England native Katie Birch thriving for Iowa field hockey

IOWA CITY - She winds up, cracking the stick against the ball. It spins down the Grant Field turf, spraying water all over the players.

A York, England, native, Katie Birch, is making a name for herself with the Iowa Hawkeyes field hockey team.

She was the Big Ten Freshman of the Year last fall.

'She possesses every skill you want a hockey player to have, plus she's also just a great competitor,” Iowa Coach Lisa Cellucci said. 'She loves to win and she plays really hard.”

A fullback for the Hawkeyes, she's the main distributor in the back and the main piece on set corners. In most situations the team looks to her, and Birch thrives on it.

'She has a ton of potential, we just expect her to keep getting better and better,” Cellucci said.

Birch gets her drive from her family. Her dad got her started when she just 5.

She is motivated by the diversity on the team, with a roster made up of players from all over the United States, as well as England, Tasmania, New Zealand, and the UK.

'Here it's hockey all day, every day. Which I love, I'm happy it's like that ... it's what I love to do; it's my passion,” Birch said. 'So I definitely think it's a big aspect in my life, but I wouldn't want it any other way.”

Coming out of Friday's game against University of New Hampshire, Birch had a team-high six shots on goal. With only five minutes left in the game, UNH was up 2-1 when Birch tied the game with a penalty corner goal. However, the Wildcats won it with a goal in overtime, 3-2.

'She played well. She was under a lot of pressure ... she did a good job organizing but unfortunately we weren't able to handle New Hampshire's pressure,” Coach Cellucci said after Friday's 3-2 loss.

Sunday's game against New Hamshire went better. Iowa won, 7-1. Birch had three goals and an assist. It was her second career hat trick (first against Saint Louis on Sept. 4, 2016).

No. 17 Iowa (3-4) opens Big Ten play on Friday at No. 3 Penn State (5-0).