PREVIEW: #5 Iowa Field Hockey at #9 Maryland/#16 Penn State

After losing back-to-back games against ranked teams in back-to-back weeks, the Iowa Field Hockey team dominated Indiana on Friday and then picked up a huge road win against #5 Louisville on Sunday. Iowa enters week nine of the season with a 12-2 record and moved up one spot in the NFHCA Coaches Poll to #5.

“We needed to get another conference win to assure ourselves a spot in the Big Ten Tournament and I thought we played much better hockey than we did the previous two weeks,” said head coach Lisa Cellucci. “We were moving the ball really well and really dominated statistically and that gave us great momentum going into Louisville…was just huge for our NCAA seeding, getting another marquee win.”

There is no down time in the Big Ten, as the Hawkeyes go back on the road and head east for a game against #9 Maryland on Friday and a matchup against #16 Penn State on Sunday.

The Terrapins come into the weekend with a 12-3 record, including wins over #12 Boston College, #7 Virginia, #16 Penn State, #15 Michigan and #10 Ohio State. Their three losses are against #3 Duke, #4 Rutgers and a surprising loss to Princeton. Their strength of schedule ranks 24th in the country and they are 9th in the RPI.

Penn State comes into the weekend with a 7-6 record, including wins over #10 Ohio State and a tough American team. Five of their six losses have come against ranked teams, with two of them coming in overtime. Their strength of schedule ranks 28th in the country and the are 23rd in the RPI.

The Tale of the Tape

Breaking down the Maryland Terrapins

With three Big Ten teams in the top five and Ohio State having their best year since 2010, Maryland has somewhat gotten lost in the shuffle. Still, they are one of the best teams in the country, led by a dynamic offense that ranks third in the conference in shots and fourth in goals scored.

“(They are) perennially a national power and that’s really no different this year. They’ve had a couple of close losses that were a little bit unexpected, but they are strong top to bottom,” said Cellucci. “Similar to Northwestern in how quickly they take restarts, they have a very threatening attack and Maryland is a very dangerous team to play at home.”

Offensively, the Terps are led by sophomore forward Hope Rose. She was a First Team All-American, with 14 goals and eight assists last year. This year she leads the team with 12 goals and 26.8% of the teams shots on goal. Rose missed last years matchup against Iowa with an injury.

“She’s physically gifted, she’s fast and has unbelievably quick hands. She has great vision, can see so many passes, two passes ahead and she can finish. A key for them in every part, their attacking corners or defense corners. She’s all over the field.”

Behind Rose, Maryland has an evenly spread attack. Maci Bradford (7 gls, 4 ast), Margot Lawn (6 gls, 9 ast), Sammy Popper (6 gls) and freshman Josie Hollamon (4 gls, 2 ast) give the Terps an offense with many weapons to choose from. Six players on the team have record 13 or more shots on goal.

“First and foremost, they’re all really confident on ball and individually very skilled, so they put themselves in good positions and they trust whoever is in the best spot to be able to get a good look on goal.”

“Josie Hollamon, Sammy Popper, a lot of their goals have come from penalty corners. They draw a lot of corners because of how they play in the offensive third. Quick restarts, so they catch people quickly and they’re really good eliminators in the circle, so they draw a lot of corners and convert quite a bit”

Other key players include midfielder Hannah Boss (2 gls, 5 ast) and defender Nathalie Fiechter (4 ast). Coach Cellucci made sure to mention Boss as a key player, though she statistically doesn’t have the same numbers as some of her teammates.

“Boss plays up front and sometimes in the midfield. She’s an oustanding Dutch player and she makes a lot of things happen for them.”

On the other half of the field, freshman goalkeeper Alyssa Klebasko has been a revelation for the Maryland defense this season. The Terps ranked last in the Big Ten in save percentage (62.8%) a year ago, but are up to fourth place, thanks in large part to the play of Klebasko.

“She’s really quick and I think she organizes her defense in front of her really well and to their credit they play some really good team defense, so the shots that she faces are really predictable and low angle. She has very solid, fundamental goalkeeping skills.”

After splitting time with returning goalkeeper Paige Kieft early in the year, Klebasko has played every minute in seven of the last eight games. She has made 46 saves on 52 shots faced for an 88.5% save percentage that leads the country.

The defense is led by Big Ten Co-Freshman of the Year Ericka Morris-Adams and senior Rayne Wright. The two spearhead a Terps defense that is allowing opponents to get just 48.8% of their shots on target. They lead the Big Ten in that category, just ahead of the Hawkeyes who allow just 49.5% of opponents shots to be on target.

“They keep really good structure in their red zone defense and they do a good job of not eliminating themselves (from the play) and forcing people outside. That’s why there’s not a lot of shots on goal, they protect the spine of the field really well.”

Breaking down the Penn State Nittany Lions

Although the 7-6 record may seem outside of the norm for Penn State, Lisa Cellucci is not taking them lightly. The Nittany Lions are 60-18 (.769) at home over the last ten seasons, including a win over #10 Ohio State this season. The Hawkeyes are 3-4 in State College under Cellucci.

“All everybody thinks about Penn State is that they are having a down year, but they are unbelievably dangerous at home and they are really skilled. I think they’re going to a make a surge in the postseason and this is going to be a big test for us.”

The first thing to take note of when looking at Penn State is that they have one of the best goal scoring duos in the country. Sophia Gladieux and Mackenzie Allessie combined for 35 goals last season, which ranked second in the country. This season, the two have combined for 23 goals and seven assists, which ranks them as the fourth best duo in the country.

“Gladieux is just a fit machine. She’s so fit, fast, has an unbelievable backhand and she’s just a downright competitor. She puts herself in great spots to get off good looks and then she can finish in really tight space,” said Cellucci. “Allessie is really strong on the ball and has great strength, but also a fantastic eliminator. Very similar to Gladieux in tight space. She can draw a corner or get a shot off.”

The Nittany Lions have relied heavily on those two to create opportunities and score goals. Forward Carly Gannon has four goals and three assists, but Gladieux and Allessie have combined to take 64.5% of shots and score 71.8% of goals.

“They graduated some key people to their attack and I think they’re just surrounded by a little bit more youth right now, so they’re taking a much bigger lead,” said Cellucci. “They just haven’t found their footing yet with the rest of the group, but they still have talent all over the field.”

Defensively, Penn State has struggled this season, with All-Big Ten players Anna Simon and Elena Vos no longer on the roster. They are ranked 7th in the Big Ten in goals allowed per game (1.54) and 19th out of 20 ranked teams in shots on goal allowed (102). The Hawkeyes will be focused on trying to get sustained possession and attacks to put pressure on the PSU defense.

“I don’t want to speak poorly about anybody, but for the most part, their foot speed in the backfield isn’t as it used to be and they just don’t have as much experience,” ssid Cellucci. “We have to have sustained attacking and just put them under pressure. I think if we can do that, we’re going to wear them out.”

In goal, Penn State does have an All-American goalkeeper in Brie Barraco. She is ranked tenth in the country with a .787 save percentage and 12th in the country with 74 total saves. Barraco has made five or more saves in nine games this season. She is 8th in the Big Ten in goals allowed, but Coach Cellucci says she has been put in some tough spots.

“She’s really good. She’s fast, stays on her feet and she really covers angles really well. I do think she commands her defense well. She’s been put in some tough situations this year. When you’re a goalkeeper and you find yourself in constant 2v1 or 3v1, it’s hard to excel. I think she’s solid on all fronts. So if we’re going to beat her, we have to beat her low and laterally.”

Final Thought

The wins over Indiana and Louisville likely punched the Hawkeyes ticket to the NCAA Tournament, but there is still more work to be done. Iowa is currently in fourth place in the Big Ten, but a good finish over the last three games would likely move them to the #2 or #3 seed going into the conference tournament. That would mean avoiding a top ten ranked team in the first round.

As for the NCAA Tournament, the chances of Iowa hosting are slim with the fact that Northwestern sits at 13-1, but the ‘Cats close out the regular season with three ranked teams. If they drop a game or two and Iowa finishes strong, a case could be made for the Hawkeyes to host, despite losing to Northwestern.

Friday’s game at Maryland is set for 4:00pm CT, while Sunday at Penn State is set for an 11:00am CT start time. Both games will be streamed on BTN+.