The Hawkeyes defended home field against Kent State and St. Louis.
By Mario Williams
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This past weekend was an offensive show for the Iowa field-hockey team as it swept Kent State, 7-1, and St. Louis, 7-0.
After a heartbreaking loss to No. 5 ranked Stanford on Sept. 10, the team wanted to come out and execute as much as possible.
On Sept. 12, the team welcomed Kent State to Grant Field, and to say it met its goal is an understatement.
“I thought today’s win was great,” Iowa head coach Lisa Cellucci said. “We scored in a lot of different ways, and that made us happy. “We came out and controlled possession, and that led to a lot of great plays from us.”
Sophomore Mallory Lefkowitz, junior Stephanie Norlander, freshman Makenna Grewe, junior Chandler Ackers, and freshman Lara Bampfield contributed to the Hawkeyes’ victory. Lefkowitz and Bampfield notched their first goals of the season.
Norlander and Grewe both scored twice in the first half and earned their second goals of the afternoon in the second half.
“We had a lot of shots, and we were able to capitalize,” Norlander said.
The team also took 20 shots and earned 7 penalty corners. The knockdown against the Golden Flashes marked the team’s highest goals and shot attempts of the season.
They held the unranked opponent to just 8 shot attempts and gave up 7 penalty corners.
On Sunday, not much was different for the No. 15 Hawkeyes when they faced the Billikens. It notched its highest number of shots this season so far, 42, and earned 18 penalty corners. Many players got a chance to see some game time as well.
Sophomore Veronique Declercq, Ackers, and sophomore JoElla Guagliardo scored goals. Norlander had a hat trick as well.
Aside from its offensive quality, the Hawks held St. Louis to only 2 shot attempts, and it earned 1 penalty corner.
Although the squad put up big numbers, Cellucci thought Game 1’s success was better than Game 2 because of the offensive style St. Louis played.
“It was great to put 14 goals on the board for two days,” Cellucci said. “We took a step back with our individual defense today. It doesn’t show on the scoreboard, but we know as coaches.”
Two wins against unranked opponents on its home field improve the squad’s overall record to 4-3.
The loss against Stanford hurt the Hawkeyes, but they found a way to progress.
On Sept. 18, the Hawkeyes will compete in its first Big Ten match of the season against Rutgers at Grant Field.
Iowa senior Liz Leh believes the victories this weekend will set the squad up for success in its so-far most important game of the season.
“This weekend felt good,” Leh said. “Next weekend is our first Big Ten weekend, and Rutgers is a worthy opponent, so we need to make sure we go in with momentum.”
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