No. 14 Iowa Holds Off No. 20 Albany, 2-1

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Sept. 16, 2012

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IOWA CITY, Iowa — The 14th-ranked University of Iowa field hockey team defeated No. 20 Albany, 2-1, Sunday at Grant Field. Iowa improved to 2-0 at home this season and 5-2 overall.

Junior Kelsey Mitchell scored both of the Hawkeyes’ goals, recording the first multi-goal game of her Hawkeye career.

“I’m excited about the opportunity we had today because it was Big Ten field hockey,” said head coach Tracey Griesbaum. “What they showed us today is more of our conference’s style. That was good, and we’ll take that into conference play.”

Mitchell gave the Hawkeyes a 1-0 lead at the 3:26 mark of the first period, scoring off a cross from sophomore Corinne Allen.

Mitchell struck again during the 37th minute to make the score 2-0; junior Marike Stribos was credited with an assist. For Mitchell, it was her third and fourth goals of the season. She shares the team-lead in goals with three teammates — senior Jessica Barnett, junior Aubrey Coleman and sophomore Dani Hemeon.

“Kelsey is a great goal scorer,” said Griesbaum. “She’s been in a lot of situations so far this season where she’s come really close to scoring and hasn’t finished. I’m really happy for her.”

Albany (3-4) cut the Iowa advantage to one at the 67:33 mark when Daphne Voormolen scored off of a penalty corner. That’s as close as the Great Danes would get, as the Hawkeye goalkeeper Kathleen McGraw and the Iowa defense held off a late, aggressive Albany attack.

McGraw made eight saves Sunday, collecting her fifth win of the season.

Sunday was the first-ever meeting between Iowa and Albany.

“We got everything we expected from Albany,” said Griesbaum. “They are a very good team; we got absolutely got their best”

Former Iowa All-American Liz Tchou was honored at halftime. Tchou, the only field hockey athlete to have her number retired, became a member of the National Iowa Varsity Club Athletics Hall of Fame on Friday, Sept. 14.

Iowa hits the road for a pair of matches in the state of Michigan. The Hawkeyes open Big Ten play at Michigan State on Sept. 21, at 2 p.m. (CT), before traveling to Mount Pleasant, Mich., to face Central Michigan on Sept. 23, at 11 a.m. (CT).