The Iowa field hockey team will seek revenge against the Maryland Terrapins in the first round of the 2023 Big Ten Tournament in Ann Arbor, Michigan, this weekend.

The No. 7 Hawkeyes are seeded at sixth in the tournament with a 4-4 conference record and will take on the No. 8 Terrapins, seeded third with a 6-2 conference record, in the first round on Nov 2.

Should Iowa win out, the second round of games will be on Nov. 3 with the championship coming on Nov. 5.

Games are played at Phyllis Ocker Field on the Michigan campus, first-round coverage coming on Big Ten Plus, while the final two rounds will be televised on the Big Ten Network.

Last time around

The Hawkeyes fell to the Terrapins in College Park, Maryland, on Oct. 20 by a final score of 4-1. The loss marked Iowa’s largest losing deficit of the season.

Hawkeye goalkeeper Mia Magnotta struggled alongside the Iowa defense, allowing four goals on 10 shots from the Terrapins.

Maryland second-year forward Hannah Boss recorded two goals against that Iowa defense, so she will be a target for the Hawkeyes to pin down and silence.

The Hawkeyes’ lone goal came from third-year forward Annika Herbine early in the fourth period.

Players to watch

The obvious candidate for Iowa’s most valuable player is none other than first-year forward Dionne van Aalsum.

Van Aalsum leads the country in goals with 27 as well as points per game with 3.53.

The Netherlands product had a slew of midseason awards to her name — including three-time Big Ten Freshman of the Week, two-time Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week, and two-time National Field Hockey Coaches Association Offensive Player of the Week.

Herbine has made a name for herself as one of the best passers on the team this season. Her team-leading nine assists are tied for the seventh-most in the country. Also hailing from Pennsylvania, she has notched four goals on the season as well.

But Magnotta has been another important piece for the Hawkeyes this season.

In her first year starting for the Black and Gold, the Pennsylvania product has established herself as one of the top goalies in the Big Ten.

Magnotta is sixth in the country in goals against average with 1.003. Her 0.782 save percentage is good for 12th-best in the country.

Season so far

The Hawkeyes finished the regular season with a 13-4 record but a 4-4 record in conference play, resulting in the lower seeding despite a strong non-conference campaign.

Iowa started the season 9-0 with wins against No. 2 North Carolina, No. 16 Michigan, No. 18 Massachusetts-Lowell, and No. 19 Albany.

In this stretch, the Hawkeyes averaged 4.5 goals per contest. The Iowa defense also stood out as one of the best in the Big Ten — pitching seven shutouts in that span.

Following the hot start, though, the Hawkeyes found some problems in Big Ten play.

Iowa went 3-4 in the following conference games, losing to No. 1 Northwestern, No. 8 Maryland, No. 11 Ohio State, and No. 17 Penn State.

In those four losses, the Hawkeyes averaged 0.75 goals per contest — significantly lower than their season average of 3.41.

But the Hawkeyes finished the season strong with a win over No. 5 Rutgers, 7-2, handing the Scarlet Knights their biggest loss of this season and serving as momentum heading into Thursday.