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Hawkeyes defeat Ohio State, advance to the Big Ten Title Game

On3 imageby: Kyle Huesmann15 hours agoHuesmannKyle
The Hawkeyes knocked off the Buckeyes to advance to the finals on Sunday. (Photo by Stephen Mally/UI Athletics)
The Hawkeyes knocked off the Buckeyes to advance to the finals on Sunday. (Photo by Stephen Mally/UI Athletics)

The Iowa Field Hockey team will play for a championship. The Hawkeyes scored three unanswered goals in the first half, defeating Ohio State 3-1 on Friday afternoon to advance to their first Big Ten Tournament final since 2019. They’ll take on #1 Northwestern on Sunday.

“We played a great game of hockey tonight,” said head coach Lisa Cellucci. “Stuck to the game plan and executed well on our set pieces. I couldn’t be prouder that we’re moving onto the championship. The Hawks deserve this moment.”

Just a week after the two sides met in Columbus, the upset-minded Buckeyes, led by All-American Makenna Webster returned to face Iowa after knocking off Maryland in the quarterfinals on Thursday. The two-sport star put Ohio State on the board in the 4th minute signaling that they were not ready to let their season end. A chaotic ball deep in the circle bounced around amongst several sticks, with Webster finally finding an opening, slotting it into the back of the net for her 19th goal of the season.

The Hawkeyes trailed for a bit but were never flustered and found a way to score a trio of unanswered goals to close out the first half. In their quarterfinal win over Indiana, Iowa was just 1-of-9 (11.1%) on the penalty corner. They scored directly or indirectly on all three corners they got in the first half against OSU.

In the 13th minute, Coach Lisa Cellucci dialed up a different looking corner play, with Dionne van Aalsum dumping a pass off to Tea Fortpied at the top of the circle. The shot from Fortpied was blocked, but it deflected over to Frederique van Cleef who put it away for the goal.

Later, in the 21st minute, back on the penalty corner attack, the Hawkeyes direct shot by Dionne van Aalsum was saved by OSU GK Maddie Stevens, but they were able to keep the ball in the circle. van Aalsum drove to the left end line and slid a pass across the front of goal for Frederique van Cleef who corralled it and scored her second goal of the game.

The Hawkeyes closed out the half with a goal in the 28th minute to give themselves a 3-1 advantage after 30 minutes. Once again, on a penalty corner, Maddie Stevens made a save on the direct shot from Dionne van Aalsum, but Lieve Van Kessel was in the right place, popping the rebound over Stevens for her fifth goal of the season.

Leading 3-1 in the second half, the Hawkeyes just needed to defend. Another goal on the board would end the Buckeyes thoughts of a comeback, but a two-goal advantage proved to be enough. The lead was not held without a couple of nervous moments.

The Buckeyes had a golden opportunity to put the pressure back on Iowa, earning a penalty stroke in 37th minute. OSU head coach Jarred Martin subbed on Zella Bailey for the stroke, but the move did not pay off. The stroke attempt by Bailey was not near precise enough and Iowa GK Mia Magnotta made the comfortable save to keep the 3-1 lead intact.

That wasn’t the only chance Ohio State had to cut into the deficit in the second half, but they just didn’t execute. In the 44th minute, the Buckeyes mishandled a penalty corner insert, wasting an opportunity to score. That was the difference in the game. Iowa was 3-for-3 converting penalty corners into goals, while OSU didn’t execute on their chances in the second half. In postseason play, that can be the story.

On Sunday, the Hawkeyes and Wildcats will meet with a trophy on the line. It will be the first time that the two programs have competed with the Big Ten Tournament Title up for grabs. Northwestern defeated Iowa 3-1 in Iowa City back on October 3rd. Dionne van Aalsum was the lone goal scorer for the Hawkeyes.

FINAL STATS

#9 Iowa 3 Ohio State 1

4′ – Goal OSU Makenna Webster (1-0), 13′ – Goal Iowa Frederique van Cleef (1-1), 21′ – Goal Iowa Frederique van Cleef (2-1), 29′ – Goal Iowa Lieve Van Kessel (3-1)

Shots: OSU 12-8 Shots on Goal: OSU 8-6 Penalty Corners: OSU 6-3

Up Next, the Hawkeyes will play for a championship on Sunday, facing off against the #1 Northwestern Wildcats in Bloomington. The game is set to begin at 11:00am CT on the Big Ten Network.

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