#6 Iowa Field Hockey knocks off #5 Louisville on the road
The Iowa Field Hockey team was not happy with the product they put on the field the last two times they went up against ranked opponents. After starting the season 9-0, the Hawkeyes dropped games against #11 Ohio State and #2 Northwestern in back-to-back weeks. That dropped Lisa Cellucci’s squad to 10-2 and #6 in the country coming into this weekend. After a win on Friday against Indiana, the Hawkeyes showed they are still one of the best teams in the country with a huge road win over #5 Louisville.
“Today was a fantastic win against a very good Louisville team,” said head coach Lisa Cellucci. “The Hawks were dialed in from start to finish. Mia Magnotta had some world class saves down the stretch. We will enjoy this and get prepared for another important road trip.”
In the opening quarter, it was the Cardinals with the first penalty corner in the 2nd minute, but the Hawkeyes were the first ones to cash in on the corner attack in the 7th minute. Dionne van Aalsum’s intial shot from the top of the circle was saved by GK Merlijn van der Vegt, but bounced back out in front of the goal into a dangerous area. van Aalsum took a big swing at the bouncing ball and connected on a line drive into the goal to put the Hawkeyes in front.
The opening half was a good sign and a positive step in the right direction from an offensive standpoint. After combining for just 13 shots and four penalty corners over 120 minutes against Ohio State and Northwestern, the Hawkeyes went into halftime with six shots and four penalty corners. They also had a one-goal advantage.
In the third quarter, the Cardinals started to make Iowa work to keep ahold of their slim lead. Louisville took six shots and earned three penalty corners out of halftime, but were not able to find a game-tying goal. Through three quarters, Iowa GK Mia Magnotta was eight for eight on saves.
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Just 1:50 into the final quarter, the Cardinals were back on the attack with a penalty corner. However, just like their previous six corners, they came up empty. The shot attempt from Julie Kouijzer was blocked by Milly Short and the Hawkeyes were able to clear it.
After clinging to a 1-0 lead for 49 minutes, Iowa got exactly what they were looking for the 56th minute. An insurance goal. On the fifth penalty corner of the game for the Hawkeyes, Dionne van Aalsum received the insert from Annika Herbine on the short side and snuck her shot past a diving van der Vegt for her 25th goal of the season. The goal, all the sudden made it 2-0 with just 4:36 to play.
The Cardinals were able to get on the board, but it came too late. Rylie Wollerton got a stick on the shot from Julie Kouijzer and directed into the goal to cut the lead in half, but just 10 seconds remained in the game. Off the restart, Lieve Schalk got the ball and raced to the corner of the field to run out the clock on an Iowa victory. The Hawkeyes now have two wins against top five teams this season.
Up Next, the Hawkeyes are on the road for a second straight weekend. They will face #10 Maryland on Friday in College Park, MD, before heading to State College, PA to face #15 Penn State on Sunday for their final road game of the season. Friday’s game against the Terrapins will be at 4:00pm CT and will be streamed on BTN+.
