Big third quarter pushes Iowa Field Hockey past MAC favorite Miami Ohio

In field hockey, all it takes is a single moment to flip a game on its head. One transition break, one threaded pass, one shot on goal to change the complexion of a game. On Friday afternoon, the Hawkeyes demonstrated this, turning a scoreless tie into a 2-0 victory against MAC favorite Miami Ohio. A pair of third quarter goals in less than 70 seconds propelled sixth-ranked Iowa over the Redhawks in their home opener at Grant Field.

“Miami Ohio is a great team. Everybody they’ve played over the last couple of years have just been really close battles just like today,” said head coach Lisa Cellucci. “We were really prepared for their midfield play, which is very good and we wanted to eliminate penalty corners, which we did.”

The MAC Champions from a year ago, Miami Ohio entered play on Friday with seven goals scored in two games this season, including a dominating 5-0 win over St Francis last Sunday. The Hawkeye defense knew the challenges that the Redhawks would present offensively and came in focused on limiting their chances.

“We knew it was going to be a tough game, we’d spoken all week about the strength of Miami, so we were happy with our defense,” said junior defender Milly Short. “We made strides this week to make improvements all across the field to keep the areas small through our forwards, midfield and defense to try and limit their transition.”

“We’ve really been working on our defensive organization, our structure and our shape, and that was so much better (today), said Cellucci. “The back three, the way they were tested last weekend has provided them with some great experience, and they’ve done a really good job.”

The Redhawks were able to put some pressure on in the fourth quarter, with four shots and a couple of penalty corners. However, none of those shots were on goal. Miami Ohio was unable to test goalkeeper Mia Magnotta with a single shot on goal all game. The Redhawks leading goalscorer from a year ago (16 gls), Claudia Negrete Garcia was held without a shot attempt.

“We did it together,” said Milly Short. “It was a great effort, especially in the fourth quarter. We were put under a lot of pressure and kept a clean sheet.”

Offensively, the Hawkeyes needed just over a minute in the third quarter to take control of the game. After a first half that saw Iowa come up empty on four penalty corners, they took advantage of their first chance in the second half. In the 35th minute, Annika Herbine inserted to Dionne van Aalsum and she sent a direct shot past Miami GK Nicky Sjouken to put the Hawkeyes in front 1-0. It’s the first goal of the season for van Aalsum who led the country with 28 goals last season.

Moments later, Iowa was back in the circle looking to extend their lead. Miranda Jackson chipped a ball in front of the goal and Lieve van Kessel swiped it past Sjouken for back-to-back goals in the blink of an eye. The goals came just 69 seconds apart, marking the shortest time between two goals since the Hawkeyes scored twice in 33 seconds against Merrimack last season.

That was a fun Q3 😎

Q4 underway. #Hawkeyes pic.twitter.com/Nwwxw0xic1

— Iowa Field Hockey (@iowafieldhockey) September 6, 2024

“That’s what we need to do. When we have momentum, to continue to create and find a way to put a team away. Thankfully we did that because had we gone into that fourth quarter scoreless, it could have been a problem,” said Cellucci. “We’re getting there with the offense. We just have to clean up our midfield play, and we have to be better at taking care of the ball.”

The Hawkeyes held the advantage in shots 8-4, shots on goal 4-0 and penalty corners 5-3. Iowa has now won 13 straight games against MAC competition dating back to the 2010 season. It’s their fourth straight home opener victory.

Up Next: The Hawkeyes have the rest of the weekend off and will host New Hampshire next Friday at Grant Field. The game is scheduled to begin at 2:00pm CT on BTN+.