The Iowa Field Hockey team was pretty confident they were going to hear their name called during the NCAA Tournament Selection Show on Sunday night. They have two top ten wins, three OT losses to top ten teams and a top ten strength of schedule. Still, stress levels began to rise, as the Hawkeyes watched three of the four regionals get announced with no mention of their name.

“It’s always super stressful until you hear your name called,” said Head Coach Lisa Cellucci. “I think our scheduling and early body of work is what got us into the tournament.”

Finally, in the last spot that made sense for the Hawkeyes to land, their name was called on to face the Virginia Cavaliers in the Sweet Sixteen round of the tournament.

“It’s always stressful and especially this year,” said Anthe Nijziel. “That was the spot that our name was going to show up or it wasn’t, so to see our name was really great.”

The opening round matchup will take place in the Evanston Regional hosted by the #2 seeded Northwestern Wildcats. Lakeside Field has become a familiar location for the team, as it will be their fourth game of the season alongside Lake Michigan.

“We really enjoy their field, so it’s great that we can play there again,” said Nijziel. “It’s great that we can play someone new. I’ve never played Virginia. I think it’ll be a great game.”

It will be the seventh time the two programs have met with the series tied 3-3. The Hawkeyes won the last meeting back in 2014 by a score of 4-3. The last couple of years, Iowa has had a target on their back in the NCAA Tournament due to their high ranking, but this year the script flips and the Hawkeyes are the hunters. The players, however, are just excited to get another chance to play.

“They know they’re a really good opponent, a top five team and I think they’re excited because we know we can play with anybody. It’s just how we show up and how we execute,” said Coach Cellucci. “Right now, they don’t care if they’re the chaser or being chased. They want another opportunity to play.”

Virginia comes into the NCAA Tournament ranked #5 in the NFHCA Coaches Poll, with a 13-7 record, including a 7-6 record against teams in the tournament field. They have notable wins over St Joseph’s, Syracuse, Louisville and Wake Forest.

“They’re very skilled pretty much in every line over the ball. Really good ball handlers. They can score some world class goals and we saw that last week in the ACC Tournament,” said Coach Cellucci. UVA picked up two wins before falling to North Carolina in the Title match.

The Cavaliers do not jump off the page statistically on the offensive side of the field. They are averaging just 2.05 goals per game and 5.3 penalty corners per game. That ranks 38th and 52nd (out of 81 teams) in the country. F Laura Janssen leads the team with 11 goals, 50 shots and 30 shots on goal, but the UVA attack is pretty balanced across the board.

“She’s dynamic, so skilled over the ball. She knows how to find the back of the net, so definitely someone that we’re looking into, but they have multiple people in each line that we have to play great team defense against.”

Outside of Janssen, Virginia has eight players with 3+ goals and/or 3+ assists. MF Daniela Mendez-Trendler has eight goals on the year, while MF Annie McDonough (6) and MF Meghen Hengerer (7) lead the way in assists.

On defense, the Cavaliers are allowing 1.4 goals, 9.15 shots and just 4.5 penalty corners per game. Their defense has some similarities to the Michigan defense that gave Iowa fits this season, but Coach Cellucci feels that there are some opportunities to be had if they can get past their initial line of defense.

“They make solid decisions in their defense and in their midfield. They’re going to press us very similarly to Michigan. They put a lot of high pressure on, but I think if we can get behind that first line, we’re going to have a little bit more room to play,” said Cellucci. “I keep saying the word connected, but we have to be able to build the ball with small, connected passes and get them running because I think that’s where we’re going to have opportunities.”

Second Team All-ACC goalkeeper Jet Trimborn sits at the back of the Virginia defense. She has five shutouts on the season and three more games where she allowed just one goal. Trimborn is allowing 1.19 goals per game and has saved 40 of 57 shots faced for a .702 save percentage.

The game seems to have all the makings of a low scoring affair. Two good defenses and a pair of offenses averaging right around two goals per game. Coach Cellucci agrees it will not be a shootout, but doesn’t think either team will have an advantage if the game only has a couple of goals.

“We’ve been able to rely on our defense in a lot of games, I think we could have the advantage, I think they could too. So not really,” said Cellucci. “It’s going to be a little bit of a chess match. We have to be able to read what they are giving us and take advantage of the situation.”

The Hawkeyes and Cavaliers have not met on the pitch since 2014, so the tendencies of teams you begin to learn in conference play is not present in this matchup. Both teams are learning each other strictly off of film review. Coach Cellucci says they are working on some wrinkles to give UVA a look that hasn’t been on film this year.

“We have different pieces that we’re thinking about with our lineup, especially in the midfield,” said Cellucci. “There are set pieces that they haven’t seen. We haven’t executed on many penalty corners, so that’s a good thing because we have a lot in our arsenal. But yes, there’s a couple of phases of our game that’re going to look slightly different.”

If the Hawkeyes are able to get some penalty corner chances, they will have to find a way to put the ball in the goal. After converting on 15 of their first 51 penalty corners of the season, Iowa has fallen on tough times as of late. A mix of bad luck and poor execution has led to the Hawkeyes converting just 3 of their last 40 (7.5%) penalty corner chances. Their record is just 3-6 over that same stretch. That is a stat that has to change on Friday if they are going to knock off the fifth-ranked Cavaliers.

Cellucci’s Keys to Victory

1. Find a way to get some penalty corner chances

2. Force Virginia to play the ball in their backfield to limit their transition game

3. Stay connected both offensively and defensively

The Hawkeyes matchup against Virginia is set for 2:30pm on Friday and will be streamed on BTN+.