Mitchell Propels No. 12 Iowa over Kent State

Stats | Boxscore

Oct. 20, 2012

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IOWA CITY, Iowa — Junior Kelsey Mitchell’s team-leading seventh and eighth goals of the season propelled the 12th-ranked University of Iowa field hockey team to a 3-1 victory over Kent State (7-12) in its annual “Pink Game” on Saturday at Grant Field.

Iowa (11-4, 3-0 Big Ten) remained perfect at Grant Field this season, improving to 4-0.

“Those goals we were holding our zones and finding the open player,” said UI head coach Tracey Griesbaum. “It was almost like a push-pass to the goal because we were filling the spots.”

The Hawkeyes found themselves with an early one goal deficit, after Kent State struck first at the 11:37 mark via a Hannah Faulkner unassisted goal.

Iowa’s offense got rolling during the 33rd minute when sophomore Dani Hemeon found freshman Natalie Cafone for a goal. It was Cafone’s fourth score of the season.

Neither team found the goal over the final two minutes of the opening half, keeping the score at 1-1.

“We definitely had to make some changes, and I wish we would have been able to make more in-game changes in the first half,” said Griesbaum. “We had to wait to until halftime to get some key things to the team, but we responded. The second half was good, and the stats started piling up in our favor.”

The Hawkeyes dominated the second half both offensively and defensively. Iowa outshot the Golden Flashes, 17-0, and held a 7-0 advantage in penalty corners during the final 35 minutes of action.

Mitchell gave the Hawkeyes a 2-1 lead, connecting on her first goal 10 minutes into the second half after receiving a cross from Hemeon. The Berlin, N.J., native stuck again at the 49:44 mark, as sophomore Corinne Allen assisted on the play. It was the second multi-goal game of Mitchell’s career. She collected her first earlier this season against Albany on Sept. 16.

Senior Kathleen McGraw collected the win in goal for Iowa, making three saves in 70 minutes of play. McGraw is 11-4 this season.

The Hawkeyes improved to 5-0 all-time in Iowa City against Kent State.

Iowa plays its final nonconference contest of the regular season against Ball State tomorrow at Grant Field. Action between the Hawkeyes and Cardinals begins at 1 p.m. (CT). The game will be streamed lived at BTN.com. Admission is free.