Sept. 18, 2005
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The University of Iowa field hockey (6-3) squad didn’t dwell over a one-point loss to Duke yesterday. Instead, they showed their resolve as a team today as they trounced Appalachian State, 7-1.
Five different Hawkeyes scored on the way to the victory. Junior Kara Zappone kicked off the Iowa scoring barrage with an unassisted goal late in the first half. Debbie Birrell, a senior midfielder, added a score just two minutes away from the break to give the Hawkeyes a 2-0 advantage.
Sophomore Caroline Blaum stroked a goal 43:55 into the game and Birrell scored her second goal on a penalty stroke just one minute later to put Iowa up 4-0. The Hawkeyes didn’t allow the Mountaineers time to set up their own offense because freshman Caitlyn McCurdy found fellow freshman Katie Naughton for a goal at the 45:57 mark. Minutes later, Lauren Pfeiffer pushed in an unassisted goal to give Iowa a 5-0 margin.
Appalachian State’s Jessica Harris found Erica Muschamp near the end of the game to break up the Iowa shutout. However, the Hawkeyes weren’t done scoring yet, and the freshman duo of McCurdy and Naughton hooked up again for a score that gave Iowa the 7-1 victory.
Iowa had several opportunities to score in the contest; they took 35 total shots as a team with 20 shots on goal. Birrell and Naughton both took two shots on goal that turned into two scores apiece. Blaum and Zappone also each found the net on the one shot on goal that they took. McCurdy led all players with nine shots total and six shots on goal.
Lissa Munley, Iowa’s freshman goalkeeper, earned her sixth victory of the season. She had four saves against Appalachian State, all in the second half of play. Just 11 shots have passed Munley this season for a 1.59 goals against average. The Pennsylvania native has garnered 36 saves for a save percentage of .766.
Big Ten field hockey action kicks off next week. Iowa will travel to Columbus, Ohio, to take on Ohio State next Sunday at noon.