The Iowa field hockey team flexed its muscles on both sides of the ball with a 5-0 victory over New Hampshire on Friday afternoon at Grant Field.
Coming off of a two-goal performance last week against Miami of Ohio, the Hawkeyes wanted to sharpen up offensively against the Wildcats.
But this game started with the defense.
Iowa head coach Lisa Cellucci harped on her team all week about applying defensive presence with the forwards, trying to cause deflections and turnovers.
“[New Hampshire’s] probable weakness was its backfield, so we knew we could put pressure on,” Cellucci said. “I thought they did a really good job. As long as our forwards are putting pressure on and our midfield steps up, then we also win in transition.”
It wasn’t until the second quarter that the Iowa offensive attack started thriving.
First-year Hannah Maney and fifth-year Alex Wesneski each scored a goal in the final five minutes of the period, both for their first of the season.
Coming out of halftime, the Hawkeyes remained aggressive on both ends of the field.
Second-year forward Dionne van Aalsum took advantage of a Wildcat miscue and found the back of the cage minutes into the third period. Van Aalsum has now scored goals in back-to-back games for the Hawkeyes.
Dionne van Aalsum 😮💨
No. 6 Iowa 3, UNH 0 #Hawkeyes pic.twitter.com/pmN6R1vmsx
— Iowa Field Hockey (@iowafieldhockey) September 13, 2024
Third-year midfielder Milly Short and fourth-year Jacey Wittel put the finishing touches on the game for Iowa, scoring a pair of goals in the 46th and 48th minutes, respectively.
“It was great to get some goals on the board,” Cellucci said. “Going into this, New Hampshire is perennially a very good team, and the name of their game is transition. A big part of our game plan was our defensive organization and limiting their transition. When we did that well, we were in complete command.”
Hawkeyes post another shutout
With today’s shutout victory, the Hawkeyes have now held three of their first four opponents scoreless and are tied with Northwestern for the most in the country.
“The defense continues to stand really tall,” Cellucci said. “As a group and especially at goalkeeping and [with] Milly Short, it’s unbelievable and fantastic.”
With Cellucci and her coaching staff playing and rotating in a lot of younger players, seeing the defense still perform at a high level is key going into the rest of the season.
Magnotta with another strong performance
Third-year goalkeeper Mia Magnotta put on another strong performance for the Hawkeye defense.
Beside being the ringleader for another Hawkeye shutout performance, she stopped all four shots that came her way.
“She was fantastic,” Cellucci said. “I can always take a breath when Mia is in the goal. Some of the balls she faced were really tough, and I thought she did a really great job. Even more so, her organization was fantastic.”
Up next
Iowa remains at home on Sunday to wrap up non-conference play against Delaware. The ball drops at noon with coverage on Big Ten Plus.