No. 9 Iowa Takes on No. 8 Michigan

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IOWA CITY, Iowa — No. 9 University of Iowa field hockey travels to Ann Arbor, Michigan, for its final regular season matchup on Sunday at 10 a.m. (CT) on Phyllis Ocker Field.
• With a win over Michigan, Iowa would clinch a share of the 2019 Big Ten regular season championship with No. 2 Maryland.
 
FOLLOW ON THE WEB
• Iowa field hockey fans can follow along via live stats on hawkeyesports.com. Click on the “Live Stats” link found on the field hockey schedule page. 
• Fans can also follow @IowaFieldHockey on Twitter for in-game updates.
• Sunday’s game will be streamed live on BTN.
 
WEEKEND RECAP
• No. 8 Iowa took down No. 10 Northwestern on senior day, 2-1, to improve to 12-4 (6-1) on the season. 
• Against Northwestern, junior Maddy Murphy and sophomore Leah Zellner each put away a goal after being down 1-0 at half to win, 2-1. Murphy notched her 11th goal of the season, and Zellner collected her sixth. Sophomore Lokke Stribos contributed an assist on Murphy’s goal, marking her fourth of the year.
 
SCOUTING MICHIGAN (13-4, 5-2)
• Michigan is now (13-4, 5-2) on the season, facing top-15 competition from No. 1 North Carolina (L, 2-4), No. 10 Wake Forest (W, 3-0), No. 3 UConn (W, 3-2), No. 7 Northwestern (L, 0-1 SO), No. 2 Maryland (W, 1-0), and No. 11 St. Joseph’s (W, 4-3).
• Senior Meg Dowthwaite and redshirt sophomore Emma Tamer lead the Wolverines in goals (7). Senior Guadalupe Fernandez Lacort leads Michigan and holds the second-best mark among the Big Ten in assists (12), followed by sophomore Katheryn Peterson with eight.
• Sophomore goalkeeper Anna Spieker has started all 17 games for the Wolverines, totaling 32 saves.
• Marcia Pankratz is in her 20th season overall as head coach of the University of Michigan field hockey program — 11th year in her current stint. She returned to the reigns as head coach on Jan. 15, 2009, after a brief hiatus from coaching. Pankratz previously served as the Wolverines’ head coach for nine seasons (1996-2004) and led U-M to the 2001 NCAA title — the first by a women’s team in the history of Michigan athletics.
• Pankratz was a collegiate standout at the University of Iowa from 1982-85 and played forward for the Hawkeyes. Pankratz finished her career with 76 goals to list third among all-time Iowa goal scorers.
• Twice honored as Iowa’s Female Athlete of the Year and as a Honda Broderick Sports Award field hockey finalist (1985, ’86), Pankratz was also the recipient of Iowa’s 1986 Big Ten Medal of Honor as the university’s top academic and athletic graduating senior. In addition, Pankratz was named to the 1984 NCAA All-Tournament team when she helped the Hawkeyes advance to the championship game against Old Dominion.
 
IOWA VS. MICHIGAN — THE SERIES
• The Hawkeyes lead the series 41-26 all-time, holding a 17-10 record on Phyllis Ocker Field since 1979.
•  Iowa’s last win against Michigan came last season in the Big Ten Tournament semifinals, where the Hawkeyes defeated the Wolverines, 2-1, advancing to the tournament championship.
 
WHERE THEY’RE RANKED
• Iowa not only ranks ninth nationally, but holds high marks among statistical categories across the NCAA.
• Iowa holds top-ten stats in scoring margin (5th), scoring average (5th), total points per game (5th), goals per game (6th), and assists per game (7th).
• Iowa sits in second in the Big Ten standings (6-1) behind No. 2 Maryland.
• Iowa leads the Big Ten in goals per game (3.31), ranks second in shots (281), points (148), and goals (53), and ranks third in assists (42) and assists per game (2.63).
 
STATISTICALLY SPEAKING
• Junior Maddy Murphy leads the team in goals (11), followed by sophomores Lokke Stribos (7), Anthe Nijziel (6), Leah Zellner (6), and senior Katie Birch (6). Eight additional Hawkeyes have scored at least one goal.
• Birch leads the team and ranks third in the Big Ten in assists (10), followed by Murphy (8) and Ellie Holley (8) who are tied for fifth among the conference.
• Murphy ranks third in the Big Ten in total points (30) and fourth in points per game (1.88).
• Three Hawkeyes have recorded hat tricks this season including Murhpy, Sunderland, and Holley. Murphy tabbed her hat trick against Indiana in the 6-1 victory, Sunderland recorded hers in the 11-0 win against Central Michigan, and Holley’s was against Michigan State in Iowa’s 5-0 win.
• Senior goalkeeper Leslie Speight has 29 saves this season. Sophomore Grace McGuire recorded four saves in her start over No. 18 Rutgers.
 
B1G COMPETITION
The Big Ten Conference boasts six ranked programs in the latest 2019 Penn Monto/NFHCA Division I National Coaches Poll: No. 2 Maryland, No. 8 Michigan, No. 9 Iowa, No. 11 Northwestern, No. 16 Rutgers, and No. 22 Ohio State.
 
LOOKING AHEAD
The No. 9 Hawkeyes look to compete in the 2019 Big Ten Tournament, beginning November 7 and 8, with the Championship match being played on November 20 in University Park, Penn.

 

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