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IOWA CITY, Iowa — University of Iowa field hockey freshman Katie Birch has been named Big Ten Conference Freshman of the Week, the league office announced Tuesday. It marks Birch’s second honor in as many weeks.
A native of York, England, Birch scored the first four goals of her Hawkeye career to help the Hawkeyes to victories over Fairfield (4-1) and Saint Louis (11-0) last weekend. She registered her first career hat trick against Saint Louis, scoring on three of her eight total shots.
The freshman played in all 70 minutes of both games this weekend. Birch anchored an Iowa defense that only allowed one goal and stopped all 11 penalty corners faced this weekend.
Birch earned her first conference honor last week, following her performance at the ACC/Big Ten Challenge in Winston Salem, North Carolina, Aug. 27-28. In Iowa’s season opening, 2-1, upset victory over No. 7 Wake Forest, Birch registered her first career assist and was part of a Hawkeye defense that fended off three Demon Deacon penalty corners, including a critical stop in the waning moments of the game.
No. 19 Iowa (3-1) returns to action Saturday with an 11 a.m. (CT) neutral site match up against Monmouth (4-0) in Kent, Ohio.