"We've had this one circled for a while", Iowa Field Hockey preparing to host #1 Northwestern

In a sport dominated by East Coast powerhouses, Iowa and Northwestern stand as the lone pillars of Midwestern field hockey. Separated by 234 miles — from the banks of Lake Michigan to Iowa City — this rivalry dates back to 1977. They’ve battled for bragging rights, Big Ten crowns, and coveted Final Four berths. This year, they meet for the 92nd time, with the 10th-ranked Hawkeyes welcoming the top-ranked Wildcats to Grant Field for a big-time matchup on Friday night.

“Playing the number one team and playing them on our home field, it’s a really exciting opportunity,” said senior defender Milly Short. “A win would be fantastic and that’s obviously what we’re striving for, to upset the number one team in the nation. Who doesn’t want to do that? I think that creates a bit of a buzz and excitement, and we’re really going to try and just play the good hockey that we know we can.”

After missing the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2017 last season, the Hawkeyes are off to a 7-1 start this season, including wins over #7 Wake Forest and #18 Louisville. Friday is a huge opportunity, and a win would vault them back into the national discussion. However, if Iowa wants to re-enter that discussion as one of the nation’s top teams, they’ll have to get past the defending national champs. Since defeating #1 Northwestern during the ’22 regular season, the Hawkeyes have lost three in a row to their rival, including a 5-0 loss in Evanston last season.

“We’ve had this one circled for a while,” said head coach Lisa Cellucci. “Our last couple of outings against them weren’t our greatest performances, but we felt really good about the exhibition (against them) that we had in August, and we feel ready.”

Despite being outscored 9-1 by the Wildcats in the last three meetings, the Hawkeyes feel much more confident this time around. Through eight games, Iowa ranks fifth in the country in scoring, averaging 4.00 goals per game, while forward Dionne van Aalsum is second in the country with 17 goals scored. It’s a completely different attack compared to last season when they averaged just 1.56 goals per game.

“First of all, we have so many more scoring threats, and I think that’s probably the biggest piece for us. Last year, it was almost like we tried to defend the whole time, and then we had threat offensively,” said Cellucci. “Now we can just really be on the offensive, and that’s going to be the game plan on Friday. To really put them under pressure right away, and then, of course, to have some key defensive emphasis, really trying to have them play away from their strengths.”

Northwestern, coached by Tracey Fuchs, enters with an undefeated 9-0 record, including ranked wins over #9 Duke and #18 Louisville. On the offensive side, they are averaging 3.44 goals per game, but have hit their stride lately, putting up 19 goals over their last four games. Defender Ilse Tromp has a team-high nine goals, spearheading a Wildcat penalty corner team that averages 9.44 corners per game. Meanwhile, Princeton transfer Grace Schulze has made an instant impact, with six goals, while All-Americans Ashley Sessa (5), Maddie Zimmer (2) and Oliva Bent-Cole (2) have combined for nine goals and 19 assists.

“They play really well as a team, and they’ve also got some very talented individuals that are just a threat all over the field,” said Short. “Very good players, very skillful and it’s just about managing that, playing to your strengths, and trying to play to their weaknesses too.”

Defensively, the ‘Cats are as stout as they’ve ever been. Over nine games, opponents are averaging just 0.22 goals, 3.22 shots on goal and 2.89 penalty corners per game. Only Louisville (2-1) and Miami Ohio (5-1) have managed to put a goal on the board, which has made the job easy for redshirt freshman goalkeeper Juliana Boon. Although seldomly challenged, Boon has made 26 saves on 28 opportunities for a 0.929 save percentage.

“First and foremost, they’ve only been scored on two times. They do have a new goalkeeper, and I think if people can get to her (we can score), but we have to be able to put shots on goal,” said Cellucci. “But what stands out about Northwestern is their transition to attack is really fantastic and then they have multiple scoring threats.”

The Hawkeyes, with their aforementioned 7-1 record, enter this week coming off of a very rare bye week. That off weekend, however, came at the right time, with two road weekends preceding it. The time off gave Iowa the ability to get some rest and focus on themselves for a little bit before ramping up for this week’s meeting with Northwestern.

“We’d come off quite a busy ten days in Louisville and then at Indiana and some tough games too,” said Short. “We just used the rest that (the bye) gave us, but it also allowed us to attack our training sessions. It’s just quite a nice break during a tough season.”

“(The bye) fell at a really good time for us. We had some people banged up a little bit, so that was good, so we gave them a break, but the only thing that changed for us is a couple extra days off,” said Cellucci. “I know there’s a lot of things in different sports where people come off bye weekends and they lose, but we’re taking it as a big positive.”

There’s no doubt that Iowa-Northwestern is a rivalry, but it’s different than most sports. With every player coming from the East Coast or from Europe, the only way to understand the rivalry is to play in it. Coach Cellucci says that the veterans on the team have done a good job letting the newcomers know the importance of this matchup.

“From my understanding, the team has done that on their own, before they even had me come into the equation,” said Cellucci. “I know that with the new players, they’ve kind of introduced them to college field hockey by watching some different games and different teams compete and telling them a little bit about our history.”

“What I’ve said to this team is, how many times has Iowa beaten Northwestern when they were number one? We have done it at their place. They’ve beaten us when we’ve been number one. The rivalry has gone deep, and we know it’s going to be a tight, close game. It is just one game, but there is a little bit more significance to this one.”

So, what will it take to get a massive win over the top-ranked Wildcats on Friday night?

“I think we need to, from the first whistle, play with some confidence,” said Short. “In a couple of our games we’ve started slow, but we’re not going to get away with that here. (We need) strong individual defense and then free flowing attacking hockey.”

And the last message that Coach Lisa Cellucci will deliver before her team takes the field?

“Meet the moment and manage the moments that we have in the game. There’s going to be a lot of really big moments in the game that are going to go either way and we know from what we’ve shown this; we’ve been in every type of situation. We’ve been down, we’ve been up, we’ve been neutral, so we’re prepared for everything.”

The matchup between the Hawkeyes and Wildcats is set for 5:00pm CT on BTN+. It will be the annual Black Out game at Grant Field.