Michigan
(13-5)
Northwestern
(9-10)
First-Half Surge Carries Wolverines to Big Ten Quarterfinal Win
10/28/2018 4:42:00 PM | Field Hockey
» No. 8 Michigan defeated No. 22 Northwestern, 3-1, in the Big Ten Tournament quarterfinals.
» Emma Way and Meg Dowthwaite scored within a two-minute window late in the first half, and Fay Keijer added an insurance tally late in the second.
» Michigan improved to 9-0 at home this season, outscoring its opposition, 33-8.
Site: Ann Arbor, Mich. (Phyllis Ocker Field)
Event: Big Ten Tournament (Quarterfinals)
Score: #8 Michigan 3, #22 Northwestern 1
Records: U-M (13-5), NU (8-9)
Next U-M Event: Friday, Nov. 2 -- vs. Iowa - Big Ten Tournament Semifinals (Evanston, Ill.), 2:30 p.m. CDT
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The No. 8-ranked University of Michigan field hockey team took advantage of a pair of goals late in the first half to build a sizable lead en route to a 3-1 win over Northwestern in the Big Ten Tournament quarterfinal round Sunday afternoon (Oct. 28) at Phyllis Ocker Field.
With the win, Michigan advanced to face No. 6 seed -- and ninth-ranked -- Iowa in the Big Ten Tournament semifinals at 2:30 p.m. CDT next Friday (Nov. 2) at Lakeside Field in Evanston, Illinois. The championship game is slated for 1 p.m. CST on Sunday (Nov. 4) on the Northwestern field.
The Wolverines largely controlled play throughout the contest, outshooting the Wildcats, 24-5, and outcornering them, 10-4, but struggled to break through until late in the first half. Michigan then scored twice within a two-minute window in the final nine minutes of the period to take a 2-0 lead into halftime.
Senior Emma Way broke through with her 17th goal of the season, corralling her own rebound off the pads of Northwestern goalkeeper Annie Kalfar and banging it into the lower right corner at the 26:27 mark.
Junior Meg Dowthwaite scored less than two minutes later, at 28:23, on a cross-cage reverse chip. After junior Guadalupe Fernandez Lacort fed her the ball with a precision pass from midfield, Dowthwaite carried the ball a couple steps to the left side of the circle and buried it to the lower right corner of the cage for her eighth marker of the season.
Michigan padded its lead late in the second when junior Fay Keijer scored on a right-side baseline carry, deflecting the ball off a Wildcat defender near the leftside post for her second of the season. Northwestern spoiled the shutout bid on a redirection tally a minute later and, with Kalfas pulled for an extra attacker, had a couple more late chances that U-M turned away.
Freshman goalkeeper Anna Spieker posted two saves, while the Wildcats' Kalfas tallied six stops -- in addition to a goal-line defensive save off a point-blank Dowthwaite shot in the second half.
Michigan improved to 9-0 at Ocker Field this season. U-M has outscored its home opposition, 36-8.
Team Stats
Way, Emma (17)
rebound
26:27
Dowthwaite, Meg (9)
Assisted By: Fernandez Lacort, G.
pass from midfield, reverse chip
28:23
Keijer, Fay (2)
deflected off defender
62:33
Eva van Agt (6)
Assisted By: Puck Pentenga
tip from right post
63:31
