Iowa Field Hockey Preview: Attacking Half

At the beginning of last season, the Iowa Field Hockey offensive attack was playing well and putting balls in the goal. The Hawkeyes averaged 3.55 goals per game over the first nine games. Things unraveled during the second half of the season, as the goal scoring hit a wall. Some of it can be attributed to the Hawkeyes play, but they also played ten of their last 11 games against ranked teams. Whatever way you slice it, averaging 0.73 goals over the last two months of the year is not going to win you many games. However, a mix of experienced returning players and a talented freshman class has the Hawkeyes feeling good about an offensive rebound this season.

“It’s a huge motivator to go out there and want to score goals,” said forward Annika Herbine. “I think the connection right now, our team chemistry is really what’s building our confidence.”

“It’s a work in progress right now. You can’t win games if you can’t score goals. I do have confidence in them. It’s really just about refining the final third and we’ll get there,” said head coach Lisa Cellucci. “It’s a multitude of things. First and foremost, individually, they have to be able to execute in small space and under high pressure. Then, we just need to be able to, as a group, transition together to pass and join and have options backward, so if we don’t have something going forward, we can build the play in a different way.”

Forwards

Projected Starters: Jr Annika Herbine, tFr Dionne van Aalsum, tFr Rachel Herbine

Bench: Sr Alex Wesneski, tFr Miranda Jackson, Sr Sammy Freeman, Jr Hillary Cox, tFr Tess Reed

Starting at the forward position, the Hawkeyes have a mix of veteran players and youth. Alex Wesneski (11 gls) and Annika Herbine (8 gls) both return, after the leading the team in goals last season. The two combined to score 16 of their 19 goals during the teams 8-1 start. If they can consistently play at a level similar to the beginning of last season, the offense will have a much better chance at succeeding.

The second part of the equation is the incoming freshman. Rachel Herbine, Dionne van Aalsum, Miranda Jackson and Tess Reed join the forwards. Including the freshman midfielders, Iowa could be playing as many as four of five first year players at once in the front seven.

“They’re very fit, very fast, lots of skill and great shooting. Their hockey IQ is amazing,” junior forward Annika Herbine. “We really needed that for this coming year. They’re going to be great players on the field and I have a lot of confidence in them.”

“They’re going to have to be (contributors). A lot of them have very different skills sets and we’re going to need to rely on them to get upgrades in the front field, draw corners and get shots on goal,” said Cellucci. “Four of our freshman were here in late June, so the last six weeks of summer they were together with the majority of our team, which is going to prove really beneficial.”

One of those true freshman, Rachel Herbine, is the younger sister of Annika, who has played in all 40 games during her Iowa career. Rachel put up an impressive 49 goals and 44 assists for Emmaus High School in Pennsylvania, which made her a USA Today National Player of the Year nominee.

“She’s coming to me very day with questions. It’s great playing with her and she’s been doing great in practice,” said Annika. “We played together in high school for two years and that was fun. We’re getting along really well and our connections on the field are amazing.”

Rounding out the forward group is Hillary Cox and Sammy Freeman. Cox played in 14 games last season, including a career-high 34 minutes against Northwestern in the Elite Eight. Freeman played in four games last season.

Attacking Midfielders

Projected Starters: 5th Sr Esme Gibson, 5th Sr Sofie Stribos

Bench: tFr Lieve Van Kessel, Jr Ella Wareham, Sr Kelly Rose

The midfielders on the Iowa roster is where the Hawkeyes have their most returning experience. Both attacking midfielders are fifth-year seniors, starting with two-time All-American Esme Gibson. She is the most versatile player on the roster, but is a creator and distributor for the offense when playing in the midfield. She has combined for ten goals and six assists over the last two seasons.

“Our goal as midfielders is both to score, but also give the assists,” said Gibson. “We love big shots from the top of the circle, but our main things are getting assists and trying to give good balls into the circle and win penalty corners.”

Fifth-year senior Sofie Stribos also returns, which gives the Hawkeyes a combined 153 career starts at the attacking midfield position. Stribos has six goals and six assists over the last two years.

“They’re the engine within the game for our team…Esme is coming back as a returning All-American and she can change the game and just makes it so difficult for opponents so it’s fantastic to have her back,” said Coach Cellucci. “Sofie’s experience, we rely on her in a lot of different areas on the field…Sofie will play some upfront, so that’ll provide an extra little piece for us (offensively).”

“Communication is a big part (of our job),” said Gibson. “Making sure that we’re really helping the forwards and also getting back on defense and just really being the connection between the defense and the forwards.”

Another name to know that may not be in the starting lineup is true freshman Lieve Van Kessel. Between her and freshman Dionne van Aalsum, Lisa Cellucci is really excited about who they were able to bring in from the Netherlands.

“They have added great strength through the midfield. They’re just really crafty on ball and they’re getting up to speed as quick as possible, so you’ll see a lot of them this season.”

Offensive Penalty Corner

A penalty corner opportunity in field hockey is much like a power play in ice hockey. The aim is to convert penalty corners into a goal around 25-30% of the time. Anything less than that and you feel like you are giving away chances. Last season, the Hawkeyes were 13/51 (25.5%) over the first nine games of the season, but that plummeted to just 4/45 (8.8%) over the last nine games.

“It’s a new group, but there are a lot of details to it,” said Cellucci. “If we can be really clean in our insert, our trap and out hit timing, we’re going to have a lot of success. Those are the parts that we’re really focusing on right now. Just the small details to make it more efficient.”

For the first time in five years, Anthe Nijziel and Lokke Stribos will not be on the offensive penalty corner team. Lieve Schalk returns after having a role with the group last year, but the job of Nijziel and Stribos is turned into the hands of sophomore Milly Short, freshman Dionne van Aalsum and senior Sofie Stribos.

“Milly is filling one of the hitter spots. Dionne is a freshman and she’s doing a great job. She can hit, sweep and she can hit a target. Sofie is typically a trapper and a tipper, but she’s been filling the hole on top,” said Cellucci. “The corner is a work in progress, but we’ve seen great progress as we go on through preseason.”

Up Next, HawkeyeReport breaks down the defensive half of the Iowa Field Hockey roster. A group that has a new look this year, but is looking to continue the “Great Wall of Iowa” standard on defense.