WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
• The Hawkeyes finished their season with a 13-6 overall record. Iowa made its sixth straight and 28th NCAA Tournament appearance in program history — the most of any team as a member of the Big Ten Conference.
• Iowa finished the season ranked No. 8 in the NFHCA poll. The Hawkeyes were ranked No. 1 for four weeks straight (Sept. 5 – Oct. 2) for the second time in program history (2021). Iowa has been ranked in 81 consecutive polls dating back to the 2016 season.
• Head Coach Lisa Cellucci concluded her tenth season at the helm of the Hawkeye field hockey program and her 24th season overall. Cellucci has been a part of 293 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 eight of her ten seasons. The Hawkeyes have won three Big Ten titles (2019, 2019 (BTT), 2021) under her watch.
• The Hawkeyes had two student athletes earn NFHCA All-America honors – freshman Dionne van Aalsum earned her first career All-America nod, as she was named first team. Gibson earned second team and was named an All-American for a third straight season.
•Three Hawkeyes earned NFHCA All-West Region selections. Gibson earned her fourth all-region accolade and was also named to the NFHCA Senior Team. Van Aalsum also earned first team honors while Sofie Stribos earned second-team.
• Three Hawkeyes — Dionne van Aalsum (Freshman of the Year/First-Team), Esme Gibson (First-Team), and Harper Dunne (Sportsmanship Award) earned Big Ten recognition for the 2023 season.
• 12 field hockey student athletes were named to fall academic all-Big Ten. Senior Harper Dunne finished with a 4.0 GPA.
• Freshman Dionne van Aalsum was named Big Ten Freshman of the year and received first team honors after leading the nation in goals and points through the duration of the season. The Castricum, Netherlands, native was named Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week four times this season (Sept. 11, Sept. 18, Oct. 16, Oct. 30), Big Ten Freshman of the Week four times this season (Aug. 26, Sept. 5, Sept. 11, Oct. 30), and NFHCA Offensive Player of the Week on September 13.
• Iowa defeated the top-ranked team in three straight seasons (3-1 vs. No. 1 North Carolina in 2021, 2-0 vs. No. 1 Northwestern in 2022 and 3-2 vs. No. 1 North Carolina in 2023).
• The Hawkeyes defeated six ranked opponent this season. Iowa downed No. 1 North Carolina, No. 3 Rutgers, No. 5 Louisville, No. 12 Wake Forest, No. 14 Michigan, and No. 19 UAlbany.
• The Hawkeyes returned seven starters and 14 letterwinners from a team that finished 12-8, advancing to the Elite Eight for the 21st time in program history in 2022.
NFHCA All-AMERICA HONORS
Iowa had two student athletes garner NFHCA All-America honors.
• Dionne van Aalsum earned her first career All-America nod, as she was named first team. She was the first Hawkeye to be named an All American since Kristy Gleason in 1989.
• Gibson earned second team and was named an All-American for a third straight season, becoming the 10th Hawkeye to earn three honors.
HAWKEYES ON ALL-REGION TEAM
Senior Esme Gibson and freshman Dionne van Aalsum were named first-team selections, while senior Sofie Stribos earned second-team honors.
• Gibson earned her fourth all-region accolade, scoring two goals while tallying four assists in 19 starts. The midfielder, who started 96 of 98 games in her Hawkeye career, recorded 4,680 career minutes playing a key defensive role the past five seasons. The Worcestershire, England, native was a second-team All-American in 2022 and a third-team All-American in 2021.
• Van Aalsum started all 19 games this season as a true freshman. The Big Ten Freshman of the Year and first-team All-Big Ten selection played a key factor offensively as she led the nation with 28 goals, 62 points, 1.47 goals per game and 3.26 points per game.
• Stribos started all 19 games recording three goals and four assist en route to her first all-region selection. She recorded 908 minutes in 2023 and played 4,558 minutes in her career, recording 14 goals and 11 assists. The Brussels, Belgium, native joins her sisters Marike Stribos (2012) and Lokke Stribos (2019-22) who also earned all-region honors as Hawkeyes.
ALL-BIG TEN SELECTIONS
Three Hawkeyes earned all-Big Ten selections in the 2023 season.
• Dionne van Aalsum was honored Freshman of the Year and First-Team all-Big Ten. Esme Gibson also earned First-Team while Harper Dunne was honored with the Sportsmanship Award.
IN THE NATIONAL RANKINGS
Iowa finished the season ranked No. 8 in the NFHCA poll. The Hawkeyes have been ranked in 82 consecutive polls dating back to the 2016 season.
• The Hawkeyes were ranked in the top-ten for the duration of the 2023 season.
• The Hawkeyes were ranked No. 1 for four weeks in row this season (Sept. 5 – Oct. 2). It was the second time in program history (2021) the Hawkeyes have been ranked No. 1 by the NFHCA.
NCAA TOURNAMENT HISTORY
• Iowa traveled to Evanston for the second straight year for the NCAA Tournament.
• Iowa qualified for six straight NCAA Tournaments — the longest streak since making a school record 15 consecutive tournaments from 1982-96.
• The Hawkeyes have made 28 NCAA Tournament appearances in program history — the most of any school as a member of the Big Ten Conference — and have made 12 NCAA Final Four appearances, including winning the 1986 NCAA Championship.
• The Hawkeyes are 30-28 all-time in the NCAA Tournament. The program’s 30 NCAA Tournament victories and 12 NCAA Final Fours are the most of any school as a member of the Big Ten Conference.
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, 2022 last season when the Hawkeyes downed No. 20 Wake Forest in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. The tenth-year head coach is the fourth Hawkeye head coach to reach this 100-win milestone.
• 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.
DIONNE VAN AWESOME
Van Aalsum led the nation throughout the season with 28 goals, 62 points, 1.47 goals per game, and 3.26 points per game. She was named Big Ten Freshman of the year and earned first-team All-Big Ten recognition.
• The Castricum, Netherlands, native was named Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week four times this season (Sept. 11, Sept. 18, Oct. 16, Oct. 30), Big Ten Freshman of the Week four times this season (Aug. 26, Sept. 5, Sept. 11, Oct. 30), and NFHCA Offensive Player of the Week on September 13.
• She scored eight goals in wins over Western Michigan and UMass Lowell to became the first Hawkeye to record a hat trick since Maddy Murphy vs. Indiana in 2019 and the first Hawkeye with four goals in a game since Kim Scraper vs Brown in 2016.
ABOUT THE DEFENSE
The Hawkeyes outscored their opponents 59-21 this season. Iowa surrendered 21 goals in 19 games, and the Hawkeye defense allowed 175 shots and 91 shots on goal.
• The Hawkeyes recorded eight shutouts, three being against ranked opponents. Iowa shutout No. 14 Michigan in its Big Ten opener.
• Iowa’s defense ranks third in the nation in shutouts (8) and shutouts per game (.42).
DOWN GOES NO. 1 FOR THE THIRD STRAIGHT SEASON
Freshman Lieve van Kessel’s first career goal in overtime sent the seventh-ranked University of Iowa field hockey team to an upset victory over top ranked North Carolina, 3-2, on the Tar Heels home turf on August 27, 2023. Dionne van Aalsum was the key player in sending the matchup into overtime after scoring her second goal of the game with six minutes left in regulation.
• North Carolina won the 2023 NCAA Field Hockey Championship.
• This was the Hawkeyes’ first win against UNC in Chapel Hill.
• This is the second time in program history that Iowa went 2-0 in ACC/Big Ten Challenge (since 2002).
• This was only North Carolina’s third loss in Karen Shelton Stadium which opened in 2018.
• This was the first loss for the Tar Heels since November 2021, and their first regular season loss since October 2021.
• The Hawkeyes have downed the No. 1 team in the nation three years in a row (3-1 vs. No. 1 North Carolina in 2021, 2-0 vs. No. 1 Northwestern in 2022 and 3-2 vs. No. 1 North Carolina in
2023).
• 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.
FRESHMAN, FRESHMAN, FRESHMAN
• Six of Iowa’s seven goals in opening weekend were scored by freshmen, including all three against No. 1 North Carolina.
• Big Ten Freshman Player of the Year and four-time Big Ten Freshman Player of the Week Dionne van Aalsum went ten-for-19 in multi-goal games this season and she has scored at least one goal is 14 games.
• Freshman Miranda Jackson recorded two goals against ranked foes, No. 12 Wake Forest and No. 14 Michigan. She has recorded five goals this season ranking third in the Hawkeye offense.
• Freshman Rachel Herbine recorded her first career goals and first multi-goal game against Merrimack College.
• Freshman Lieve van Kessel’s first career goal was in overtime against the No. 1 Tar Heels.
SENIOR SPOTLIGHT
Hawkeye seniors – Sammy Freeman, Mary Jane McNary, Kelly Rose, Sophie Stribos and Esme Gibson – won 70 games, two Big Ten regular season championships and one Big Ten tournament title.
They have also competed in three NCAA Elite Eights and the 2021 NCAA final four in their time in black and gold.
• On the field, this class has earned three All-America, five all-region, three all-conference and three Big Ten all-tournament team honors.
• In the classroom, these scholars have accounted for 12 NFHCA national academic squad honors, 14 academic all-Big Ten selections, and multiple dean’s/president’s list honors.
MAGNOTTA IN GOAL
Sophomore goal keeper Mia Magnotta played the duration of all 19 games this season. She allowed 21 goals, tallied 69 saves, and was part of eight Hawkeye shutouts. The Forty-Fort, Pennsylvania native tallied a career high eight saves against No. 2 Northwestern breaking her previous career high six saves she recorded in win over No. 1 North Carolina at the beginning of the season.
• Magnotta ranks second in the conference and sixth in the nation in goals against average (1.09).
• Magnotta was Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week on August 29 and NFHCA Division I Defensive Player of the Week on August 30.
HELPING THE CAUSE
Iowa has 42 assists on its 59 goals this season with eight different players tallying at least two assists. Six different Hawkeyes have at least four assists on the year.
CONSECUTIVE STARTS
Sofie Stribos – 77
Leive Schalk – 57
Esme Gibson – 33
Mia Magnotta – 22
Milly Short – 21
Dionne van Aalsum – 19
Gia Whalen – 19
IRON HAWKS
Four returning Hawkeye position players played the duration of last season and this season while rarely leaving the field — Harper Dunne, Esme Gibson, Sofie Stribos, and Lieve Schalk.
EXPERIENCE GALORE
• For a third straight year, the Hawkeyes presented a roster with 14 upperclassmen, including two fifth-year seniors, five seniors and six juniors.
• Fifth-year senior Sofie Stribos started in over 70 consecutive games.
• Senior Harper Dunne started in 65 consecutive games before a season ending injury.