By Michael McCurdy
Head Iowa field-hockey coach Lisa Cellucci has been with the program for going on 17 years, so she understood the magnitude of the Penn State game on Sept. 16.
The Hawkeyes dominated in all facets of the game against the Nittany Lions. Iowa and Penn State statistically played an even first half, but the Hawkeyes capitalized on their goal attempts.
They scored 3 goals in the half, by Sophie Plasteras, Katie Birch, and Natalie Cafone.
The second half was a different story.
In the first minutes, it was clear the tide was turning, and Penn State played with a sense of urgency.
Cellucci believes the Hawkeyes’ lack of depth caused most of the second-half problems.
“Absolutely, it was a lack-of-depth problem, but we just did not manage the game,” Cellucci said. “As we got fatigued in the second half, our decision-making just got worse and worse, which really showed as Penn State was able to take advantage of our mistakes and come back to win.”
The Nittany Lions ended up scoring 4-straight goals in the second half to defeat Iowa, 4-3.
However, after the game, Cafone had a positive outlook.
“There were a ton of positives, even though we did not get the result we wanted; we still were able to score 3 goals very quickly on a top-five team,” Cafone said. “This game was a really big step for us; we learned a lot even though we did not come out with the victory.”
Iowa had one day to forget about the Penn State game and focus its attention on red-hot Ball State.
Like the Penn State game, this contest was also a tale of two halves. The Hawkeyes came out in the second half with a sense of urgency — Iowa scored 4-straight goals and never looked back getting the win, 4-1.
Iowa senior Chandler Ackers understood her team was having trouble getting the ball in the net in the first half but knew once they did, the outcome of the game would change drastically.
“Just getting the first one to fall really opened the gates for the rest of the them,“ she said. “We were able to move the ball a lot better in the second half, moving it around the backfield and then up the open side to our forwards; we did a great job of not forcing it.”
Cellucci was pleased her team came out in the second half with a sense of urgency, saying that in the first half, the Hawks played too casually.
Birch finished the weekend with the mindset that her team has grown a lot in these two games and the Hawkeyes’ overall toughness has grown.
“Our team is a lot stronger than we thought we were,” she said. “We are a very tight group of girls who have a strong bond together, which I think is going to bode well for us the rest of the season.”