THIS WEEK
The eighth-ranked University of Iowa field hockey team will face No. 6 Michigan on Sunday at 11:30 a.m. (CT) in a neutral site matchup at Northwestern’s Lakeside Field in Evanston, Illinois. The game will be a nonconference matchup as the two teams played the conference matchup last Sunday in Ann Arbor — a 2-0 Michigan win.
FOLLOW LIVE
• Iowa field hockey fans can follow all contests via live stats on hawkeyesports.com. Game updates are also available on Twitter/@iowafieldhockey.
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
• Iowa sits at No. 8 in the Week 7 Penn Monto/NFHCA Coaches’ poll on Oct. 18 after dropping a pair of Big Ten road games last weekend.
• The Hawkeyes are 5-5 against nationally ranked opponents in 2022, which includes a 2-0 victory over No. 1 Northwestern on Sept. 23 in Evanston. It was the second straight year Iowa has knocked off the No. 1 ranked team in the country.
• Iowa will conclude a stretch of seven straight games against nationally ranked foes on Sunday in Evanston. Five of the games have come on the road.
• Iowa won its 10th game of the season with its 2-1 come-from-behind win over No. 17 James Madison on Oct. 9. It is the sixth straight year and the seventh time in head coach Lisa Cellucci’s tenure that Iowa has reached the 10-win mark.
• Iowa has had three players earn Big Ten weekly honors in 2022 — Anthe Nijziel (Defensive, Sept. 12), Grace McGuire (Defensive, Sept. 26) and Alex Wesneski (Offensive, Sept. 26).
• Iowa is outscoring its opponents, 37-16, this season.
• The Hawkeyes have posted five shutouts this season. Iowa didn’t allow a shot or penalty corner in a 2-0 win over No. 22 UMASS on Sept. 11.
• Iowa is sixth in the nation in goals against average (1.04), 11th in shutouts per game (0.33), 14th in save percentage (.775) and 16th in scoring margin (1.37).
• Senior goalkeeper Grace McGuire is ninth in the nation in goals against average (1.08) and 17th in save percentage (.765).
• Junior Alex Wesneski is tied for 19th nationally with 11 goals, while sophomore Leive Schalk is 22nd nationally in assists per game (0.60).
• Head coach Lisa Cellucci is in her ninth season at the helm of the Hawkeye field hockey program and her 23rd season overall. Cellucci has been a part of 278 Iowa victories and in 2020, she led the program to the Final Four for the 12th time — the first since 2008. Iowa has posted double digit win totals in six of her eight seasons. The Hawkeyes have won three Big Ten titles (2019, 2019 (BTT), 2021) under her watch.
• Cellucci earned her third straight Big Ten Coach of the Year honor in 2021. She is the first coach in Big Ten history to be named Coach of the Year in three consecutive seasons.
• Iowa returns two-time Big Ten Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year Anthe Nijziel. The defender is the third player in Big Ten history to earn multiple Player of the Year honors.
• Iowa welcomes back three All-Americans (Nijziel, Grace McGuire and Esme Gibson), four NFHCA All-Region honorees (Nijziel, McGuire, Gibson, Lokke Stribos) and four All-Big Ten selections (Nijziel, McGuire, Stribos, Gibson).
CELLUCCI REACHES MILESTONE
Head coach Lisa Cellucci — the three-time reigning Big Ten Coach of the Year — earned her 100th career victory on Aug. 26 when the Hawkeyes downed No. 20 Wake Forest in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. The ninth year head coach is the fourth Hawkeye head coach to reach this 100-win milestone.
IN THE NATIONAL RANKINGS
The Hawkeyes are ranked eighth in the Week 7 Penn Monto/NFHCA National Division I rankings. The team has been ranked in 68 consecutive polls dating back to the 2016 season.
• Last season, Iowa finished the year ranked third after being ranked No. 1 for six straight weeks heading into the postseason. The team made its debut at No. 1 on Sept. 28, marking the first time in program history the team had been atop the NFHCA poll.
PLAYING FROM AHEAD
The Hawkeyes are out-scoring their opponents 11-2 in the first quarter and 17-6 in the first half this season. Iowa has scored first in 11 of 15 games this season.
• Iowa has scored in the game’s first seven minutes in seven contests, including a strike just 43 seconds into its win over Providence College. The team has scored in the game’s first three minutes four times.
DOWN GOES NO. 1
Junior Alex Wesneski scored two first-half goals to lead Iowa to a 2-0 shutout victory over top-ranked Northwestern on Sept. 23. It is the second straight year the Hawkeyes have downed the No. 1 team in the nation.
• Prior to 2021, Iowa hadn’t defeated a No. 1 ranked team since 2008. The win snapped Northwestern’s 12-game winning streak dating back to last season.
CREATING OPPORTUNITIES
Iowa has scored 17 goals on 75 penalty corner attempts for a 22.7 conversion success rate.
• The team has had five or more penalty corners in eight of its 15 games.
IRON HAWKS
Four Hawkeye position players have played the duration this season and rarely leave the field — defenders Lokke Stribos (14), Anthe Nijziel (13) and Harper Dunne (10) and midfielder Esme Gibson (2).
NOTHING DOING
The Hawkeyes held No. 22 UMASS without a shot or penalty corner in Iowa’s 2-0 victory on Sept. 11. It was the first time since the 2021 spring season against Michigan State that Iowa’s defense completely shut down the opposition.
WES-GOAL-SKI
Junior Alex Wesneski has scored in eight of Iowa’s 15 games of the 2022 season as she leads the team with 11 goals, ranking third in the Big Ten. Wesneski’s 11 strikes have come on just 31 shots.
• The Pennsylvania native has three multi-goal games this season. She scored two goals in back-to-back wins over Boston and Saint Louis on Sept. 2 and Sept. 4 before scoring both goals in Iowa’s 2-0 road win at No. 1 Northwestern, which led to her being named the Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week on Sept. 26.
• Wesneski has four multi-goal games in her career.
• Her offensive outburst has nearly tripled her career scoring output. She had four goals entering the 2022 season.
ANNI & GAME WINNERS
Sophomore Annika Herbine has scored in six of Iowa’s 15 games this season, giving her seven strikes — second-most on the team. Herbine has a team-best three game-winning goals (Wake Forest, Saint Louis and Providence).
• Herbine had her first career multi-goal game against Providence College on Sept. 9 — a 3-1 Hawkeye win.
• Herbine is also second on the team with seven assists, giving her 21 points, which are 13th in the Big Ten.
ELLIE’S GAME-WINNER
Senior Ellie Flynn scored the game-winning goal in Iowa’s 2-1 come-from-behind win over No. 17 James Madison on Oct. 9. It was Flynn’s first goal since the 2020 season and her third career strike. Flynn is one of seven Hawkeyes to net a game-winner this season.