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Chapel Hill, N.C. — A pair of first half goals led the 20th-ranked University of Iowa field hockey team to a 2-1 victory over 14th-ranked Wake Forest on Saturday in Big Ten/ACC Challenge action.
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Hawkeyes came out firing in the first half, registering six shots in the first 35 minutes of action. Junior Katie Birch found the left corner of the cage on a shot from the top of the circle at 14:55 to give the Hawkeyes a 1-0 lead. Ten minutes later (25:08), sophomore Maddy Murphy found the back of the net on a reverse stick shot to put Iowa ahead 2-0 heading into the half.
The second period was a defensive battle. Wake Forest pulled within one in the 57th minute when Megan Anderson scored off of a rebounded save. The Iowa defense responded; however, to secure the season-opening win.
QUOTING HEAD COACH LISA CELLUCCI
“This was an unbelievable team win,” said Cellucci. “Our work rate and willingness to stick to the game plan through the course of the game was outstanding. I am so proud of this team. We will recover and get to work on preparing for UNC tomorrow.”
NOTABLES
- Junior Leslie Speight made her first career start in goal. She registered eight saves, including six in the second period to secure the win for Iowa.
- Junior Katie Birch has scored Iowa’s first goal of the year in each of the last two seasons.
- Eighteen Hawkeyes saw action in today’s contest.
- Six freshmen made their Hawkeye debuts, including Meghan Conroy, Anthe Nijziel, Lokke Stribos, Leah Zellner, Makenna Maguire, and Cat Nicholson.
UP NEXT
Iowa concludes Big Ten/ACC Challenge play with a 1 p.m. (CT) match against No. 2 North Carolina on Sunday. Fans can watch the game live on WatchESPN. A link to the broadcast is available on the Iowa field hockey schedule page on hawkeyesports.com.
