The No.15 Iowa field hockey team defeated Queens University of Charlotte, 8-1, with five different Hawkeyes finding the back of the net.
Third-year Dionne Van Aalsum led Iowa with four goals, giving her eight goals on the weekend. The midfielder now has 11 goals this season following her nine goals last year and a nation-best 28 in 2023.
Goals were not the only top stat line of the game. The Hawkeyes were in full control of the contest, keeping the ball in enemy territory, allowing them to put 40 shots on goal.
“We wanted to have our foot on the gas from the start,” head coach Lisa Cellucci said. “Have a high level of possession and just be able to put a lot of shots and get lots of upgrades in the attacking third.”
Iowa accelerated out of the gate with three goals early in the first quarter. This cushion granted the Hawkeyes opportunity to empty the bench and experiment with new strategies.
“We wanted to see a lot of different combinations early on so we were able to get a lot of people in in quarter two,” Cellucci said. “Some people haven’t played as many minutes and going into the third quarter out of halftime we wanted to try a different press that we haven’t worked on that we will need to use next weekend.”
Iowa would continue to add to its lead, scoring one more goal before halftime and then proceeded to continue pressing Queens throughout quarter three and four. Van Aalsum netted three of her four tallies in the second half of the game, which saw fourth-year midfielder Milly Short score her first goal of the season.
After Friday’s victory over Kent State, Cellucci noted the need for defensive improvement. The coach saw her squad execute these goals.
“We had much more patience with our body positioning and not diving in for tackles,” she said.
Third-year Tess Reed notched her second goal of the season and described how she and her teammates are growing by the game.
“Getting used to everyone – since there are a lot of new player substitutions – have been something we as players have worked a lot on and getting our energy up overall especially since after a lot of players got to score today,” Reed said.
Moving towards next weekend, the Hawkeyes still have work to do. Cellucci pointed to transiton defense and her squad “snoozing” at times while up big.
Now 3-1 on the season, Iowa will continue its schedule of non-conference games as it travels to Louisville, Kentucky for the Midwest Challenge. Iowa will face Miami (OH) on Sept. 12 and Louisville on Sept. 14. The Redhawks are 3-0 on the season, conceding only two goals while the Cardinals are 3-1.