Iowa Field Hockey Preview: #14 Michigan

The #1 ranked Iowa Field Hockey team enters week five of the season with an undefeated 8-0 record. The Hawkeyes have earned quality wins over #2 North Carolina, #17 Wake Forest and Albany. Next up on the schedule is Big Ten play and it starts on Friday in Ann Arbor against the #14 Michigan Wolverines. The game is set for 5:00pm CT on BTN+.

“We’re excited to go to Michigan. They’re going to have quite a crowd there, it’s Alumni Weekend,” said head coach Lisa Cellucci. “Only a single-game (weekend) for them and a night game, so we’re ready for a really rowdy environment.”

Michigan comes into the matchup with a 5-3 record, including wins over #13 St Joseph’s and Old Dominion. Their losses have come against #2 North Carolina, #12 Ohio State and #17 Wake Forest. Last time out on Sunday, the Wolverines defeated Kent State 3-1. They check in at #14 in the most recent NFHCA Coaches Poll.

It is the 76th all-time meeting between the Hawkeyes and Wolverines, with Michigan winning four in a row in the series. It will also be the 16th time that head coaches Marcia Pankratz and Lisa Cellucci have faced off. Both of them played their collegiate field hockey at the University of Iowa.

“We’ve had a lot of battles, especially the last couple years that have come down to winning the Big Ten Championship or not. Marcia was one of the very best Hawkeyes to play here and she’s an outstanding coach. We always have a little extra edge for this one, but we root for each other every other time.”

Michigan Wolverines Projected Lineup

Forwards: Alana Richardson, Kate McLaughlin, Isabella Palde

Midfielders: Lora Clark, Erin Reilly, Rosie Hope

Defenders: Pilar Oliveros, Abby Burnett, Claire Taylor, Anouk Veen

Goalkeeper: Caylie McMahon

Iowa Hawkeyes Projected Lineup

Forwards: Annika Herbine, Dionne van Aalsum, Miranda Jackson

Midfielders: Sofie Stribos, Esme Gibson, Gia Whalen

Defenders: Lauren DeRose, Harper Dunne, Lieve Schalk, Milly Short

Goalkeeper: Mia Magnotta

The Breakdown

Generally when the Hawkeyes and Wolverines meet on the field hockey turf, it’s expected to be a closely contested battle. However, this time, on paper there is a clear favorite and it’s Iowa. It’s also fair to say that Michigan hasn’t quite hit their best stretch of hockey yet and it is very important to stress that no game has ever been won “on paper.”

So with that, let’s take a look at the aforementioned numbers. FieldHockeyCorner.com has the Hawkeyes ranked at #2 in their computer rankings, while the Wolverines come in at #16. The RPI has Iowa ranked 4th, with Michigan all the way down at 25th.

Offensively, Iowa is averaging 4.88 goals, 17.3 shots and 7.3 penalty corners per game. For Michigan, they are averaging 2.62 goals, 15.6 shots and 7.6 penalty corners per game. The Wolverines have put just 54.4% of their 125 shots on goal, while the Hawkeyes have put 67.4% of their 138 shots on goal. Defensively, Iowa is allowing just 0.38 goals, 5.4 shots and 2.9 penalty corners per game. For Michigan, they are allowing 1.38 goals, 8.5 shots and 4.6 penalty corners per game.

“They’re skilled in every line and they have some great distributors in the back,” said Cellucci. “They move the ball with good speed and they’ll put us under immense pressure on our outlets looking to force turnovers.”

Offensively, the Wolverines have relied on a lot of players to contribute in the goal scoring department through eight games. They rank 5th in the Big Ten with 21 total goals scored, but it’s the wide range of options that makes them difficult to defend. No one on the team has more than four goals, but 11 different players have at least one goal. Lisa Cellucci says that’s arguably harder to defend than a team that relies on just one or two players.

“There’s not one person that you have to take away. They’re very handy up front. Their front six do a really good job in the offensive third and can draw penalty corners, take shots and score goals.”

The two standout names to know in their front six are forward Kate McLaughlin and midfielder Lora Clarke. Those two combined for 17 goals and six assists last season, while they have four goals and nine assists this season.

“They’re savvy, they’re speedy, they’re very skilled over the ball and they can hit the cover off of it. They’re really handy in the circle, so definitely people that we’re going to be looking out for and marking.”

Other scoring options include forward Alana Richardson (3 goals) and midfielder Erin Reilly (1 goal, 21 shots), while defender Kelsey Reviello has a team-leading four goals as key piece of their penalty corner team.

“Michigan has a lot of weapons and I don’t think they’ve played to their true potential yet this season. We’re expecting a really good game.”

On the defensive end of the field, the Wolverines return their entire back four from last year’s team that ranked first in the Big Ten in goals allowed (0.95) and shots on goal allowed (3.4 per gm). Added back into the fold was 2021 Third Team All-American Anouk Veen who missed the last 14 games of the season due to an injury. However, she was injured in the season opener against UNC and has missed the last seven games. If she plays on Friday, she will quarterback Wolverines defense.

“She’s definitely the most seasoned veteran and most skilled player on the team,” said Cellucci. “We’re expecting Veen to be back. In my opinion, their best player. That gives them a whole different look.”

If Veen can’t go, Marcia Pankratz will rely on true freshman Abby Burnett to run the show in the back. She comes to Ann Arbor as a top 50 recruit by MAX Field Hockey and was a two-time NFHCA First Team All-American at Emmaus High School in Pennsylvania. Burnett has started all eight games as a defender for the Wolverines.

“Burnett has been great and to come in as a freshman and do what she’s done already, she was someone who we were recruiting , so we knew her really well. She played club with a lot of these guys, we know her game really well.”

The Michigan defense has put up similar numbers in terms of shots and penalty corners allowed, but through eight games, they are allowing 1.38 goals per game. The difference is the change in goalkeeper from five-year starter All-Big Ten goalkeeper Anna Spieker to redshirt sophomore Caylie McMahon.

“For the last eight years, they’ve had two very large, tall, very good goalkeepers and I think they’re just going through a whole new goalkeeper with a new style of play,” said Cellucci. “She’s an outstanding goalkeeper, but I think they’re just trying to work their defense around it and that’s probably the biggest thing right now.”

McMahon was named Massachusetts Player of the Year in 2019 at Nashoba Regional High School, but redshirt her first season at Michigan and played sparingly last year. She has saved 30 of 41 shots faced this season and ranks 33rd in the country with a 73.2% save percentage.

“She’s super quick and she can get to a lot of balls that a lot of goalkeepers can’t. I think the one thing is, she’s a little bit smaller, so for us, if we can really challenge her laterally, I think that’s going to be a big part of our game plan.”

Keys to Victory from Lisa Cellucci

1. Stick to our strengths- move the ball building through the midfield and try to catch them in transition

2. Handle Michigan’s high press and avoid turnovers

3. Execute on penalty corner opportunities

“In the past we’ve had to make a lot of switches to really matchup against Michigan with our personnel,” said Cellucci. “This year, we feel like we probably have one of the best matchups player to player (in recent memory).”

Final Thought

This has been a closely contested series over the last few years. 11 of the last 14 meetings have been decided by one goal, but the surprising fact is that Michigan has won 10 of those last 14 meetings, including all three games that were decided by multiple goals. The Wolverines won all three matchups last season, including a 3-0 win in the Big Ten Tournament. They did not allow the Hawkeyes to score over 180 minutes. This Iowa team is night and day different from last year on the offensive end. Dionne van Aalsum leads the country with 21 goals, which certainly helps, but the entire attack from defenders to midfielders to forwards has been drastically improved. The Hawkeyes return the favor from last year with a multi-goal victory to spoil Alumni Weekend in Ann Arbor. #1 IOWA 3 #14 MICHIGAN 1