Sept. 12, 2005
Complete Release in PDF Format
Download Free Acrobat Reader
On the Road Again
Iowa hits the road this weekend for Durham, North Carolina, to face Duke and Appalachian State. The Hawkeyes face the Blue Devils on Saturday at 12 p.m. and square off against the Mountaineers at 10 a.m. on Sunday. Both contests will take place at Williams Field on the Duke campus.
Hawkeyes earn first wins at the new Grant Stadium
It’s official – the new Grant Stadium is now the true home of the Hawkeyes. Though Iowa hosted the BigTen/ACC Field Hockey Challenge here a few weeks ago, it wasn’t home until they picked up their first wins last weekend against Ball State, 6-1, and Providence College, 5-0.
In Friday’s action, Ball State jumped out to a 1-0 lead just a minute into the game, but Iowa didn’t panic. Freshman Lauren Pfeiffer sparked the Hawkeye offense with a score late in the first half and another goal by Caroline Blaum gave Iowa a 2-1 advantage at the break. In the second half, it was all Iowa as four freshmen scored goals to earn the 6-1 victory. Pfeiffer added one more goal and Katie Naughton, Roz Ellis, and Caitlin McCurdy each had one goal apiece.
In Sunday’s game against Providence, the Iowa offense didn’t wait until the second half to get started. Just minutes into the game, Heather Schnepf scored an unassisted goal and later Shelby Roche scored on a pass from Kara Zappone to put Iowa up 2-0. A goal by Lauren Pfeiffer near the end of the half gave the Hawkeyes a 3-0 advantage. Caitlin McCurdy scored two goals in the second half for the 5-0 victory over the Friars.
Duke
It will be just the third time that the Blue Devils and Hawkeyes face each other in field hockey action; the series is tied 1-1. A 2-1 Duke win in 1998 was the last meeting between the teams.
The Blue Devils, members of the ACC Conference, are 4-1 this season with two wins over Big Ten schools. Duke defeated Champion’s Tourney host Louisville, 7-0, and then went on to beat Michigan State, 3-0, in the championship game. Duke quieted Delaware in their own Blue Hens Classic, 7-2, and also defeated Ohio State, 3-1. Duke dropped a 2-1 decision to Wake Forest, the defending national champions, in their home opener.
Duke will be without their leading scorer, senior Katie Grant, as well as juniors Cara-Lynn Lopresti, Hilary Linton and Amy Stopford this weekend. The four will be competing at the Junior World Cup in Santiago, Chile.
Nicole Dudek instead will lead the Blue Devil attack against the Hawkeyes. The senior has five goals and one assist in 2005. Freshman Marian Dickinson will be another option on offense; she has four goals and one assist.
Caitlin Williams has been the main goalkeeper for Duke this season. She has netted 26 saves and has only allowed four goals in five games.
Head Coach Beth Bozman is in her third season at Duke. During her first season in 2003, Bozman led the Blue Devils to a school-record 20 victories and an appearance in the NCAA championship game. Last year, Duke was 18-5 and returned to the Final Four after defeating then number-one ranked North Carolina.
Appalachian State
This will be the first meeting between the Appalachian State Mountaineers and the Hawkeyes in field hockey.
The Mountaineers are 1-6 this season. Their lone victory was a 1-0 decision over Siena College (New York). Two of Appalachian State’s losses came at the hands of Stanford, 2-0, and Pacific University, 5-1. The Hawkeyes also played the two schools this season, but had victories of 3-1 and 8-1, respectively.
Senior Carrie Johnson and juniors Andrea Lee, Lisa Witkoski, and Erica Muschamp each have scored one goal this season.
Kate Ryno is the starting goalkeeper for Appalachian State. She has tallied 67 saves this season for a .779 save percentage. In seven games, 19 goals have been scored against her for a goals against average of 2.84.
Mandy Latz is in her third year at the helm of the Mountaineer program. Latz led Appalachian State to a 12-8 record during her first season in 2003 and a 6-14 record last season.
The Mountaineers are part of the seven-member NorPac Conference. The conference only competes in field hockey and the other six members are Stanford, University of California-Berkeley, Davidson, Longwood, Pacific, Radford and Stanford.
Freshmen tally first goals
The transition to collegiate athletics can be daunting to many young student-athletes, but the freshmen on the Hawkeye field hockey squad are doing just fine.
Midfielder Lauren Pfeiffer has five goals and one assist this season. Her first goal was an unassisted score against UC-Berkeley.
Katie Naughton, a forward, picked up her first goal against Pacific. She has two goals and one assist in 2005.
Midfielder/back Roz Ellis picked up her first collegiate goal against Ball State.
Caitlin McCurdy, a forward, has three goals and four assists this season. Her first score was also against the Cardinals of Ball State.