After suffering an embarrassing loss to the Terrapins, the Hawkeyes were offered an easy win over Saint Louis University. Being within a half-day drive of Iowa City, the Billikens (I don’t know what a Billiken is, but then I don’t know what a Georgetown Hoya is either and I am an alumnus) are amongst the teams I follow. This year they have a new coach in Laura Hurff, whom I watched in 2019 when she played on the US National Team in the FIH Pro League, and she has brought them from almost the bottom of Division I to up in the bottom third–no powerhouse but enjoyable to watch when fairly evenly matched; they had recently beaten Richmond. Iowa had played a friendly match with them in Saint Louis in August, where I’d met Maggie Stewart the coach of Div II Maryville and nearly succumbed to the heat. Today the start was a pleasant noon in October.
Saint Louis began the game with a push-back instead of the aggressive aerial that I had expected. Perhaps Coach Hurff was thinking strategically. Instead of trying for the impossible upset by opening aggressively, or trying to minimise the size of the inevitable defeat through defensive tactics, concentrate on your team’s remaining games when they will face teams they have some chance of beating, Davidson and Queens and the like. Follow your own game plan and learn what works. Let your players use the superior play of the Hawkeyes to sharpen their skills. Every success, whether a successful 1v1 encounter, a blocked PC attempt, and above all a single goal which the scorer will remember the rest of her life, will be a small victory and increase the team’s confidence for the rest of the season. And that is what I reckon the best choice.
In one minute, Iowa had their first PC and as usual they relied on van Aalsum to shoot, but her shot was wide. The Hawks soon regained possession and van Cleef scored their first field goal in the fourth minute. Two minutes later Hannah Maney scored another field goal for Iowa and Saint Louis replaced Abby Schalow with Kerri O’Donnell in the goal. I was surprised that Schalow lost the confidence of her coach so quickly, especially as she had played a starring role in their near overtime loss to Cal Davis. Now though I suspect Coach Hurff again was playing the long game and calculating that Schalow probably needed a rest, the reserve goalkeeper some time on the pitch, and the game a loss anyway. [At Rutgers later, I spoke with the mother of one of our reserve goalkeepers who knows Schalow (doubtless a member of Simon Mason’s “Goalkeepers Union”) that Schalow had an injured shoulder.] Indeed, Schalow was back in the goal next week against La Salle. Iowa seemed better coordinated than in previous matches, at moving the ball into Saint Louis territory by passing instead of relying on one player carrying the ball. Saint Louis passes frequently missed their intended receivers. The quarter ended with Iowa up by two goals.
In the second quarter the Iowa goal-fest continued. In the third minute van Cleef scored her second field goal. Barely a minute later, Hannah Maney scored her second goal of the season, with an assist from van Cleef. Then Iowa got a penalty corner but the shot by Milly Short went wide. Two Iowa PCs failed to score but with six minutes remaining van Aalsum scored a field goal. In the last two minutes Iowa yet again managed a PC but Milly’s shot was wide. So the half ended with Saint Louis behind by five goals.
Scarcely had the third quarter begun when Jordan Byers scored for Iowa. A few minutes later the Hawkeyes got their sixth penalty corner. Maney injected to the stopper, Fortpied, and van Aalsum scored her second goal. It was pleasing that Saint Louis continued to play hard, and at the very end of the period finally achieved their first penetration but the shot by Josie Naeger was wide. And in the last five seconds they penetrated again, but Naeger’s shot was saved by Iowa goalkeeper Mia Magnotta, her first of the afternoon. Iowa’s lead was 7-0 when the final quarter began, and this would be the Billikens best, holding the Hawkeyes scoreless against the Iowa onslaught. Saint Louis goalkeeper Kerri O’Donnell made a good save of a shot by van Aalsum. A shot by van Cleef went wide. Then the Billikens managed a penalty corner by Hazel Merry, a freshman from England. Brynn Newborn’s shot was blocked by Magnotta. In a couple of minutes it was Iowa’s turn for a PC. A shot by Kaia Beaudoin was sent blooping dangerously and another PC awarded. Shot by Fortpied blocked but a third turned into a Penalty Stroke. All our eyes were on van Cleef as she stepped up to take her stroke against the Saint Louis goalkeeper, as close to a sure thing as we get in hockey. Basically, there is no way a goalie can cover the entire area within the posts. The stroke taker will have decided before stepping up to the penalty spot where she wants to put the ball—low right and high left are the hardest of the goalkeeper to cover. So in the merest fraction of a second the goalie must commit to one side or the other. Van Cleef’s shot went to the goalkeeper’s right, but so did the goalkeeper, and Kerri O’Donnell, reserve goalkeeper for the Saint Louis Billikens. Their bench erupted with cheering and I am certain that Kerri will remember that save for the rest of her life. For me, as a student of the spirituality of competitive sport, it was the high point of an otherwise unexciting afternoon during which Iowa notched up an easy victory. Iowa would have two more PCs and two more shots from the field, but no more goals. There were also a couple of unfamiliar players on the pitch for Iowa, Alexa Knott who alternated at midfield with Kaia Beaudoin, and Mae van Aalsum, Dionne’s sister who came on for the last three minutes. I simply cannot understand why Coach Lisa did not give her reserve goalkeepers a chance to get some playing time too.
As a student of Greek tragedy, I find these walkover wins offer little to celebrate. Too much success leads to hubris, which leads to Nemesis, with leads to catastrophe. Here the Iowa penalty corner results were ominous. Ten PCs yielded one goal, against a weak team playing with their reserve goalkeeper. A good team would expect at least two and the ’Cats probably four.
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