For much of the Big Ten, today was opening day of conference play and the Iowa Field Hockey team had a match-up against an Indiana team that had won five straight games. The Hoosiers started the season 0-2, but entered the day at 5-2, including 11 goals scored in their last two games. The Hawkeyes handled IU 5-1 and moved to 1-0 in Big Ten play.
For the third straight game, the Hawkeyes scored a goal before fans were fully settled into their seats. Just 90 seconds into the game, Iowa got a penalty corner opportunity and Lokke Stribos took advantage, ripping a shot past IU goalie Arabella Loveridge. It was a good sign for the Hawkeyes after they went just 1/9 on penalty corners against Massachusetts.
“We knew we were going to have a bit of a battle today. We wanted to get out to a fast start in every quarter and that’s what we did,” said Head Coach Lisa Cellucci. “We wanted to take the wind out of their sails and anytime you can get a Big Ten win, we’re excited about that.”
Before the Hoosiers could breathe again, Iowa was back on the attack. Annika Herbine stole a lazy Indiana pass and found teammate Esme Gibson for an easy goal. After five minutes, the Hawkeyes had a 2-0 lead.
“Our ability up front to just win the ball high and to score, it’s so good,” said Esme Gibson. “I did the easy bit, (Annika) she did the difficult bit.”
The rest of the first half was quiet, but Iowa extended their lead in the third quarter. Laura Drees scored her first goal as a Hawkeye in the 31st minute off a rebound on a penalty corner opportunity, while Anthe Nijziel converted a penalty corner of her own in the 37th minute to make it 4-0.
Indiana got a goal in the fourth quarter from Jemima Cookson, but the Hawkeyes responded with a goal just a minute later. Annika Herbine made it 5-1, converting a rebound for a fourth penalty corner goal on the day after Anthe Nijziel had her shot saved. Iowa outshot the Hoosiers 15-7 and had the advantage in penalty corners 10-2. Iowa had five goals and five different goal scorers.
“It’s versatility and it helps us not be scouted,” said Coach Cellucci. “We have so many people on this team that can score goals, so I was glad they all got a piece of the pie today.”
After not converting on their last eight penalty corners against UMass on Sunday, the Hawkeyes were 4/10 on Friday afternoon. It was a focal point in practice all week and it paid off as they used some new looks to convert for goals.
“Forty percent penalty corner conversion is fantastic. We would be excited for just 30,” said Cellucci. “We have been working on it all week, so we threw a few new ones in there. We knew they were going to throw a different defense, so the key piece was being ready for rebounds. They executed fantastic.”
Up next for the Hawkeyes is a trip to Evanston, IL to take on the #1 Northwestern Wildcats. With no game on Sunday this week, it allows Cellucci’s squad to take extra time to prepare for the top ranked ‘Cats.
“A little more rest than a game day would give us,” said Cellucci. “We’re going to treat this as a two-game weekend. Sunday, we’ll play a bit, we’ll watch some film, and we’ll have really normal prep for Northwestern. We want to keep it as consistent as possible.”
“We’ll watch some of this game and take what we need to out of that and then early next week get into the Northwestern scout and really focus in on them,” said Esme Gibson.
There will be more coming from a preview standpoint of the Top 5 Showdown on HawkeyeReport this week. The game is on Friday, September 23rd at 3:00pm and will be televised on the Big Ten Network.
