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IOWA CITY, Iowa — University of Iowa sophomore Katie Birch registered the third hat trick of her career to lead the 24th-ranked Hawkeyes past Indiana, 4-3, Friday afternoon at Grant Field.
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Hawkeyes got on the board first, scoring in the 14th minute. Freshman Mya Christopher tipped a shot from outside the circle into the cage to give Iowa a 1-0 lead. Indiana evened the score at 1-1 in the 21st minute. Iowa regained the lead right as time expired in the first half. The Hawkeyes were awarded an untimed corner and Katie Birch tallied her first goal of the game, giving Iowa a 2-1 lead at the break.
The back-and-forth scoring continued in the second half with the Hoosiers tying the game at 2-2 in the 43rd minute. Iowa was awarded a penalty stroke in the 42nd minute. Birch capitalized, giving Iowa a 3-2 lead. The Hoosiers responded again in the 57th minute to tie the match at 3-3. Birch capped off the hat trick in the 60th minute scoring off a corner to give the Hawkeyes a 4-3 lead. The Hawkeyes were able to hold on for the win despite the Hoosiers pulling their goalie in the 67th and receiving an untimed penalty corner in the 70th minute. Iowa is now 5-7 (1-3) on the season.
QUOTING HEAD COACH LISA CELLUCCI
“I’m happy that we came away with the win. It was a tough game to play. Indiana has a lot of grit and kept countering on us after we scored. The message to our team was to stick to our plan. That last play put us in a difficult situation, with Indiana’s entire team on the penalty circle, but we stood tall and it was a great block by Katie Birch to end the game.”
“We’ve been working a lot with Kaite (Birch) on her corner execution and she was on point today. She was outstanding.”
NOTABLES
- Birch registered the third hat trick of her career and her second of the season. Birch recorded her first hat trick of the season against New Hampshire on Sept. 10. Her first career hat trick came in the Hawkeyes 11-0 victory over Saint Louis (Sept. 4, 2016).
- Freshman Mya Christopher registered the first goal of her career.
- Senior goalkeeper Katie Jones made two saves in the win.
- Lucie Daman, Melissa Progar, and Makenna Grewe all recorded assists in the match.
- The Hawkeyes only allowed three penalty corners and turned away all three.
- Iowa is undefeated when scoring three or more goals.
UP NEXT
The Hawkeyes are back in action next week when they take on No. 2 Duke at 11 a.m. (CT) in Durham, North Carolina.
