Before her sophomore campaign, Iowa field hockey second-year forward Dionne van Aalsum knew it would be a stiff challenge to replicate the success of her freshman season in 2023.

The Dutch player led the nation in many offensive categories last season, scoring 28 goals and recording 62 points in her first year at the collegiate level. Her performance earned her Big Ten Freshman of the Year honors, leading her to become the sixth player in Hawkeye history to achieve the feat.

But van Aalsum anticipated that opposing defenses would adjust to her elite scoring and passing abilities in 2024.

“I already expected that it wouldn’t be that easy to do the same thing as I did last season,” van Aalsum said. “I got into the season saying, ‘Of course I’m going to try and do my best and everything.’”

Her prediction turned out to be correct, as she has mustered just eight goals in 14 games and has been held scoreless in seven of those contests.

Head coach Lisa Cellucci credits opposing defenses for employing new strategies to slow down van Aalsum.

“They [opponents] just have to really key into their individual defense because she is so talented,” Cellucci said. “Because she is so tall and skilled, she is able to create a lot of different spaces.”

Cellucci and her coaching staff have tried to dial up as many plays as possible for the talented forward.

Using set plays from penalty corners or taking advantage of numbers in the midfield, Cellucci wants to give van Aalsum as many chances, knowing how valuable her star forward is to the offense.

“I think the team just feels a little bit of sense like ‘She’s on fire, let’s go continue to help her get more options,’” Cellucci said. “I think that it just raises the confidence for everybody.”

Cellucci’s strategy has shown some promise, as van Aalsum has scored four goals in the last three contests.

Cellucci credits the recent success to not only van Aalsum’s improvement as the season has gone on but to the movement and flow that the midfield now plays at, potentially generating shots on goal for van Aalsum and the rest of the squad.

The Hawkeyes have also emphasized success on the power play, and Cellucci has often called up plays for van Aalsum. The second-year tallied two goals off penalty corners in a 3-0 victory against California on Oct. 20.

“Our goal is to always draw penalty corners because she is our main piece for us on that,” Cellucci said. “Whenever we can get her the ball on a set play situation, that is fantastic.”