The eighth-ranked Iowa field hockey team took two tough road losses to No.7 Maryland and No. 15 Penn State on Oct. 20 and 22, respectively — the first time the Hawkeyes have recorded back-to-back losses this season. 

The Hawkeyes first fell to the Terrapins, 4-1, at the Maryland Field Hockey and Women’s Lacrosse Complex in College Park, Maryland.

Maryland landed the punch early with two goals in the first ten minutes of the contest from fifth-year forward Sammy Popper and second=year forward Hannah Boss. 

Terrapin fifth-year forward Nathalie Fiechter then tacked on an unassisted goal to go up 3-0 heading into the fourth period of play, leaving the Hawkeyes stranded and unable to find the back of the cage. 

Iowa third-year forward Annika Herbine found a pass from first-year forward Dionne van Aalsum to break the drought early in the fourth period but to no avail. 

Less than a minute later, Boss netted her second goal of the contest, making it 4-1 in favor of the Terrapins at the buzzer. 

“Maryland played [fantastically], and we had too many people having an off night,” Iowa head coach Lisa Cellucci said. “We gave up two early goals and haven’t found ourselves in that situation in a while. We were chasing the game the whole time. [It was] just unfortunately a poor performance from us.”

0-for-2

The Hawkeye defense had its worst performance of the season in allowing the Terrapins to put up nine shots on goal, and the team’s struggles continued into State College, Pennsylvania.

The Hawkeyes fell to the Nittany Lions, 2-1, at the Penn State Field Hockey Complex two days later.

Iowa drew first blood in the 13th minute of the game, though, as fourth-year forward Alex Wesneski scored off of an assist from first-year forward Miranda Jackson — recording her fifth goal of the season. 

But Penn State came fighting right back. 

In the waning minutes of the second period, Nittany Lion fourth-year forward Sophia Gladieux evened the score at one. 

Penn State kept the momentum going into the second half. Just five minutes into the third period, Gladieux again found the back of the cage to give the Nittany Lions the edge. 

Despite putting up six shots on goal in the second half, the Hawkeyes never put one together to tie the game. 

“From a coaching standpoint and [as] a team, we felt great about our performance on Sunday against Penn State despite the score,” Cellucci said. “We dominated most of the competition and even had a chance to tie the game with a goal being called back. The changes we made from Friday night [against Maryland] were really effective, and we played much better as a group.”

Magnotta gave up two goals but made eight saves on the day, moving her record to 12-4 as the Hawkeye goalkeeper. 

Up next

The Iowa field hockey team will host No. 3 Rutgers in its regular-season finale on Oct 27. It will be Senior Day for the Hawkeyes, and Cellucci will send off the graduating class in their last game at Grant Field. 

“We have some fantastic seniors on this team,” Cellucci said. “It’s going to be hard to see them play their last game on Grant Field.”