Sept. 1, 2005
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The University of Iowa Field Hockey team will begin a West Coast road trip this weekend beginning with a showdown against Stanford University on Friday. The following day the Hawkeyes face off against the Bears of California and then take on the Pacific Tigers on Monday. The Hawkeyes are looking to put some numbers up in the win column after going 0-2 in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge that they hosted last weekend.
Stanford
The Hawkeyes may hold an 8-2 advantage over the Cardinal, but Stanford won the most recent contest with a 5-1 victory over the Hawkeyes last year in Iowa City. This season, Stanford enters the contest with a 0-2 record after losing their season opener 1-2 in overtime against Miami (Ohio) and a 5-1 loss to the Delaware Fightin’ Blue Hens.
Like the Hawkeyes, the Cardinal also has a young goal keeping core. Sophomore Madison Bell has started both games with eight saves under her belt and five goals against for a 3.22 goals against average. Freshman Sarah Scheller debuted in the second half against Delaware and tallied one save.
Lesley Irvine is in her third year as head coach of the Cardinal, but has some roots from Iowa. She played one year for the Hawkeyes, helping them reach the Final Four and win a Big Ten championship. At Stanford, Irvine has a 14-25 record (.359). This year’s squad return’s nine starters and has eight freshmen listed on the roster.
California
The University of California Golden Bears are in the middle of a five-game homestead. The Bears fell in their season opener 2-1 in an overtime thriller to Delaware, but then bounced back with a convincing 5-0 victory over the Red Hawks of Miami (Ohio).
Junior Valentina Godfrid had a hat-trick against Miami scoring two goals in the first period and one goal in the second. Freshman goalkeeper Veronica Sykes had five saves against Miami to add to her six saves against Delaware.
The last time the two teams met was in 2003 in Iowa City when the Hawkeyes escaped with a 2-1 victory in overtime. Overall, Iowa holds a 7-1 advantage over the Bears.
Coach Shellie Onstead enters her tenth season at the helm of the Bears field hockey program. She has compiled a 98-58-0 record at Cal as well as five NorPac conference titles and three straight NCAA tournament appearances.
Pacific
The Pacific Tigers are 1-1 as of September 1, after losing 3-2 to Delaware in overtime in their first game of the season. The Tigers then picked up a 2-0 win over Miami (Ohio).
Against the Figthtin’ Blue Hens of Delaware, Pacific’s all-time leading scorer junior Vianney Campos scored two goals on six shots in the losing effort. Sophomore’s Natalie Purcell and Katie Fixsen each scored a goal in the contest against Miami.
This will be just the third time that these two teams meet in field hockey action with the Hawkeyes holding a 2-0 edge. Last season, Iowa took a 2-1 win in overtime from the Tigers.
Linda MacDonald enters her eighth season as head coach of the Tiger’s. Her team is coming off an impressive 2004 campaign. Pacific rallied from a 4-9 record midway through the season to win the NorPac conference championship and advance to the NCAA tournament where they were defeated in the second round by Michigan 2-1 in overtime.