Northwestern field hockey coach Marisa Didio is in a unique situation heading into this weekend’s Big Ten matches.
An accredited research hound and round-the-clock worker, Didio has no videotape, scouting reports or history regarding today’s opponent Indiana, which is in its first year as a varsity team.
But for Saturday’s match, Didio knows plenty from experience as she prepares her team for Iowa, its biggest rival.
“(Against Indiana) it’s a difficult situation to be in, as we have to read the game on the field and take it all in,” she said. “There’s a ton of history in the Iowa-Northwestern match.”
The Hawkeyes (4-11, 1-3 Big Ten) and Wildcats (5-10, 1-3) finished at the top of the conference year in and year out in the 1980s. In Didio’s first coaching stint at NU — from 1990 to 1994 — the rivalry intensified as Iowa nearly always was NU’s last hurdle for a Big Ten title.
For all the close losses, Didio didn’t get her first win against Iowa until her fifth and final season, when the Cats won their first Big Ten title.
“There were a lot of years where Iowa dominated the rivalry,” she said. “I take the rivalry very seriously.”
But with the emergence of Michigan and Penn State on the national scene, Iowa and NU no longer compete for the top spot. Thus the current Cats don’t view the matchup in the same light as their coach.
“This is their experience,” Didio said. “And their experience and history is more important than what happened in the ’80s and ’90s.”
Before the Cats play Iowa, they will enter the game against the Hoosiers (1-7, 0-3) with no definitive scouting information. Having no game film on hand is a rarity for Didio, who goes to great lengths to prepare for her opponents and her own team.
In Didio’s quest to turn around the program, she constantly reviews and rewinds her player’s performance in matches and practices.
“One of the things (the players) always have to understand is from the minute they step on the field to the minute they step off, I’m evaluating them,” Didio said. “The (videotape) picture tells a thousand words.”
In recent weeks, Didio has tinkered with her starting lineups and substitution patterns as she tries to mold a team into her system. The goal is to accentuate the performance of her star players, goalie Jess Yates, who leads the Big Ten in saves, and midfielder Nicole Smith, who is tied for 10th in goals in the Big Ten.
Didio promises a few new changes for the weekend and for the future.
“I ask them to keep working and make it as competitive possible to make my decisions hard in naming my starting lineup,” she said.
From looking at reels of tape, the coaching staff noticed the team needs to work on receiving and passing to cut down on costly turnovers. Always looking to improve the production from their young offensive core, the Cats practiced free-hit situations and strategy inside 30 yards, the prime area of attack.
Didio’s main emphasis to her team in October has been to be mentally strong and prepared for each upcoming practice and game.
“It’s more mental than physical at this point in the season,” Didio said. “We have to be sharp and clear-thinkers on the field. If they aren’t mentally there, they could hurt each other.”
With only three regular-season matches remaining against Big Ten teams, NU is focused on accomplishing some conference goals.
“It is good for our group to pinpoint the conference,” Didio said. “Everything is the conference. Everything means the conference.”
