#1 Iowa Field Hockey downs #14 Michigan in Big Ten opener
It had been a while since Lisa Cellucci’s top ranked Iowa Field Hockey team had been in a stressful situation on the field hockey pitch. In fact, the Hawkeyes hadn’t entered the fourth quarter with less than a two goal lead since their overtime win against #1 North Carolina. That game took place 26 days ago.
Today, Iowa entered the fourth quarter with a 1-0 lead and were forced to defend against eight shots and eight penalty corners from #14 Michigan in the final 15 minutes. However, when the final horn sounded, scoreboard showed that the Hawkeye defense had put up an NCAA leading seventh shutout, while a late goal gave them their first multi-goal win in Ann Arbor since 1998.
The first quarter a pretty quiet one. The Hawkeyes put some pressure on the Michigan defense in the 6th minute, but GK Caylie McMahon made three saves to keep the game scoreless. Midfielder Esme Gibson had a look in the circle in the 14th minute, but her shot went wide of the goal. The biggest news of the opening quarter came in the defensive backfield for Iowa. Defender Harper Dunne went down in the 11th minute with a left foot/ankle injury. She was seen on the sideline with ice on her lower left leg and did not return to the game.
In the second quarter, the Wolverines were the ones with a couple of threatening chances at an opening goal. In the 24th minute, a turnover by the Hawkeyes gave Esmee de Willigen an open look, but her shot sailed wide of the goal and did not even challenge GK Mia Magnotta. Late in the half, Michigan got a chance on the penalty corner, but the shot from midfielder Erin Reilly was saved by Magnotta. The Hawkeyes had a 6-3 advantage in shots, however, the game went into the half tied 0-0.
Just three minutes into the second half, the Hawkeyes took advantage of a forced turnover and broke through for the first goal of the game. Defender Pilar Oliveros received a pass from Claire Taylor deep in their defensive zone, while pressure from Miranda Jackson forced her to act quickly. Oliveros took a heavy touch and Annika Herbine was able to tip the ball away from her to Jackson, who beat Michigan GK Caylie McMahon for the opening goal in the 34th minute.
A little bit later in the 39th minute, the Hawkeyes nearly made it 2-0. Alex Wesneski worked her way around the outer edge of the scoring circle and sent a shot towards the front of the goal. Sammy Freeman was waiting and tried to redirect it, but McMahon made a sliding save to keep it at a one goal advantage for Iowa. The game went into the final 15 minutes with the Hawkeyes leading 1-0.
Then, all the sudden, it became a stressful and tense affair. The Wolverines earned a pair of penalty corners just under two minutes into the final quarter. It appeared that Marcia Pankratz’ squad had tied the game in the 47th minute off the penalty corner attack. Midfielder Erin Reilly put a shot past Mia Magnotta, but after a review, it was determined that the shot was too high and the goal was taken off the board.
That did not stop the Michigan attack. They had the Hawkeye defense on their heels. Lisa Cellucci’s defense was doing a good job of clearing out threatening attacks, but they were not able to flip the field to give themselves a break. The Wolverines earned four more penalty corners over the next eight minutes, but the “Great Wall of Iowa” defense was just what you would expect with a nickname like that. Dionne van Aalsum had a couple of blocked shots, while Esme Gibson had a big clearance on another corner.
Finally, in the 55th minute, the Hawkeyes were able to flip the field and were able to score a goal that ended any chance of a comeback. Freshman forward Rachel Herbine got a pass along the baseline and found Alex Wesneski in the circle. Wesneski avoided McMahon, dribbled around her and converted her third goal of the season with just five minutes to play.
The Wolverines pulled their goalkeeper for the final three minutes and earned two more penalty corners, but they could not get anything on the board against the Iowa defense. The Hawkeyes earned the hard-fought 2-0 victory and extend their undefeated start to 9-0.
Michigan outshot Iowa 11-10, but they were able to get just three of those 11 (27.3%) shots on goal. On the other hand, the Hawkeyes put seven of their ten (70%) shots on goal. The Wolverines earned nine penalty corners, but were only able to force Mia Magnotta to make a save on two of them. Iowa leads the country in goals scored (41) and goals allowed (3).
Up Next, the Hawkeyes do not take the field again until next Friday when they face the #12 Ohio State Buckeyes at Grant Field in Iowa City. The Buckeyes lost to #3 Northwestern 4-3 earlier today and currently have a 8-2 record. The game is set to start at 3:00pm CT on BTN+.
