Michigan
Rutgers
Wolverines to Host Big Ten Tournament in Postseason Kickoff
10/31/2023 4:22:00 PM | Field Hockey
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The No. 16-ranked University of Michigan field hockey team (9-7) will host the 2023 Big Ten Conference Tournament this Thursday through Sunday (Nov. 2-5) at Phyllis Ocker Field. As the No. 7 seed, the Wolverines will open play against No. 5-ranked and No. 2-seeded Rutgers (15-2) in the quarterfinals at 2 p.m. on Thursday and the matchup will be streamed live on B1G+, while the tournament's semifinals and final will be broadcast live on Big Ten Network.
Notes
• Michigan owns the most Big Ten Tournament titles in conference history with eight, most recently winning the crown last season in Columbus, Ohio. The Wolverines won back-to-back crowns in 1999 and 2000, again in 2004 and 2005 and claimed titles in 2010, 2017, spring 2021 and 2022. U-M also has advanced to the Big Ten Tournament championship game in each of the last three years -- and 16 times in 25 seasons.
• U-M defeated three top-10 teams -- No. 9 Iowa (3-1), No. 3 Penn State (2-1) and No. 4 Northwestern (2-1) -- en route to the 2022 title.
• Michigan will open the Big Ten Tournament against No. 5 Rutgers and look to avenge is 2-1 overtime loss in the regular-season matchup on Oct. 6 in Piscataway, N.J. The Wolverines led in both shots (12-9) and corners (9-4) in that contest, but Rutgers scored the game-winning goal at 63:09 on a reverse chip from the left side of the arc. U-M is 12-3 in the all-time series against Rutgers, dating back to 1992, while the teams are 1-1 in Big Ten Tournament competition. U-M fell to the Scarlet Knights 1-0 in the 2021 championship game.
• Senior Lora Clarke scored the double-overtime game-winning goal in U-M's regular-season finale against Michigan State last Friday (1-0, Oct. 27), finishing on a reverse chip from the arc at the 78:35 mark. It was Clarke's third goal of the season and her fifth career game-winner. The Wolverine captain also leads the squad with a career-high nine assists, primarily off the corner insert.
• Junior/sophomore Caylie McMahon earned two saves against the Spartans to secure her fourth complete-game shutout on the season, U-M's sixth overall and second in a row. McMahon ranks 11th in the nation with a 1.15 goals-against average and 17th with a .766 save percentage. Michigan has averaged 8.9 total shots against this season.
• Thirteen different Wolverine players have scored at least one goal this season, with 10 Wolverines accumulating multiple goals. Michigan has outscored its opposition 38-18. Newcomers have accounted for half (19-of-38) of the Wolverines' goals this season.
• Senior Kate McLaughlin scored three goals against Central Michigan two weeks ago (Oct. 22) for her first collegiate multi-goal game. She upped her season total to six goals, tying her career high, and shares the team lead with freshman Kelsey Reviello, who also tallied a second-half marker at Central Michigan.
• The Wolverines scored 11 goals against CMU with nine different goal scorers. It was the Wolverines' largest goal output since scoring 12 against Ball State on Sept. 10, 2021. Michigan put up 50 total shots and 23 corners in the game.
• All seven Michigan losses this season have come against ranked opponents, including two in North Carolina (3-2, Aug. 25) and Iowa (2-0, Sept. 22) who were ranked No. 1 at the time of the meeting, while Northwestern (1-0, Oct. 1) is currently the nation's No. 1-ranked team.
