Hawkeyes win overtime thriller

It may have been opening day for field hockey across the country, but the season opener between Iowa and Wake Forest in Winston-Salem had all the feelings of an NCAA Tournament game. The fifth ranked Hawkeyes were able to escape with a 2-1 double overtime victory courtesy of an 84th minute sudden death goal from sophomore forward Annika Herbine.

"Tonight, was an unbelievably gritty win by our team. We played down a player for 10 minutes in the fourth quarter,” said Iowa Head Coach Lisa Cellucci. “In the end we found a way. Annika Herbine's goal in OT was fantastic.”

Both team’s offenses struggled to get going in the opening quarter with just one combined shot. Wake Forest was able to get into the scoring circle, but the Iowa defense held strong and kept them from getting any dangerous scoring chances.

The Iowa offense took a little while to get their feet under them, but were able to strike first in the second quarter. Wake Forest goalie Tori Glaister saved a Leah Zellner shot, but the deflection found the stick of Alex Wesneski and while laying on the turf, she sent it home for the first goal of the season. The Hawkeyes took the 1-0 lead into halftime.

Wake Forest kept the pressure on the Iowa defense in the second half and Lisa Cellucci would probably tell you that she expected a little bit more from a group that allowed just 15 goals in 20 games last season. The Demon Deacons were able to finally break through in the 56th minute on a penalty corner opportunity. Sky Caron sent a shot through the circle and Ashley Hart was able to get her stick down and deflect it past Grace McGuire to tie the game with just under five minutes to play.

“Wake Forest put us under a lot of pressure, and they executed a great defensive game plan,” said Cellucci. “We will regroup tonight and learn a lot from this game."

The game went into overtime and Wake Forest put up the first couple of dangerous attacks. In the first overtime, Grace Delmotte had a shot on a penalty corner go just wide of the goal. Later in the second overtime, Annika Herbine received a green card and that had the Hawkeyes playing down a player. Nat Freidman had another scoring chance for the Demon Deacons, but she was not able to put it on goal.

Herbine came back on the field after serving her penalty time and was able to deliver the game winning goal. Coach Cellucci called her one of the craftiest forwards on the team last week at practice and she delivered, as she worked her way around a Wake defender and deposited a shot past Tori Glaister to clinch the 2-1 double overtime victory.

Wake Forest led 10-9 in shots, but the Hawkeyes led 6-4 in the more important category, which is shots on goal. Grace McGuire made three saves on the four shots on goal she faced and picked up her 31st career win in goal. The Hawkeyes have now won eight road games in a row after going 7-0 last season.

The win for the Hawkeyes marks 100 in the career as head coach for Lisa Cellucci and she becomes the fourth coach in Iowa field hockey history to reach the milestone. Iowa will finish up the Big Ten/ACC Challenge on Sunday against second ranked North Carolina. The Tar Heels defeated #3 Michigan in their opener by a final score of 5-1. The game is slated to start at 3:00pm and will be televised on the ACC Network.