Off to a Flying Start

On an action-packed opening weekend of Big Ten Field Hockey, the conference’s top teams showed that they are ready to hit the ground running this season. 

Big Ten Makes a Statement in ACC Country 

Michigan stuns North Carolina

Shrugging off a two-hour weather delay on Friday to start the ACC/Big Ten Challenge, No. 14 Michigan  upset No. 2 North Carolina  in the Tar Heels’ home state with a 2-1 overtime win. The Wolverines broke the ice in the third quarter when Eva Bernardy scored on a penalty stroke, but North Carolina registered the tying tally just five minutes later. That set up redshirt freshman Sofia Ghanbari, in her collegiate debut, to bury the game-winning goal four minutes into overtime and give Michigan a massive first win of the season. In their second game on Sunday, the Wolverines fell to Wake Forest, 2-0. 

How ‘bout them Hawkeyes? 

No. 11 Iowa followed Michigan’s upset with an overtime victory of their own in Friday’s night cap,  defeating No. 7 Wake Forest  4-3. The host Demon Deacons jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first half, but the Hawkeyes’ big guns got them back into it. All-Americans Frederique van Cleef and Dionne van Aalsum scored within three minutes of each other in the third quarter to cut the lead to one. Then North Carolina native Meg Tebben drew Iowa even at the 51:34 mark with her first collegiate goal. In the overtime period, Reine van Hoof scored the fourth unanswered Hawkeye goal to complete the comeback.  See the comeback goal by goal .  

But that wasn't even Iowa's biggest statement of the weekend. On Sunday, goalkeeper Abby Johnson made nine saves to lead the Hawkeyes to a  3-2 upset over No. 2 North Carolina . Van Aalsum, van Cleef, and Rachel Herbine netted the trifecta of Hawkeye goals, but head coach Lisa Cellucci credited the win to the defense. “Once we buckled down and played collective team defense, we found great momentum,” she said. “This team has an incredible ceiling.” If this is just the beginning, we can’t wait to see what the Hawks have in store for the rest of 2026. 

Northwestern Starts 2-0

No. 1 Northwestern’s quest for a third consecutive NCAA title started in perfect fashion over the weekend. The Wildcats  opened the season with a 2-0 victory  over VCU on banner day Friday behind goals from Ella Kokinis and Jessica Freedman and a defense that allowed the Rams just four shots. 

On Sunday, the Wildcats followed up the victory with a  1-0 win over Lafayette  in Evanston. While Northwestern’s offense dominated — with 13 penalty corners, 20 shots and 11 shots on goal — it was Freedman again, who scored the lone tally in the 56^th minute. 

Upset Bids Fall Short 

Penn State faced No. 5 Virginia on Friday afternoon and, like Iowa, stormed back from a 3-0 deficit with fourth quarter goals from Olivia Marthins, Ella Gaitan and Chloe Dhage. However, Mia Abello would end the Nittany Lions’ run with the overtime winner. Penn State bounced back on Sunday, however, beating Lock Haven 8-0 with seven different players getting in on the scoring, including five goals in the third period alone. 

Indiana faced No. 10 Miami University on Friday and battled the RedHawks tightly all game. Gabriela Gayayo Aranceta scored to bring the Hoosiers to within one of Miami, but Indiana couldn’t muster enough offense to find the equalizer and fell 2-1. On Sunday, the Hoosiers dropped an overtime heartbreaker to No. 18 Louisville, despite Celia Arroyo Cabezudo tying the game in the fourth quarter.

Other Notable Results

• It’s a 2-0 start for Michigan State, who scored six goals over two games against Ohio and Saint Louis.  
• No. 17 Rutgers split the weekend, falling to No. 18 Monmouth on Friday but beating Wagner on Sunday. 
• No. 13 Maryland won its first two games at home, taking down Drexel 3-0 and Temple 3-1. 
• Ohio State dropped its season opener to Old Dominion 3-2, but came back to win 2-0 over Bellarmine on Sunday. 

We’ll have all the week's previews for you on Friday.  Check out the upcoming games . 

Photo credit: Isabella Tisdale/ hawkeyesports.com , nusports.com