The Iowa field-hockey team started its season 0-2 after losing to No. 2 Wake Forest and No. 4 North Carolina this past weekend.

Despite that, no one should be alarmed.

Seeing the team open the year with two-consecutive blemishes might raise some eyebrows from those who don’t follow the program closely — those who only know that Iowa appeared in the NCAA Final Four last season or that it has won three-consecutive Big Ten championships.

And still, there are some who follow the program more closely but chalk up the 0-2 start as the beginning of a rebuilding year. Losing eight seniors would qualify the new season as a “rebuilding” one for most programs. But Tracey Griesbaum’s team doesn’t plan on lowering its expectations because of a younger roster — and it shouldn’t.

Examine a similar scenario for Iowa: the 2006 season. Griesbaum’s gang entered the season with a considerably younger team than the year before. At the time, the Hawkeyes fell to both No. 2 Wake Forest and No. 5 North Carolina in that year’s Big Ten/ACC Challenge.

Iowa also played 10 games against teams ranked in the preseason top-20 that year. And by the end of this season, Iowa will have played 10 games against teams ranked in the preseason top-20 as well.

It gets creepier, though.

Iowa’s starting lineup for its first two games in ’06 included three freshmen you may have heard of — Meghan Beamesderfer, Tricia Dean, and Jess Werley — all of whom are now senior starters for the Black and Gold.

Freshmen Jessica Barnett, Sarah Drake, and Geena Lesiak all appeared in the Hawkeye starting lineup this past weekend.

So how did that ’06 season turn out?

Iowa went on to win its first of three-straight conference tournament titles before making an appearance in the NCAA Tournament.

Obviously, just because the Hawkeyes entered both seasons facing similar adversity and lost games to the same teams doesn’t mean they will magically finish this season the exact same way. But it should serve as a comforting reminder for a team that will undoubtedly (and already has started to) face some growing pains this season.

Yes, Iowa is 0-2 right now. Still, those two losses came against teams expected to vie for a national championship this season, including Wake Forest, who will be looking to appear in its 10th-straight Final Four.

Griesbaum likes it that way, though.

“Wake Forest and North Carolina are really, really good this year,” she said on Aug. 30 following her team’s loss to North Carolina. “I want to play the best teams possible. It’s a little rough the first weekend, but we bought into it, we committed to it, so it’s not changing.”

When November rolls around and Grant Field is starting to feel a little more like an ice rink, that policy will insure that the Hawkeyes are battle-tested.

After enduring both a grueling conference and non-conference schedule, the team’s youngsters will be looking more like experienced veterans and less like true freshmen.

Meanwhile, the team’s more experienced leaders will be at the top of their game, having already seen what it takes to win a Big Ten Title — let alone three times in a row.

There’s a good chance a fourth one is on the way.