Blake Hat Trick Keys Michigan Win Over Northwestern

Saturday, October 2

Ann Arbor, Mich.

1:00 PM

Michigan

(8-3, 2-0Big Ten)

Northwestern

(6-6, 0-2Big Ten)

Northwestern

Michigan

10/2/2004 12:00:00 AM | Field Hockey

Box Score PDF Boxscore

By: Leah Howard

Site: Ann Arbor, Mich. (Ocker Field)
Score: #8 Michigan 4, Northwestern 1
Records: U-M (8-3, 2-0 Big Ten), Northwestern (6-6, 0-2 Big Ten)
Next U-M Match: Sunday, Oct. 3 -- vs. Harvard (Ocker Field), 1 p.m.

ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- Senior Jessica Blake (Perth, Western Australia/St. Mary's Anglican) recorded her second hat trick of the season to lead the No. 8-ranked University of Michigan field hockey team to a 4-1 victory over Big Ten Conference rival Northwestern on Saturday (Oct. 2) at Phyllis Ocker Field.

With her three-goal performance, Blake -- who has claimed back-to-back conference Offensive Player of the Week honors -- extended her scoring streak to 11 games with at least one point in each of the Wolverines' games this season.

The Wolverine senior opened scoring in the game at the 7:32 mark, receiving a forward pass from junior Lori Hillman (Gibbsboro, N.J./Eastern Regional HS) deep in the circle before rifling a shot to the opposite corner, beating Wildcat goalkepper Sherri-Anne Nyberg low on the left side. Blake added her second of the frame 10 minutes later off a Michigan corner, winding up at the top of the circle to blast a hard shot past a sprawling Nyberg.

Junior/sophomore Katie Morris (Ann Arbor, Mich./Pioneer HS) continued her breakout year with her seventh marker of the 2004 season, corralling the ball deep in the circle off a rebound and tapping it into an empty Wildcat cage.

Each team tallied one second-half goal -- coming just three minutes apart early in the frame -- before the game turned into a largely defensive effort and play was moved to the middle of the field. Blake collected her third marker of game at the 40:16 mark after redirecting a pass across the goal mouth from sophomore Mary Fox (St. Louis, Mo./Cor Jesu Academy), while the Wildcats were able to avoid the shutout with a goal at 43:21 by Candice Cooper.

The Wolverines controlled the ball throughout the game and outshot Northwestern 15-3, including a 10-1 differential in the first half, and out-cornering the Wildcats 6-0. Both U-M goalkeepers saw playing time in the victory as sophomore Beth Riley (Palmyra, Pa./Palmyra Area HS) earned a save on NU's lone first-half shot and fifth-year senior Molly Maloney (Lake Bluff, Ill./Lake Forest HS) collected 26:58 of playing time in the second frame.

The Wolverines will conclude their two-game homestand on Sunday (Oct. 3) against No. 17 Harvard. The non-conference match is slated for a 1 p.m. start at Ocker Field.

MATCH SUMMARY

Team	1	2	F
Northwestern	0	1	1
Michigan	3	1	4

Scoring, Time (Assist)
1st -- U-M, Jessica Blake, 7:32 (Lori Hillman)
1st -- U-M, Blake, 17:17 (Adrienne Hortillosa)
1st -- U-M, Katie Morris, 21:02 (unassisted)
2nd -- U-M, Blake, 40:16 (Mary Fox)
2nd -- NU, Candice Cooper, 43:21 (Wendy Ng)

Shots: U-M 15, NU 3
Saves: U-M 1 (Beth Riley 1, Molly Maloney 0), NU 4 (Sherri-Anne Nyberg 3, Kelly Augustine 1)
Defensive Saves: None
Penalty Corners: U-M 6, NU 0
Penalty Strokes: None

NOTES

• With its victory, U-M improved to 15-28 in the all-time series against Northwestern and extended its winning streak over the Wildcats to 13 consecutive games.

• Senior Jessica Blake has recorded three straight multi-point games.

• With an assist on Blake's second goal, senior Adrienne Hortillosa gained sole possession of the eighth spot on U-M's career points list with 88. She needs just four more points to reach the seventh spot on the list, currently held by Kay McCarthy (92, 1980-83).

• After allowing nine goals in their first three games of the season, the Wolverines have surrendered just five goals in their last eight contests and won four games by shutout in that span.

• The Wolverines have outshot their opponents in each of the last nine games.

QUOTES

Michigan Head Coach Marcia Pankratz
On the team's momentum ... "The attitude right now is great to see. We're working hard in practice, not taking anything for granted and really trying to get better every day. I'm very happy with the job today; we did exactly what we wanted to do tactically. We listed everything prior to the game and executed it well. Northwestern is a good team, and it was a nice game. It's a long Big Ten season, and there are some great teams. We don't want to worry about what's to come and focus on Harvard tomorrow."

On the play of Katie Morris ... "It's great to see Katie playing so well. We always knew she was a great goal scorer coming out of high school. The thing about Katie is that she's got excellent timing in the circle; she's always a half second ahead of where everyone else thinks they're going to shoot. I'm glad she's been able to get into the game and play, and she's making a big difference this year. I don't think that something that you can coach; it's natural thing, and she really has it this year."

U-M Junior/Sophomore Katie Morris
On her breakout season ... "I think it definitely has to do with being an upperclassman. The spring is the time when our team really develops; the seniors really step up and we focus on building confidence. We knew that I would have to step into a new role with the loss of April (Fronzoni) and Kristi (Gannon). Playing time helps build the confidence, but I think it's the support of my teammates and just the skills work we do in practice that has really helped me the most this year."

On her goal-scoring tactics ... "Everyone on the team tells me that I'm always in the right place at the right time, and I think I have pretty good timing. You're not going to see me get the beautiful goals like Jess Blake with the big wind-up, I focus more on rebounds and really working on my timing. I'm trying to think two steps ahead where the ball is going to pop out and hopefully be there to tap it in."