19 October 2025
The Rutgers field hockey facility is called the Bauer Field Hockey Complex, which sounds like a psychiatric disorder, most appropriately because it is the worst field hockey venue in the Big Ten, trailed by Michigan State. Both feature a pitch separated from the spectators by a running track and both have substandard toilets, but at Rutgers these are Portapotties giving off a Stygian effluvia. I had driven over from Pennsylvania, where I’d stayed with my brother’s family in Doylestown recovering  from the effects of a late Friday night drive from State College and a dispiriting Hawkeye loss to the Nittany Lions. After wins twice against the Indiana Hoosiers and losses to the Northwestern Wildcats and the Maryland Terrapins, that latest upset loss to Penn State looked ominous for Iowa’s quest for a decent showing in the Big Ten Conference, and an invitation to the NCAA  tournament as well. Currently the Rutgers Scarlet Knights ranked below the Iowa Hawkeyes in the national poll, but they were ahead in the Big Ten with victories over Ohio State, Michigan State, and Indiana, and losses to Northwestern and Michigan. If they beat us, they were assured of a berth at the tournament and we would be heading towards exclusion.
In the second minute of the match, the Knights gained the advantage as Ashley Arnold’s pass into the Iowa circle found Sophie Kuiper in the middle.. She executed a perfect reverse stick backhand high into the net on Mia Magnotta’s left (one of the most difficult angles for a goalie to cover) and scored. I feared a long afternoon, but our spirits were momentarily buoyed by an Iowa counterattack that penetrated the Rutgers circle, but with no an opportunity for a shot. After most of a quarter of back and forth movement up and down the pitch, in the last four minutes Iowa’s van Cleef took the ball to the doorstep of Rutgers’ goal, to be stopped by the goalkeeper. Iowa had a long corner but Rutgers got possession and Kuiper ran the ball up field into the Iowa circle, but Magnotta made the save. Rutgers regained the ball and shot an aerial into the Iowa circle which struck Lauren DeRose in the chest (yes, field hockey is tougher than soccer), giving Rutgers a penalty corner. Puck Winter, Rutgers’ starring back, injected to the castle at the center and Paulina Niklaus fired a tomahawk sweep. Mia misread the shot and logged right and the shot was too fast for Milly Short at left-post to block. It was a perfectly executed penalty corner and Iowa was a tenth of a second too slow. And so the first quarter ended with Rutgers having most of the action and a two-nil lead. 
The second corner was Iowa’s chance to get back into the game, earning a PC in the second minute. Zonnenberg injected to van Aalsum but her shot was blocked. The match continued, this time with Iowa enjoying most of the possession and circle penetration but not result. Both teams were running with the ball on attack rather than passing. It was astonishing that after playing an exhausting seventy five minutes Friday night, Iowa and particularly van Aalsum and the other forwards maintained such stamina, a tribute to excellent conditioning. They must have been receiving a lot of attention from the “physios” (as physical therapists are called in England). But five minutes before the half, Iowa’s fortunes altered. Van Cleef took a pass from the Iowa circle at midfield and ran with the ball into the Rutgers circle, marked by a Rutgers defender who fouled her. She requested a referral and Iowa got a penalty corner. The Queenslander de Jong injected but van Aalsum’s shot was wide. But the ball stayed in Rutger’s territory and a minute later van Cleef dribbled the ball into the circle and passed to van Aalsum, directly in front of the Scarlet Knights’ goal, who scored the Hawkeye’s first goal. As the quarter ran down, Iowa continued to press but the score line remained 2-1 in favor of Rutgers, but Iowa were on the scoreboard and back in the match. The Iowa fans were elated at halftime. A one-goal lead is almost nothing in a sport never more than seventeen seconds from a possible score. 
The third quarter began with alternate possessions by the Scarlet Knights and the Hawkeyes, with circle penetrations but only one shot, by Rutgers’ Cogdell which went high. But at halfway the momentum of play passed to Iowa, who gained a penalty corner. Zonnenberg’s first injection went to van Aalsum, whose shot was blocked by the Rutgers flyer, but Zonnenberg gained a second penalty corner for Iowa when Rutgers failed to clear. The second injection was also to van Aalsum but Iowa had something tricky up their sleeve; she passed to Fortpied on her left, whose shot failed to fool the goalkeeper. Possession went to Iowa and the Hawks quickly gained another PC. One more the opportunity went to van Aalsum and this this time the Iowa routine went perfectly and Iowa equalized. The Hawks had three more chances during the quarter, a shot on goal from van Cleef and in the final minute two PCs, both shots by van Aalsum that were saved by Rutgers goalkeeper Emily Nicholls. 
The match refused to remain on equal terms, Rutgers led off the fourth quarter with a succession of PCs. The first attempt by Niklaus was blocked by the Iowa defense. So was the second by Cogdell. Then a third by Niklaus. Then Iowa had a chance but Rachel Herbine’s shot was saved by the Rutgers goalie. Two minutes later Rutgers got another PC and scored as Fraticell’s shot zipped by Short at left post and Rutgers was again in the lead. Hawkeye fans’ nerves were tense was with barely five minutes left Iowa attacked. Van Kessel miss-hit an attempt to pass into the circle which looped high over the back line after a touch by a Rutgers defender, which gave Iowa possession. Then play stopped as Iowa pulled their goalkeeper and sent in Lexie Haig to add an extra player, along with Whalen for de Jong. Match restarted and Whalen scored to equalize again. But before the game could go into overtime, Iowa’s Peyton Shellaway committed a foul and picked up a yellow card and so Iowa would be a player down for the first few minutes of overtime. Despite that, Iowa struck first with a shot by van Kessel, saved by the Rutgers goalie. The yellow card expired three minutes into the overtime and Zonnenberg came onto the pitch to even the sides. Iowa penetrated the Rutgers circle and after a suspenseful referral gained a penalty corner. As there are but six field players on the pitch during overtime, there are only three attacking players at the circle. Zonnenberg injected straight to Milly Short, who sent a powerful tomahawk sweep to the goalkeeper’s right and into the goal. Rutgers requested a review but the goal stood and as the umpire signalled the goal, both the Iowa bench and the Iowa fans erupted in hugs and high fives. Unquestionably it was the high point of the season. We were sure fortune had shifted to Iowa’s favor.