Finally, Iowa field hockey saw scores that reflect its success on the pitch — just in time to improve its record for Big Ten Tournament.
Ohio State put up a good fight on Iowa’s home turf on Senior Day, but it wasn’t enough to stop the Hawkeyes from claiming victory, 1-0, on Sunday.
“We have a young team, and we are finally starting to put it together,” said head coach Lisa Cellucci in a release. “In the last two weeks of practice, we’ve had a great sense of urgency, focus, and great execution. I think that’s what has carried over into our game plan.”
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Both teams took relatively few shots; the Buckeyes had 9, and Iowa took only 6. Iowa’s efficiency was clearly higher.
The only goal of the game was tipped in by freshman Maddy Murphy on sophomore Katie Birch’s penalty corner shot in the 33rd minute. For the rest of the game, it was a back-and-forth battle for Iowa to keep its lead.
Defense for both teams posed challenges for the offenses, and this is a positive for Iowa, which has struggled to defend field attacks this season.
Not only was the Ohio State game a positive for playing defense, the victory over Michigan State was largely thanks to good protection of Iowa’s net.
“Our team defense was outstanding, and we had very balanced scoring,” Cellucci said in a release after the Oct. 20 game against Michigan State.
Balanced scoring was key to Iowa’s victory. In the Michigan State game alone, Iowa put 10 players on the scoreboard.
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Iowa came out with a bang right away in the match. In the eighth minute, sophomore Sophie Sunderland scored Iowa’s first goal of the match. Senior Taylor Omweg complemented Sunderland’s goal with her own a minute later on a cross from senior Melissa Progar. In the 16th minute, freshman Nikki Freeman passed the ball to freshman Mya Christopher, who proceeded to add her own goal to the score.
These 3 goals remained unanswered until the 32nd minute, when Michigan State scored its only goal just before halftime.
Come second half, the Hawkeye offensive attack didn’t lessen, it intensified.
Three minutes into the second half, in the 38th minute, Murphy found the back of the cage on a penalty corner. Iowa’s fifth goal was tallied by senior Mallory Lefkowitz from the top of the circle in the 50th minute. Five minutes later, Christopher scored her second goal of the game to make for a 6-1 lead. The Hawkeyes put their seventh and final goal on the board in the 62nd minute thanks to Lefkowitz’s pass to Progar, who promptly found the back of the net. The final score was 7-1.
“An excellent week of practice resulted in us finally putting a complete 70-minute game together,” said Cellucci in a release.
With the taste of victory that comes with two full 70-minute games fresh for the Hawkeyes, they’re looking forward to the Big Ten quarterfinals fast approaching. These two wins boosted Iowa’s record so that they’re ranked 6th in the Big Ten and set to face Penn State. The match will be held Oct. 29 in Pennsylvania.