The Iowa Field Hockey team has been in every game this season. They haven’t been blown out and no game has felt unwinnable. Sitting at 9-3, the Hawkeyes have lost by the slimmest of margins and tonight was the most recent heartbreaking loss. #5 Penn State got an overtime goal off the stick of Sophia Gladieux to lift the Nittany Lions to a 2-1 victory on Friday evening in State College.

The game started out differently than any other game this season for the Hawkeyes. A goal from Anna Simon put Penn State on top 1-0 in the 9th minute. She got the shot off in front of Iowa GK Grace McGuire and it was a nearly unsavable shot near the top of the goal. It marked the first time all season that Iowa had allowed an opponent to score in the opening quarter and it was also the first time the Hawkeyes had trailed in regulation.

The rest of the half was pretty quiet and played for the most part outside of the scoring circles. At the half, Penn State led 1-0 and the teams had combined for just five shots. In the third quarter, the Nittany Lions threatened to extend their lead with a couple of penalty corner chances, but Grace McGuire stood tall and made a couple big saves.

Still, the Hawkeyes trailed by a goal, but they would tie it up in the late stages of the game. With just under six minutes to play, Iowa was able to get a penalty corner and it was the veteran Anthe Nijziel coming up clutch with the game tying goal.

The game headed to overtime tied at a goal apiece and at that point, the Hawkeye defense had held the scoring duo of Mackenzie Allessie and Sophia Gladieux off the scoresheet and with just two shots on goal. However, a player like Gladieux is hard to keep off the board and she was the one that ended the game. Just 83 seconds into the first overtime, she found the back of the net for her 14th goal of the season.

With the loss, the Hawkeyes fall to 9-3 on the season and have lost three games in overtime against top 5 teams. Iowa will wrap up their weekend in State College with a matchup against #17 James Madison on Sunday. The game is at 10:00am and will be streamed on BTN+.