Iowa and Northwestern Meet in B1G Semifinals

Nov. 6, 2014

THE MATCH-UP
The fifth-seeded University of Iowa soccer team takes on eighth-seeded Northwestern in the semifinals of the Big Ten Tournament on Friday at 10 a.m. (CT) at the Boilermaker Soccer Complex in West Lafayette, Indiana. The game will be televised live on BTN.

WATCH LIVE
Friday’s game will be televised live on the BTN beginning with Dean Linke and Danielle Slaton on the call.

ON THE WEB
Iowa soccer fans can follow Friday’s contest via live stats (GameTracker) on hawkeyesports.com. Click on the “GT” link found on both the front page and the soccer schedule page to access the live stats feed. Fans can also follow @HawkeyeSoccer for live in-game updates.

IOWA’S B1G TOURNAMENT HISTORY
? Iowa is now 3-7-1 all-time in the Big Ten Tournament with all three victories coming since 2013.
? It is the second-straight season the Hawkeyes have advanced to the Big Ten Tournament semifinals. Last season Iowa downed the No. 2 and No. 3 seeds (No. 8 Michigan, No. 20 Penn State) en route to a title game appearance — a 1-0 loss to top-seeded Nebraska.
? Iowa is the No. 5 seed for the first time in program history. The Hawkeyes have been the No. 3 and No. 7 seeds once and the No. 6 and No. 8 seeds three times each.

B1G QUICKIES
? Junior goalkeeper Hannah Clark has a 3-1 record with a 0.40 goals against average in five career Big Ten Tournament games. She has 22 saves and three shutouts in five contests.
? The winner of the Iowa-Northwestern game will face the winner of the Minnesota-Wisconsin game in the championship contest at 2 p.m. (CT) Sunday.
? Sophomore Natalie Krygier scored her third career goal in Wednesday’s quarterfinal win over No. 23 Rutgers. It was Krygier’s second game-winning goal this season.
? Iowa’s win over Rutgers was the team’s first victory over a ranked opponent this season. The Hawkeyes are 1-2-1 against ranked teams.
? The victory moves Iowa’s record to 13-6-1 this season. The 13 victories are tied for the second most in a single season in school history. The Hawkeyes won a school-record 15 games last season.
? Iowa will be without the services of first-team All-Big Ten defender Melanie Pickert, who suffered a season-ending injury in the first half in Wednesday’s 1-0 win over Rutgers.

TOP-5 FINISH
Iowa finished in a tie with Minnesota for fifth place in the final Big Ten regular season standings with a 7-5-1 record. It is the fourth top-five showing in the program’s 18-year history and the third since 2011. The Hawkeyes finished third in 1999 and tied for fifth in 2011 and 2013. The seven league victories are tied for the most in a single season in program history (1999).

2 HAWKEYES NAMED ALL-BIG TEN
Seniors Cloe Lacasse and Melanie Pickert were tabbed as first-team All-Big Ten selections in 2014. The pair is the second and third players in program history to garner first-team all-conference honors and the first since 2001. Senior Caitlin Brown was selected as Iowa’s Big Ten Sportsmanship Award honoree.

QUICK HITTERS
? Iowa ranks second in the Big Ten with 11 shutouts, eight by Hannah Clark and three by Kiley Beck. The 11 shutouts are the most in a single-season in school history. Clark’s eight shutouts are the second-most individually in a single season all-time.
? Iowa has allowed 16 goals in 20 contests for a 0.78 goals against average. The goals allowed and goals against average are the fourth-best in the Big Ten.
? Senior Cloe Lacasse is fourth in the Big Ten in goals (11), ranks third in points (28), fourth in shots (78), and tied for 10th in assists (6).
? Among active players in the NCAA, Lacasse ranks ninth in career points (110), 15th in career goals (42), and ranks 19th in career assists (26). The senior is also one of 14 active players to amass at least 30 goals and 20 assists throughout her career, ranking sixth.
? Senior Melanie Pickert is tied for third in the conference with four game-winning goals. She is second on the team with seven goals.
? Iowa has used 10 different starting lineups in 20 games this season.

SCOUTING NORTHWESTERN
The Wildcats are 4-0-1 in their last five games, posting victories over 14th-ranked Rutgers on Oct. 19 and No. 6 Penn State in the quarterfinals of the Big Ten Tournament on Nov. 5. Northwestern is 9-7-4 overall and is 4-2-0 against teams ranked opponents. The Wildcats are led by second-team All-Big Ten honoree Addie Steiner, who ranks sixth in the conference in goals (10), third in shots (80), and is tied for seventh in points (21). Nikia Smith was selected to the All-Big Ten Freshman team as a defender, helping Northwestern to 10 shutouts, which ties for third-best in the Big Ten.

NORTHWESTERN VS. IOWA — THE SERIES
Iowa is 6-11-1 all-time against Northwestern. The Hawkeyes have won three of the last four in the series, including a 1-0 shutout victory on Sept. 14 in Iowa City when sophomore Corey Burns scored the game-winning goal off a corner kick.

The last three meetings in the series have all been decided by a single goal. Iowa and Northwestern have never meet in the postseason.

WHAT A DIFFERENCE A YEAR MAKES
Heading into the 2013 Big Ten Tournament, Iowa had a total of five games of postseason experience on its entire roster. Leading up to Friday’s game against Northwestern, the Hawkeyes have 53 games of postseason experience. Iowa advanced to the 2013 Big Ten Tournament title game and played in the 2013 NCAA Tournament. Prior to the 2013 run, the Hawkeyes had never won a postseason game.

DOUBLE-DIGIT WIN TOTALS
Iowa posted its 10th win of the season for the fourth-consecutive year when it defeated Indiana, 1-0, on Oct. 17 — extending the longest stretch in program history. The Hawkeyes won 13 games in 2011, 12 in 2012 and a school-record 15 games last season.

Cloe Lacasse…
? earned first-team All-Big Ten honors as a senior — her second career All-Big Ten recognition.
? has scored in seven contests this season, including four two-goal games, pushing her career total to 11 as a Hawkeye.
? tallied her 100th career point in Iowa’s 2-0 victory over Illinois on Sept. 11, assisting on Nicole Urban’s strike. Lacasse is the second player in Iowa history to reach the 100-point mark.
? currently ranks second in Iowa history with 42 goals and 110 points. Sarah Lynch is the record holder with 112 points and 46 goals.
? has 26 career assists, one shy of tying Morgan Showalter for the most in program history. Lacasse also has the most shots in Iowa history with 302.
? has 11 goals and six assists for 28 points in 2014. As a junior, she had six goals and seven assists in 23 games.

THE HAWKEYES ARE…
? 9-2 when leading at the half
? 12-4 when scoring first this season

Hannah Clark…
? broke the school record for career shutouts in Iowa’s 1-0 victory at Michigan State on Oct. 2. Clark currently has 19 career shutouts.
? is 9-5-1 with eight shutouts and a 0.89 goals against average in 2014. The eight shutouts are the second most in a single season in program history. Clark also holds the school record, posting 10 shutouts in 2013.
? has a 3-1 record with a 0.40 goals against average in five career Big Ten Tournament games. She has 22 saves and three shutouts in five contests.
? had four consecutive shutouts from Sept. 7-20, where she had sevens saves over 379:26 scoreless minutes. It was the second-straight season she had a four-game shutout streak.

MAZUR EARNS ACADEMIC HONOR
Junior Sarah Mazur was named to the Capital One Academic All-District 6 team on Oct. 30. The defender/midfielder from LaGrange, Illinois, is majoring in electrical engineering, where she carries a 4.13 cumulative grade point average.

FIRST TIMERS
Sophomore Natalie Krygier became the fourth Hawkeye this season to score her first career goal when she found the back of the net in Iowa’s game at Michigan on Oct. 5. Freshman Aubree Larson and sophomores Amanda Lulek and Corey Burns have also scored their first career goals in 2014.

GAME-WINNING GOALS
Sophomore Natalie Krygier and senior Emily Scott both recorded their first game-winning goals in wins over Indiana and Purdue. Eight different Hawkeyes have scored game-winners during the 2014 season. Senior Melanie Pickert leads the way with four game-winners.

HAWKEYES DISTRIBUTING
Iowa has tallied 26 assists through 20 games this year. Eight different Hawkeyes have recorded an assist this season. Sophomore Corey Burns leads the team with seven.

IOWA IN NCAA STATS
Iowa ranks in the top-55 in two categories through 19 games. The Hawkeyes are tied for 31st in shutout percentage (0.550) and 46th in goals against average (0.785).

LACASSE, PICKERT IN TOP DRAWER RANKINGS
Seniors Cloe Lacasse and Melanie Pickert were recognized in Top Drawer Soccer’s Midseason Big Ten player rankings, a time frame that covered games from Aug. 8 to Oct. 17. Lacasse was ranked the sixth-best player in the Big Ten and the fourth-best forward. Pickert came in as the second-best defender in the conference and No. 9 overall.

SEASON HONORS
? Senior Melanie Pickert and sophomore Corey Burns were named to Top Drawer Soccer’s Team of the Week on Sept. 16 after leading Iowa to a pair of shutout victories over Illinois and Northwestern.
? Pickert was also named CS 360’s National Primetime Player of the Week on Sept. 16.
? Junior Hannah Clark was tabbed as the Big Ten Conference Player of the Week by College Sports Madness on Sept. 16. She made a combined seven saves in a pair of shutouts over Illinois and Northwestern. On Sept. 23, Clark was tabbed as the Big Ten Co-Defensive Player of the Week after compiling five saves in Iowa’s 1-0 shutout victory at Minnesota.
? Senior Cloe Lacasse was named the Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week by the league office on Oct. 20. The honor is the second of Lacasse’s career. Lacasse was also recognized as the Big Ten Player of the Week by College Sports Madness on Oct. 21 and an honorable mention at the forward position on Top Drawer Soccer’s latest Team of the Week released on Oct. 22. The Sudbury, Ontario, native scored two goals and tallied a pair of assists in leading the Hawkeyes to victories over Indiana and Purdue.

BROWN: A CONSTANT
Senior Caitlin Brown is the only Iowa player to log every minute of game action this season. The defender has played every minute for the past 54 games dating back to the 2012 season — a streak of 5,089 minutes.

SENIOR EXPERIENCE
Senior Melanie Pickert has started all 84 games of her Iowa career, while fellow seniors Caitlin Brown and Cloe Lacasse have started 83-of-84 games as Hawkeyes.

TEAM CAPTAINS
Seniors Kiley Beck, Caitlin Brown, and Melanie Pickert have been voted team captains for the 2014 Iowa soccer team.

IOWA MAKES HISTORY
The week of Sept. 21 was a big one for the Hawkeyes. After starting 3-0 in Big Ten play, marking Iowa’s best start in league play in program history, The Hawkeyes were ranked No. 13 in the Sept. 23 Soccer America rankings, the highest ranking in program history. Iowa also broke into the Top Drawer Soccer Top-25, coming in at No. 25 and received votes in the NSCAA poll.

LACASSE HISTORICALLY SPEAKING
In three-plus years, junior Cloe Lacasse has made her mark on the Iowa soccer program.

The Sudbury, Ontario, native is currently second in career goals (42), points (110), shots (302), game-winning goals (12), and assists (26).

Lacasse led Iowa in goals scored, points, and shots taken in both the 2011 and 2012 seasons. She capped off her junior year by garnering second-team All-Big Ten selection and second-team NSCAA All-Great Lakes Region honors.

NEW FACE AT THE HELM
First-year head coach Dave DiIanni takes over the Hawkeyes’ program after a successful run at Grand Valley State. DiIanni amassed a 221-18-18 record with the Lakers and guided the team to three NCAA Division II national championships and nine-consecutive Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletics Conference titles. Assistant coach Erica Demers joins the Hawkeye staff after spending the last nine years with DiIanni at Grand Valley State.

DIIANNI IN GOOD COMPANY
In 11 seasons at Grand Valley State, head coach Dave DiIanni posted a 221-18-18 overall record for a .895 winning percentage. The mark was the third-best all-time in women’s soccer history entering the 2014 season.

B1G IN THE POLLS
Penn State, Wisconsin, Rutgers, and Michigan are ranked in the latest NSCAA Top 25 poll released Nov. 4. The Nittany Lions are sixth, Wisconsin is 11th, Rutgers are No. 23, and Michigan is ranked 25th.

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