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23 T he University of Iowa field hockey team had an unforgettable 2019 season that will live on in the record books long aer recording 17 wins on the season. e 2019 Hawkeyes are the first in program history to take home both the regular season and tournament championships in the same year, and only the fih program in conference history to accomplish the feat. "We never doubted ourselves and had a lot of confidence in our abilities," senior Katie Birch said. "ere was never a moment of doubt in our season, and we set out to win every match." Iowa earned an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament and was seeded in the toughest corner of the bracket, defeating Duke, 3-2, in the Sweet 16 and faced No. 1 North Carolina in the Elite Eight. e Tar Heels hadn't lost a game in two years, something the Hawkeyes hoped to snap. Aer outplaying North Carolina for the first three quarters, the Tar Heels snuck in a goal early in the fourth quarter to go up 2-1. Before the postseason, the Hawkeyes endured a tough schedule that included 14 top-25 ranked teams. Aer starting the season 4-2 with losses to No. 1 North Carolina and then No. 2 Duke, Iowa set out determined to do well in conference play. e Hawkeyes went on a five-game winning streak and defeated three ranked Big Ten programs on their way to a 9-2 record before facing their conference rival, No. 2 Maryland. In four of its five losses, Iowa fell by one goal. Against No. 2 Duke and No. 5 Louisville, Iowa fell in overtime, 2-1. eir 3-0 loss against Maryland was different. "We had a reality check aer the Maryland game," Birch said. "Every team in the Big Ten is so challenging, but aer we lost to Maryland, we knew something wasn't clicking like we wanted it to. We know how good of a team we are, and all we needed to do was make adjustments to get everyone on the same page." ose adjustments locked the Hawkeyes in for a tough stretch for the final five games of the regular season. Aer defeating Northwestern, 2-1, the Hawkeyes had one more opponent to get through to clinch a share of the Big Ten regular season title. "We knew what was at stake when that final game against Michigan came around," senior Sophie Sunderland said. "It was a well-fought game where we topped them 1-0 and took home the title." Aer earning a share of the regular-season championship with Maryland, it was time to take home another trophy. e Hawkeyes defeated Ohio State (4-1) and Northwestern (2- 1) to advance to the finals against Penn State in University Park, Pennsylvania. e Nittany Lions had dominated at home and knocked off defending champion Maryland, 1-0, two days prior to the final, rolling hot and hoping to take home a title at home. Penn State was previously 9-1 in tournament play on its own turf; Iowa made it a point to make that 9-2. "We knew they were going to bring it and we had to try and slow them down," Sunderland said. "It was evenly played through the first 60 minutes. Leslie (Speight) and our team played well and stopped their counter-attacks, but it was in overtime when we finally put away the game. We did a great job winning right away, 23 seconds in." e Hawkeyes added two Big Ten trophies to their case in 2019, but more importantly, continued to embody the legacy of University of Iowa field hockey.