Oct. 18, 2009
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IOWA CITY, IA – – The University of Iowa field hockey team defeated conference rival Penn State Sunday at Grant Field, 1-0. The Hawkeye victory can be seen on the Big Ten Network as a taped-delayed broadcast Monday at 7 p.m.
The Black and Gold struck in the 23rd minute of play. Geena Lesiak chipped it in from close off a great cross pass from senior Tricia Dean. The freshman’s third goal of the season gave the Hawkeyes a 1-0 advantage.
“We did not execute cleanly on offense,” said Head Coach Tracey Griesbaum. “That put us under some defensive pressure. We were happy with the tactical changes we made during the game, and that allowed us to be in better position to win the game. Meg (Beamesderfer), Jess (Barnett) and Merty (McGraw) did a really good job in our backfield. Our forwards were a little bit more of a presence today and that helped us solidify field position and play a complete game.”
Coming out of halftime leading 1-0, Iowa kept the pressure on. The Hawkeyes fired five shots in the second half before the Nittany Lions recorded their first second-half shot, but were unable to add another score.
Penn State was awarded four consecutive corners in the final minutes but the Hawkeye defense held strong. Freshman goalkeeper Kathleen McGraw made three nice saves to preserve the victory.
The Hawkeyes will travel to Evanston, IL, Friday to face Northwestern. The match is scheduled to begin at 3 p.m. CT. The showdown with the Wildcats will be Iowa’s final regular season conference game of the year.
GAME SUMMARYPSU (5-10, 1-3) 0 0 0IOWA (5-8, 2-3) 1 0 1
IOWA Geena Lesiak (Tricia Dean) 22:35/1st
Shots - Iowa 12, Penn State 10Penalty Corners - Iowa 6, Penn State 7Saves - Kathleen McGraw (Iowa) 3; Ali Meves (Penn State) 5
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