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Breaking down the Iowa Field Hockey schedule

On3 imageby: Kyle Huesmann06/02/26HuesmannKyle

One of the top programs in the country, Iowa Field Hockey is back for their 49th season this year. It will be year 12 for head coach Lisa Cellucci who has guided the Hawkeyes to seven NCAA Tournaments, including a Final Four trip in 2021. Iowa is coming off of a 14-6 season that saw them return to the NCAA Tournament after missing in ’24. The Hawkeyes will be led by All-American forwards Dionne van Aalsum and Frederique Van Cleef who combined for 40 goals last season.

As a whole, the Big Ten is looking to bounce back as a conference after sending just two teams to the NCAA Tournament, with programs like Maryland, Michigan and Penn State all falling short. It was the fewest teams in the 18-team field since 2015, but Northwestern did go on to win their second consecutive national title.

HawkeyeReport breaks down the 2026 slate of games for the Hawkeyes, looking at the highlights from the non-conference and Big Ten portions of the schedule.

Non-Conference Games

August 28: at Wake Forest (Big Ten/ACC), August 30: vs North Carolina (Winston-Salem, NC) (Big Ten/ACC), September 4: vs Lehigh, September 6: vs Ball State, September 11: vs Miami OH (Evanston, IL), September 13: vs Louisville (Evanston, IL), September 20: vs Indiana (Non-Conf), September 27: vs Ohio State (Non-Conf)

The Hawkeyes will open the season as they always do, with the Big Ten/ACC Challenge, which will be hosted at Kentner Stadium in Winston-Salem. They’ll kick off the season against a Wake Forest squad that went 15-5 last season, reaching the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2022. Iowa has won 13 of the last 15 meetings, including six straight. A showdown with arguably the best program in the country, North Carolina, will close out the opening weekend. The Tar Heels are 41-3 over the last two seasons, but they haven’t made the national title game since their championship in ’23. Iowa is just 5-33 all-time against UNC but they’ve won two of the last five.

After returning from Winston-Salem, Iowa will host Lehigh and Ball State for a multi-team event at Grant Field to open the home slate. It will be the first ever meeting between Iowa and Lehigh, with the Mountain Hawks posting a 4-13 record last season. As for Ball State, they were 4-15 last season and have not beaten the Hawkeyes since 1997, with Iowa outscoring the Cardinals 31-4 in five meetings under Lisa Cellucci.

Another multi-team event to wrap up traditional non-conference action, the Hawkeyes will take part in the Midwest Challenge hosted by Northwestern at Lakeside Field in Evanston. They’ll begin the weekend with a matchup against a Miami Ohio team that has appeared in nine consecutive NCAA Tournaments. The Redhawks went 16-5 last season, including a 3-1 loss to Iowa in this same event (at Louisville). Finishing up the weekend in the Chicagoland, the Hawkeyes will face a Louisville team that went 8-10 last season, missing the NCAA Tournament for the second consecutive season. Iowa defeated the Cards 5-1 last season.

The Hawkeyes will also play non-conference home games against Indiana and Ohio State. They are 2-1 in non-conference games against Big Ten opponents over the past five seasons, including a 3-1 win over the Hoosiers in Bloomington last season.

Big Ten Schedule

September 18: vs Indiana, September 25: vs Ohio State, October 2: at Michigan, October 4: at Michigan State, October 9: at Northwestern, October 23: vs Rutgers, October 25: vs Penn State, October 30: at Maryland

Iowa will open Big Ten play on September 18th with a home match against Indiana. The Hoosiers have turned in back-to-back 9-9 seasons after going winless in Big Ten play in ’23 but dropped both meetings against the Hawkeyes in Bloomington last season. The Hawkeyes have won ten of the last 11 meetings. Former Hawkeye and now assistant coach Leah Zellner spent the last two seasons on the Indiana coaching staff.

After a two-game weekend with the Hoosiers, one conference and one non-conference, Ohio State will visit Iowa City to do the same. The Buckeyes were snubbed from the NCAA Tournament in consecutive seasons (’23 and ’24), but fell to 8-10 last season, falling to Iowa in the regular season finale (3-2) and in the Big Ten Tournament (3-1). This will be the second time since 1999 (’20) that the two teams will meet twice in the regular season.

The Hawkeyes will go on a three-game road trip in the middle of Big Ten play spanning two weekends, starting with a trip to The Great Lakes State to face both Michigan schools. Starting in Ann Arbor, Iowa will face a Michigan team that has missed the NCAA Tournament in two of the last three seasons after making eight straight from 2015-22. The Wolverines went 10-7 last season, including a 2-0 loss to Iowa. Then it’s off to East Lansing for a matchup with Michigan State. The Spartans are coming off of a 5-13 season and have not made the Big Ten Tournament since 2020. Iowa won 6-0 in Iowa City last season.

Back to Evanston for the second time, the Hawkeyes will face rival Northwestern closing out their three-game road trip with a single-game weekend. The Wildcats are 105-14 with five national title appearances and three championships over the past five seasons. They are coming off of a 22-1 season, including defeating Iowa twice, once in the regular season (3-1) and then in the Big Ten Tournament championship game (3-0). The Hawkeyes have lost seven of their last nine meetings with the ‘Cats.

Upon returning to Iowa City, Lisa Cellucci’s squad will get a 13-day break to rest and recharge before the final stretch of the regular season. Out of the break, they’ll host Rutgers and Penn State for Senior Weekend at Grant Field. Since starting the ’23 season 15-0, the Scarlet Knights are just 18-22, including missing the NCAA Tournament in back-to-back seasons. They went 9-9 last season, including a 4-3 OT loss to Iowa. As for Penn State, they’ve shockingly missed the NCAA Tournament in three straight seasons under Lisa Bervinchak Love, after they made it in 29 of 35 seasons under Charlene Morett-Curtiss. Last season, the Nittany Lions went 7-10 and missed the Big Ten Tournament for the second consecutive season, including a 1-0 shootout loss to Iowa.

Closing out the regular season, the Hawkeyes will go to College Park for a matchup with Maryland. The Terps went 10-8 last season, falling short of the NCAA Tournament for just the second time since 1994. It’s been a rough go for Iowa against the Terrapins, dropping six straight in the series, including a 2-1 loss last season.

The Big Ten Tournament will be hosted by Ohio State at Buckeye Varsity Field in Columbus, Ohio. It’s a 7-team format with the top seed getting a bye to the semifinal round and it will run from November 5th to 8th.

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