NCAA TOURNAMENT FIRST ROUND ·  #15 American (13-3, 6-0 PL) at #3 Iowa (16-2, 7-1 Big Ten)
Friday, November 12  ·  1 p.m. ET  ·  Iowa City, Ia. (Grant Field)
All-Time Record: Iowa leads, 3-1
Broadcast Talent: John Evans (pxp)

WASHINGTON - The #15 American University field hockey team is back in the NCAA Tournament First Round for the 10th time in program history after receiving a bye through the Opening Round. The Eagles will open against two-seed Iowa at 1 p.m. ET at Grant Field in Iowa City, Ia., with the winner advancing to face the winner of Northwestern vs. North Carolina at 2 p.m. ET on Sunday in Iowa.

This is the second time AU has faced Iowa in the First Round of the NCAA Tournament. The last was in 2004 when AU toppled the Hawkeyes, 2-1, to advance to the program's first Second Round in College Park, Md.

SUPPORT FROM AFAR

• American University students and staff are invited to cheer the Eagles on during the NCAA Tournament watch party in the Tavern on AU's campus starting at 1 p.m.

THE QUICK HITS

• American claimed its 12th Patriot League title on Saturday, Nov. 6, with a 2-1 win over Lafayette at home at Jacobs Complex. The win came on the heels of the team's 10th undefeated conference season and 12th regular season title.
• Lafayette's was one of only three teams in the league to post a goal against AU this season along with Bucknell (2) and Boston University (1).
• This will be the Eagles' 11th NCAA Tournament appearance, and the second time they meet the Hawkeyes in the First Round. The last time was in 2004 was American toppled #11 Iowa, 2-1, in College Park, Md., to advance into the Second Round for the first time in program history.
• AU dominated the Patriot League postseason awards once again with a league-high six honors, including Goalkeeper of the Year Bryn Underwood and Coach of the Year Steve Jennings. This is the 10th Coach of the Year selection for Jennings, and the second consecutive major award for Underwood after she was voted Rookie of the Year last season.
• Two-time Offensive Player of the Year Noor Coenen was named to her fifth consecutive All-Patriot League First Team alongside Underwood and returning Defensive Player of the Year Georgia Davies.
• Fifth-year Gaby de Kock was named to her second consecutive All-PL Second Team while senior Aidan Rossman earned her first All-League distinction after earning PL Scholar-Athlete of the Year last season.
• Underwood was also selected as the Patriot League Tournament MVP and was joined on the All-Tournament Team by Coenen, Davies, and junior Charllene Boshoff.

SCOUTING THE HAWKEYES

• Two-seed Iowa dropped to No. 3 in the latest NFHCA polls after leading Division I for most of the season. The Hawkeyes claimed the Big Ten regular season title but fell to #2 Michigan in the Tournament, 3-2. This was the second consecutive loss for Iowa after they closed the regular season with a 2-1 defeat at the hands of #6 Northwestern.
• Nikki Freeman and Leah Zellner added both goals for Iowa against the Wolverines while Maddy Murphy pitched in the team's only assist. Goalkeeper Grace McGuire picked up one save.
• Ellie Holley (8g, 9a) and Murphy (7g, 11a) lead the team with 25 points each, followed by Freeman's 18 (6g, 6a).
• McGuire has played every minute in the cage for the Hawkeyes this season and has 40 saves for a .769 save percentage and 0.66 GAA. She has led the team to a program-record eight consecutive shutouts, three of which came against top-10 ranked opponents, and 11 total on the season.
• Iowa leads the country in shutouts and scoring margin (2.79), and ranks within the top-three for goals against average (0.66), goals per game (3.5), and points per game (9.78).

SERIES HISTORY

• American is 1-3 against the Hawkeyes dating back to the 1996 season.
• Iowa claimed the victory in the series debut, beating out AU 4-2 at Maryland's Terrapin Invitational.
• The Eagles came out on top in the next meeting, toppling Iowa 2-1 in the First Round of the 2004 NCAA Tournament to advance to the program's first Second Round appearance.

LAST TIME OUT

• Fifth-year Noor Coenen scored the only goal during AU's 1-0 win over Lehigh in the Patriot League Tournament semifinal.
• The Naarden, Netherlands, native pitched in a nicely placed rocket into the lower corner of the cage, weaving through four Mountain Hawk defenders before blasting in the shot underneath the onrushing goalkeeper.
• Junior Charllene Boshoff contributed to both of AU's goals during the 2-1 win over Lafayette in the Patriot League final.
• She pitched in the assist to Emily Horace who delivered a 1-0 lead to the Eagles just before halftime.
• Boshoff got onto the scoreboard herself in the first five minutes of the second half, blasting in a shot after a corner insertion from senior Georgia Davies.

COMIN' IN HOT

• American enters its 11th NCAA Tournament on an eight-game win streak dating back to October 2.
• This is the longest win streak since 2010 when AU picked up 12 straight en route to the program's eighth consecutive PL title.
• The Eagles have won 13 of their last 14 games with only the 4-0 loss to No. 9 Maryland breaking up the run.

MAJOR AWARDS

• Sophomore Bryn Underwood was selected for her second consecutive PL major award as the league's Goalkeeper of the Year.
• This also marks her first All-Patriot League First Team nod after she didn't make an All-League team last season despite being named Rookie of the Year.
• She is the program's third Goalkeeper of the Year after Kate McBeath earned the distinction in 2015 and Maura Jacobs in 2018.
• For the 10th time since 2001, Steve Jennings was voted as the PL Coach of the Year. This is the most out of any head coach in the league's history followed by Ann Gold (Lafayette) and Sally Starr (Boston U.) with five each.

SCHOLAR-ATHLETES

• For the second consecutive season, senior Aidan Rossman was voted as the Patriot League Scholar-Athlete of the Year.
• She was the ninth player in program history to earn the honor last season and became the third AU player in program history to earn two in the row alongside Natalie Konerth ('17) and Maura Jacobs ('19).
• Senior Josie Formica joined Rossman on the All-Academic Team for the second consecutive year while sophomore Bryn Underwood made her debut on the list.

ALL-PATRIOT LEAGUE

• Fifth-year Noor Coenen was selected to her fifth consecutive All-Patriot League First Team. The two-time Offensive Player of the Year along with Lehigh's Lenke Havas are the first players in PL history to have earned five All-PL First Team honors.
• Returning Defensive Player of the Year Georgia Davies earned her second consecutive All-PL First Team honor.
• Fifth-year Gaby de Kock and senior Aidan Rossman rounded out the postseason honors with selections to the Second Team.

COENEN RECORD WATCH

• Senior Noor Coenen added her name to the list of all-time greats in program history long ago. Now in her 5th season with the Eagles, she is continuing her climb through the AUFH record books and sits second all-time in scoring (55 goals) and fourth for career points (137).
• She is also tied for ninth in the record list for career assists with 27.
• She also holds spots in the program top-10 for single-season points (44 in 2019), and single-season goals (18 in 2019) .
• A two-time All-American, Coenen currently ranks fourth in Division I for career goals and is tied for fifth in career points.
• She also continues to set herself apart in the Patriot League. She currently sits third in PL history for scoring and is fifth for career points.
• In fact, she is one of four Eagles to have earned back-to-back PL Offensive Player of the Year selections, and is one of only seven players in PL history to have won both Rookie of the Year and Player of the Year. With the award last season, she now stands as one of only three players in PL history to earn two Player of the Year awards after also being selected as Rookie of the Year.

For the latest on American University Field Hockey, stay tuned to AUEagles.com and follow the team on Twitter (@AU_FieldHockey) and Instagram (@aufieldhockey).