Indiana field hockey has a daunting task in Big Ten play, starting with No. 11 Iowa this weekend. The Hoosiers return to Deborah Tobias Field in Bloomington after going 2-0 at home last weekend.
Indiana will play at 4 p.m. Friday, televised on Big Ten Network, and then will rest up for a noon Sunday contest streaming on Big Ten+.
The Big Ten has the most teams in the National Field Hockey Coaches Association poll. No. 1 Northwestern was only three points above No. 2 University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and the Big Ten had seven teams ranked, one more than the Atlantic Coast Conference.
Iowa jumped four spots on Tuesday to No. 11 in the country after going 2-0 in Louisville last weekend. The Hawkeyes defeated then-No. 20 Miami University 3-1 before taking down the University of Louisville 5-1 on Sunday. Indiana also played the Cardinals this year but lost 4-5 on Sept. 7. Iowa has been on the NFHCA poll for 96 consecutive polls, dating back to 2016.
Meet the Hawkeyes
Iowa enters the fourth weekend of the season with a 5-1 record. The Hawkeyes started the season with a 5-4 win over then-No. 20 Wake Forest University, before losing to No. 2 North Carolina 1-4. The Hawkeyes opened the game with an early goal before giving up four unanswered scores in their loss to the Tar Heels.
Iowa has rattled off four consecutive wins, starting with Kent State University and Queens University of Charlotte, before their victories over Miami and Louisville.
Offensively, Iowa ranks fifth in the NCAA for goals per game with 4.33 and scoring average with 4.52. Junior midfielder Dionne van Aalsum is tied for the most goals in the nation this season with 14 so far and has been named Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week the last two weeks.
Van Aalsum has scored a goal in all six of the Hawkeyes’ games this season, including games with four scores against both Kent State and Queens. She has a team-high 45 shots and 30 shots on goal this season.
In total, Iowa returned 21 of its 28 goals from last season. Junior midfielder Lieve van Kessel scored five goals last season but has only one through six games this year. Graduate student forward Fréderique van Cleef has picked up some of those missing goals. She has 20 shots, with 11 of those being on goal for three goals.
Senior midfielder/defender Milly Short and freshman midfielder Felicia Zonnenberg also have three goals for the Hawkeyes. Zonnenberg has a team-high six assists this year.
Redshirt senior goalkeeper Mia Magnotta has started all six games this season in the net and has played every minute. She ranks second in the Big Ten in saves per game with 4.17 and owns a 2.09 goals against average.
Indiana notes
The Hoosiers defeated Commonwealth University of Pennsylvania - Lock Haven 12-0 and Saint Francis University 5-1 last weekend.
Indiana will need to get shots on goal this weekend. In their previous two games, the Cream and Crimson put up 81 total shots, with 56 of them being on goal. This led to Indiana breaking their previous program scoring record of 11 goals, but also nine Hoosiers having scored at least one goal this season.
Freshman forward Celia Arroyo Cabezudo leads the team with five goals scored this season after recording one against Lock Haven. Senior midfielder/forward Anna Mozeleski and junior midfielder Inés Garcia Prado both have four scores this year, with Garcia Prado also adding four assists for a team-high 12 points.
Indiana will need to draw penalty corners against Iowa. After only having two total two weeks ago, the Hoosiers responded with nine in both games last weekend. Indiana draws 5.5 penalty corners per game, which ties them for 43rd in the NCAA. Iowa has 7.33 penalty corners per game, tied for 17th-best, so the Hoosiers will have to try not to give up fouls inside the scoring circle.
Indiana’s schedule will not get any easier after this weekend. The Cream and Crimson only play one game next week, but will travel up to Evanston, Illinois, to take on No. 1 Northwestern on Sept. 26.
Follow reporter Sean McAvoy (@sean_mc07 and semcavoy@iu.edu) for updates throughout the Indiana field hockey season.
