"Enjoy the moment": Iowa Field Hockey back in the NCAA Tournament to face Duke

A year one hiatus from the NCAA Tournament was more than enough for the Iowa Field Hockey program to endure. After a 9-9 year snapped a streak of six straight seasons with a tournament appearance last season, the returning players were determined to get back to playing the Hawkeye standard of hockey. With a 14-5 record, Iowa is back in the 18-team field this season, and although they want to do more than just appear on the bracket, it was nice to see their name show up on Selection Sunday again.

“It was really nice. We’ve had a better season, and we’ve done pretty well the last few games, so we sort of felt like we played our way into the tournament,” said senior defender Milly Short. “Seeing your name pop up is a hard thing to do, only 18 teams get to. We’re really pleased and proud that we’ve made it.”

A down year for the Big Ten, with just two teams making the 18-team field, which is the fewest since 2015, it took the Hawkeyes longer than normal to lock up an at-large bid. Back on October 19th, Iowa was sitting at 8-4, playing an overtime game with Rutgers. An OT winner from Milly Short kickstarted a six-game winning streak that led the Hawkeyes all the way to the Big Ten Tournament Championship game where they fell to #2 Northwestern.

Not only did the winning streak solidify an at-large bid, but the four-day stay at the Big Ten Tournament gave the roster some critical tournament experience. Ten players that played in the tournament have never appeared in an NCAA Tournament game.

“First and foremost, we needed to make steps in the Big Ten Tournament, because we hadn’t reached a final in quite some time,” said head coach Lisa Cellucci. “It’s good to prove that we could, on back-to-back days, win games and in that environment. We would have loved to capture the championship, but I think it proved really well going into this (the NCAAT).”

“We got a bit of momentum, and we’ve been under pressure and did as well as we wanted, besides winning it,” said Short. “We’ve been in those pressure situations, and it’s time to do it again on Friday.”

Despite being nearly certain about their at-large status, Selection Sunday still provided a major twist. With some of the travel considerations that are used when placing teams in the bracket, a trip to Evanston for the third time in as many tournament trips seemed inevitable. That was until the 18-1, reigning national champions bizarrely didn’t even get selected as one of the four regional hosts.

The deciding moment 🖤 pic.twitter.com/8xEvHYcJoc

— Iowa Field Hockey (@iowafieldhockey) November 10, 2025

“I had some inside information, so I think I had a pretty good idea that Northwestern wasn’t going to host, even though they had a great year,” said Cellucci. “We talked as a staff, and I really felt like we were going to get sent to North Carolina.”

That’s exactly how it played out. It happened pretty quickly too. The Tar Heels were announced as the #1 overall seed and seconds later, the Hawkeyes appeared on the screen with Duke shown as their opponent. Not only was it a surprising location, but the Blue Devils are an opponent that no one on the roster has ever faced. The two sides last met in 2019, with Iowa grabbing a 3-2 win to advance to the regional final against UNC.

“It’s refreshing and we’re really excited to see someone different than we’ve had the last couple of years,” said Cellucci. “These guys have a lot of friends and (former) teammates on Duke, so they’re well aware of them, and we are, as a coaching staff, good friends, so we’re excited to play somebody different, but really quality too.”

The Blue Devils enter the tournament with a 12-7 record, with a resume that only includes notable wins over #13 UConn and #17 Maryland. Although they’re just 1-7 against the 18-team field, Duke has played the third-toughest schedule in the country, so they’ve been tested on a number of occasions. As just one of two Big Ten teams in the field, the Hawkeyes are trying to represent the conference.

“They’re going to be a really good team. The ACC has been really strong this year, and I think it’s just exciting to play someone we’ve never played before,” said Short. “We’re up for the challenge, and there’s only two Big Ten teams, so we’ll try to stick it to the ACC.”

“We’re quite happy with the North Carolina location. Last time we went there, we had pretty good things happen. (Lieve Van) Kessel scored the winning goal in overtime against UNC, so we have good feelings. It’s nice to play a different team. I’ve never played Duke.”

In a lot of ways, the new faces in new roles have been the reason the Hawkeyes are in the position they are in. Certainly, returning starters like Milly Short, Dionne van Aalsum, Gia Whalen and Lieve Van Kessel have led the way, but newcomers have played a substantial role. Grad senior Fréderique van Cleef is second on the team with 12 goals scored, while freshman Felicia Zonnenberg has tallied a team-high 13 assists. Still, as previously mentioned, a number of players on the roster have never experienced an NCAA Tournament game. The veterans on the roster have tried to teach them about what’s to come.

“It’s just another game. You’ve got to enjoy the moment, and we’ve done a pretty good job of that. It was the same throughout the Big Ten Tournament,” said Short. “None of us had made it past the first round, so that was uncharted territory. At most we have four games left, so we’ve really got to enjoy it.”

“It’s all about managing moments and that’s what we talked to them about in the Big Ten Tournament,” said Cellucci. “We can beat anybody in the country. We firmly believe that, but we have to manage the moments, and we have to show up in the big moments.”

If the Hawkeyes were to advance past their opening round matchup against Duke, their likely opponent would be the Erin Matson led North Carolina Tar Heels with a spot in the Final Four on the line. Iowa lost 4-1 in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge, but both teams have changed a ton since that meeting in the second game of the season.

“We do look different. Our structure is different, our personnel in certain spots is different and, so we feel a lot more confident going into it this time and knowing how much we’ve grown,” said Cellucci. “They’ve also evolved and to play them on their home field, that would be a tough matchup, but we’ve done it before. We’ve beaten them there before.”

The Sweet Sixteen matchup between the Hawkeyes and Blue Devils is set for 1:30pm CT on Friday afternoon at Karen Shelton Stadium in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. The game will be streamed on ESPN+.