Iowa field hockey earns at-large bid to NCAA Tournament
The Hawkeyes will head to their first consecutive NCAA Tournament this week.
Iowa midfielder Ella Wareham celebrates with teammate Esme Gibson during a field hockey game between Iowa and Michigan State at Grant Field in Iowa City on Friday, Oct. 28, 2022. The Hawkeyes defeated the Spartans, 1-0.
November 7, 2022
The Iowa field hockey team garnered an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament on Sunday night — its fifth consecutive berth.
Iowa was knocked out of the Big Ten Tournament by now-conference champion Michigan in the first round. As a result, the Hawkeyes had to wait and see if they would make the 18-team NCAA Tournament field. Iowa is one of five Big Ten teams in the tournament, joining Michigan, Northwestern, Penn State, and Maryland.
Iowa is in a pod with second-seeded Northwestern, Virginia, Miami (OH), and Rider.
The 11-7 Hawkeyes were not one of the top four national seeds and will not host the first two rounds of the tournament. Instead, Iowa will travel to Evanston, Illinois, to face Virginia on Northwestern’s Lakeside Field on Friday at 2:30 p.m.
Virginia is 13-7 overall and appeared in the ACC Championship Game, falling to No. 1 NCAA Tournament seed North Carolina.
Miami (OH) and Rider will compete in a play-in game, and the winner of that contest will take on Northwestern. The winner of Iowa-Virginia will take on the winner of Miami(OH)/Rider-Northwestern in the Elite Eight.
The 2022 tournament is Iowa’s 27th appearance — the most of any Big Ten school.