Iowa MF Lieve Van Kessel to miss the rest of the season with a torn ACL
Every season, no matter the sport, the goal for every team is to stay healthy. That becomes especially important if you have a good team because injuries can quickly derail a season. The number one ranked Iowa Field Hockey team has gotten off to a 7-0 start this season, but will play the rest of the season without a key player. Head coach Lisa Cellucci announced today that true freshman midfielder Lieve Van Kessel will miss the rest of the season with a torn ACL in her right knee.
“She will be done for the season and just a really unfortunate injury,” said Cellucci. “She’s a key piece of our midfield. We’re getting her ready to have surgery and we’ll start the rehab process.”
She was injured in the 11th minute of Friday’s contest against Vermont. After stealing a pass, Van Kessel raced forward with the ball, but was tripped up by defender Theresa Schmus around the 25 yard line and took a hard fall onto the turf. She was helped off the field and was not putting much weight on her right leg. Van Kessel was later seen with ice bags on her knee on the Iowa bench and was carted over to the UI Sports Medicine building at halftime. Associate head coach Michael Boal did not have an update during his postgame interview.
“They’ll let us know as soon as they know. Unfortunately, a bad collision, but we’ll hope for the best and see what happens.”
Out of Geertruidenberg, Netherlands, Lieve Van Kessel has started six of the first seven games of the season in her first season with the Hawkeyes. Her first career goal was an overtime winner against #1 North Carolina in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge back on August 27th. She scored her second goal of the season last Sunday against UMass Lowell in the Hawkeyes 5-1 victory.
How does this impact the Iowa lineup?
There is no doubt that this is a hit to the Hawkeyes lineup. Van Kessel wasn’t a starter as a true freshman for no reason, but Lisa Cellucci has a couple of players on her squad that are versatile and can fill in. Midfielder Esme Gibson has made a couple of starts at right back this season, but could move back to her normal spot in the midfield, while freshman Lauren DeRose would become the full-time starter on the back line. Sofie Stribos has made four of her seven starts at forward, but could also move back to the midfield. Dionne van Aalsum, Miranda Jackson and Annika Herbine would be the starting forwards in that case, with Rachel Herbine and Alex Wesneski playing minutes there as well. Junior midfielder Jacey Wittel has played in 35 games over her career, so she is an experienced option that could see an increase in minutes.
“It’s going to be a by committee type of piece and depending on our opponent and who matches up best,” said Cellucci. “Really comfortable (with all options). Kessel has been doing a great job for us, but all of those options, especially Jacey, Sophie and Esme, who can play anywhere on the field. They’ve all played there before, so we’re really confident with them doing the job.”
