Five different Hawkeyes scored and three recorded their first goals of the season in the fifth-ranked University of Iowa field hockey team’s 5-1 victory over Indiana in both teams Big Ten opener Friday afternoon at Grant Field.
“We love having so many people score,” said head coach Lisa Cellucci. “It’s versatility and it helps us not be scouted. We have so many people on this team that can score goals, so I was glad they all got a piece of the pie today.”
The concludes Iowa’s five-game home stand. Iowa sits at 6-1 heading into Friday’s road game at No. 1 Northwestern.
The Hawkeyes jumped on the Hoosiers right out of the gates when senior Lokke Stribos scored her first goal of the season off a penalty corner. The strike came in the second minute off assists from sophomores Annika Herbine and Lieve Schalk.
“We wanted to get out to a fast start in every quarter and that’s what we did,” said Cellucci. “We wanted to take the wind out of their sails and anytime you can get a Big Ten win, we’re excited about that.
Senior Esme Gibson made it 2-0, finding the back of the goal in the fifth minute. Gibson took a cross in front off the goal from Herbine and she tapped it in for her first goal. The Hawkeyes made it 3-0 on Laura Drees’ first career goal just 40 seconds into the second half and senior Anthe Nijziel scored off a penalty corner in the 37th minute to make it 4-0.
Herbine registered her third and fourth points of the match when she scored Iowa’s final goal in the 51st minute. The unassisted strike came on a rebound off a penalty corner.
Indiana’s Jemima Cookson scored the Hoosiers’ lone goal in the 50th minute, finding the back of the net following a short cross from Maggie Carter.
QUOTING HEAD COACH LISA CELLUCCI
“Forty percent penalty corner conversion is fantastic. We would be excited for just 30. We have been working on it all week, so we threw a few new ones in there. We knew they were going to throw a different defense, so the key piece was being ready for rebounds. They executed fantastic.
“Laura and Anni’s goal were unbelievable. That doesn’t happen without the movement up top by Anthe and Lokke and setting up the play.”
OF NOTE…
– Iowa had a season-high 10 penalty corners against Indiana (converting four). The Hawkeyes have 19 penalty corners in their last two games.
– The Hawkeyes have scored in the game’s first three minutes in three consecutive games.
– Drees, Gibson and Nijziel all scored their first goals of the season, giving the Hawkeyes eight different goal scorers this season.
– Herbine now leads the team with 18 points via six goals and six assists.
UP NEXT
No. 5 Iowa returns to action Friday, traveling to Evanston, Illinois, for a top-five showdown against No. 1 Northwestern. The game will be televised on BTN.
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