Sept. 16, 2012
[ONE // big ten wins]
The Big Ten Conference closed out another football week going 10-2 overall. Illinois blanked Charleston Southern 44-0, Iowa topped Northern Iowa 27-16, Michigan ousted UMass 63-13, Minnesota defeated Western Michigan 28-23, Nebraska beat Arkansas State 42-13, Northwestern stopped Boston College 22-13, Ohio State outlasted Cal 35-28, Penn State rebounded 34-7 over Navy, Purdue rolled Western Michigan 54-16, and Wisconsin bested Utah State, 16-14. Elsewhere, Indiana fell 41-39 to Ball State while Michigan State fell 20-3 to Notre Dame.
[TWO // nebraska kicker honored]
Nebraska's Brett Maher was one of three kickers named a Lou Groza Award "Star of the Week" for his performance two weeks ago, it was announced this past Monday. The senior kicker booted a career long 54-yard field goal to tie the game at the end of the first half at UCLA. It was the fourth field goal of 50 yards or longer of his career, and Nebraska's longest ever field goal away from Memorial Stadium. Maher, who handles the punting duties as well, also converted from 43 and 40 yards and was successful on all three extra point tries. The Kearney, Neb., native was a 2011 Groza semifinalist, when he was named both the Big Ten Bakken-Andersen Kicker and Eddleman-Fields Punter of the Year.
[THREE // another northwestern hornung honor]
For the second time in two weeks, Northwestern's Venric Mark was named to the Paul Hornung Award Weekly Honor Roll this past Monday. The award is a weekly recognition that honors versatile, single-game performances throughout the season by FBS football players nationwide. The Paul Hornung Award is earned annually by the most versatile player in major college football. Mark had 24 carries for 123 yards and a touchdown, one catch for 14 yards and one kickoff return for 21 yards in a 23-13 win over Vanderbilt on Sept. 8. He finished with 158 all-purpose yards.
[FOUR // spartans, wildcats undefeated in volleyball action]
Michigan State and Northwestern volleyball teams are a combined 23-0 this season, as the Spartans have opened the 2012 campaign 12-0 while the Wildcats are 11-0. This past week, MSU defeated Presbyterian and Georgetown by 3-0 scores in the Holiday Inn Charleston/Mt. Pleasant Tournament in Charleston, S.C. Northwestern shut out Saint Louis and then scored a 3-1 victory over Western Michigan in the Wildcat Classic in Evanston, Ill. Wisconsin sits third in the standings with an overall record of 12-1, followed by Penn State (10-1) and Nebraska (8-1).
[FIVE // northwestern men’s soccer atop big ten standings]
Three Big Ten men’s soccer teams closed out the week by improving to five wins on the season, but a 5-0-2 record gives Northwestern the advantage on top of the standings. Indiana and Penn State each sit second overall at 5-1-1. This past week, the Wildcats blanked Iona on Friday and Milwaukee on Sunday by identical 2-0 scores. The 16th-ranked Hoosiers shut out No. 22 SIU Edwardsville 2-0 on Friday in its lone contest of the week, while Penn State defeated Albany (1-0) and Adelphi (3-0) by a combined 4-0 margin.
[SIX // let the women’s soccer conference season begin]
The Big Ten women’s soccer conference season began this past week with Illinois, Michigan, Michigan State, Nebraska, Ohio State and Penn State earning wins in the league opener. The week, however, ended far more exciting than it began. After Nebraska and Michigan earned shutout wins over Northwestern (2-0) and Indiana (3-0), respectively, on Friday and Saturday, six contests Sunday were no more than one-goal games, including four that went extra sessions. No. 11 Penn State defeated No. 13 Wisconsin 2-1, Michigan State topped Purdue 2-1 in overtime, Illinois bested Iowa 2-1, and Ohio State beat Minnesota 2-1 in overtime. In non-conference action, Northwestern tied Oakland 1-1 in double-overtime, while Nebraska did the same against Northern Colorado.
[SEVEN // trio wins u-20 world cup]
Three Big Ten women's soccer standouts have been representing the conference on the U.S. U-20 Women's National Team. Illinois' Vanessa DiBernardo and Penn State's Maya Hayes and Taylor Schram won gold in the U-20 World Cup this past Saturday in Tokyo, Japan. The trio helped the U.S. to a 1-0 victory over Germany in the title match.
[EIGHT // northwestern leads the field hockey race]
The Northwestern Wildcats sit atop the overall field hockey standings with an 8-1 mark, followed by Indiana at 5-1 and Penn State at 8-2. The Wildcats, ranked 10th nationally, routed Ball State by an 8-0 score, while Indiana upset No. 22 California 2-1 in overtime and No. 6 Penn State dropped Monmouth, 7-1. In other action on Sunday, No. 19 Michigan State defeated Louisville 2-1 in overtime and No. 16 Michigan blanked No. 25 Fairfield by a 5-0 result.
[NINE // fighting illini men’s golf grabs wolf run intercollegiate]
Illinois captured the Wolf Run Intercollegiate title on Sunday, besting four other Big Ten teams in the 14-team field. The Fighting Illini (289-278-288—855) rallied Sunday to fire a 288 to beat runner-up Indiana (284-284-290—858) by three strokes. Ohio State (285-281-299—865) was third, Michigan State (288-293-302—883) was sixth, and Wisconsin (299-291-305—895) finished ninth. Elsewhere, Purdue began play at the Purdue/Midwest Shootout and Iowa opened at the Golfweek Conference Challenge on Sunday.
[TEN // boilermakers take msu’s mary fossum invitational]
On Sunday, the Purdue women’s golf team captured the annual Mary Fossum Invitational, hosted by Michigan State. The Boilermakers carded a winning score of 875 (288-290-297) to defeat the host Spartans (297-289-296—882) by seven strokes. Wisconsin (309-308-303—920) and Minnesota (303-306-312—921) finished sixth and seventh, respectively, while Michigan (312-307-314—933) placed 10th in the 17-team field.
[ELEVEN // women’s tennis opens fall slate]
The 2012 Big Ten women’s tennis fall schedule began this weekend with seven conference teams taking the court on Friday. Minnesota hosted seven teams, including Iowa, in singles and doubles play at the Gopher Invitational, while Illinois and Purdue traveled to Durham, N.C., to compete in the Duke Invitational. Nebraska and Penn State made their way to Midland, Texas, for the Midland Invitational, and Ohio State headed to Dublin, Ohio, for the Muirfield Invitational.
[TWELVE // men’s tennis teams open fall schedule as well]
Finally this week, the 2012 Big Ten men's tennis fall schedule began Friday with four teams taking the court for the first time this season. Nebraska traveled to Midland, Texas, for the Midland Invitational, and Wisconsin visited Milwaukee for the Milwaukee Tennis Classic. Illinois made its debut in Olympia Fields, Ill., for the OFCC Invitational, and Penn State opened in Princeton, N.J., for the Princeton Invitational.
