Iowa Stun Penn State and Maryland Roll On as the Big Ten Semifinals Are Set
Two quarterfinals, two very different kinds of wins, and now the Big Ten’s last four is set.
Iowa did it the hard way. Penn State struck first in Columbus through Josephine Purdy in the 5th minute, and for a while it looked like the Nittany Lions’ brilliant October would carry into November. Then Iowa took over. Fréderique van Cleef levelled in the 27th minute, and Dionne van Aalsum won it in the 53rd, picking up a loose ball in the circle and rolling it home.
The numbers tell you how one-sided it got. Iowa outshot Penn State 14-2, with a 9-1 edge in shots on goal. Van Cleef and van Aalsum both moved to 18 goals for the season. Penn State’s season isn’t necessarily over, they could still land an at-large NCAA bid, but their Big Ten run ends at 12-6. Iowa, 13-4, march on.
Maryland’s win was more comfortable, but it wasn’t a cruise. The top-ranked Terps scored on each of their first two shots against Ohio State and led from early on, yet the Buckeyes hung around and kept it a one-goal game deep into the second half. Then, halfway through the fourth quarter, Babs van Hest threaded a pass through a pack of Ohio State defenders to a wide-open Ella Beach, who flipped it home to make it 3-1. Ohio State emptied their net late on, but there was no way back.
So Friday’s semifinals in Columbus are set. Northwestern, the top seed with a quarterfinal bye, meet Indiana at 1 p.m. ET, after Indiana’s 2-1 win over Rutgers on Wednesday. Then Maryland face Iowa at 4 p.m. ET. The final is Sunday at noon ET, and the winner takes the automatic NCAA bid.
For our money, Maryland v Iowa is the pick of the two. Maryland are 17-1 and look every bit the top-ranked team, but Iowa just beat the team that beat Northwestern last week. Nobody in this bracket is coasting anymore.
