The Iowa Field Hockey team continues their road trip this weekend with a pair of away games against ranked foes. With just four games left on the schedule, each game carries importance for the Big Ten regular season, as well as Big Ten Tournament seeding and NCAA Tournament implications. If the season ended today, the Hawkeyes would be the #3 seed in Columbus for the Big Ten Tournament and would face the #6 seed.

Taking a look at the NCAA Tournament hosting situation, the Hawkeyes surprisingly moved up from #6 to #5 in the RPI despite going 1-1 last weekend. They still sit at #7 in the KPI Rankings, but the margin between Iowa, #6 Louisville and #5 Virginia is pretty thin. Reminder that just four teams get a chance to host a tournament regional.

-Friday at #21 Ohio State Buckeyes (7-5)

The Buckeyes come into this matchup as a tale of two teams. They have been dominant against unranked teams, but have struggled when facing stronger competition. Ohio State has outscored unranked teams 28-4 en route to a 6-1 record, but conversely, they are 1-4 against ranked teams. Their lone win was a 3-0 victory over #23 Albany, while they have been outscored 9-2 in the other four games against ranked foes.

F Sarah Charley is the top goal scorer on the team with eight goals, while MF Emma Goldean (4 assists) and MF Claudia Thomas (2 assists) each have four goals apiece. For the sake of breaking down the Buckeyes as a team, we will turn to their statistics against ranked teams.

In their four losses against ranked teams this season, Ohio State is mustering just 6.0 shots, 4.0 shots on goal, 4.0 penalty corners and 0.5 goals per game. On the other hand, ranked teams have had no issue getting opportunities against the Buckeye defense. In four games, opponents are averaging 18.0 shots, 10.3 shots on goal, 7.8 penalty corners and 2.3 goals per game.

Although the defense has been pretty porous, GK Abby Danson has been pretty good against ranked competition. In the four losses, Danson has made 32 saves on 41 shots faced (.780). She is ranked 5th in the country in save percentage, but her save percentage against ranked teams would still rank in the top ten. However, saving 78% of 41 shots is still nine goals in four games.

The Hawkeye defense should be able to hold Ohio State quiet, but the question will be, can Iowa take advantage of the likely increased possession and score goals? It will come down to making crisp passes, making good decisions with the ball on their stick and making the Buckeyes pay if they get multiple penalty corner chances.

-Sunday at #10 Michigan Wolverines (7-4)

The Wolverines have taken a somewhat similar path to Ohio State this season. They are 7-0 against teams not ranked in the top ten, including wins over #12 Wake Forest and #20 Rutgers. In those seven games, Michigan has outscored opponents 30-3, while they have been outscored 10-3 in four losses against top ten teams.

The offense runs through MF Abby Tamer and MF Lora Clark, as they have combined for 16 of the teams 33 goals (48.5%), as well as 76 of the teams 233 shots (32.6%). The Hawkeye defense will have to know where they are at all times and try to limit their opportunities as much as possible. Much like Ohio State, we will turn to the Wolverines stats against top ten teams to properly evaluate them.

In four games against teams ranked in the top ten this season, the Michigan offense has been able to produce scoring chances. They are averaging 12.8 shots, 6.0 shots on goal, 4.8 penalty corners, but incredibly converted just 3 of 24 shots on goals into actual goals (12.5%). Defensively, they allowed 10.3 shots, 6.0 shots on goal and 5.5 penalty corners per game. Why did they go 0-4? Opponents were able to convert 10 of those 24 shots on goal into actual goals (41.7%).

The Hawkeyes could see a pair of goalkeepers from Michigan, which makes preparation a little different. Anna Spieker has started ten games and played 410 minutes in goal, but Caylie McMahon has played in seven games and accumulated 205 minutes of her in goal. The two goalkeepers have combined to save 23 of 36 shots faced, which is just a .639 save percentage.

The offensive gameplan against the Wolverines figures to be similar to the one against Maryland. Get as many shots and penalty corners as possible and force the goalkeeper to make saves. That plan works in theory, but Iowa was able to muster just two shots on goal against the Terrapins. One was a goal and the other hit the post. The Hawkeyes need to avoid a repeat of the Maryland game if they plan to pick up a win in Ann Arbor.