Nov. 3. Iowa’s seed and opponent will be determined at a later date.