50 Iowa moments since Title IX: With ‘a lot of really positive things brewing,’ Iowa field hockey returns to Final Four in 2008

Editor’s note: This is 31st in a series counting down the Top 50 moments in Iowa Hawkeyes women’s athletics history in the 50 days leading up to the 50th anniversary of Title IX in June.

Former Iowa field hockey coach Tracey Griesbaum remembers her teams getting a “shot of adrenaline” from their success in 2006 and 2007.

Iowa won Big Ten tournament titles in both years. The 2007 “springboard” season included wins over teams ranked No. 3 and No. 4.

“We had a lot of really positive things brewing,” Griesbaum told The Gazette. “A lot.”

Then the exclamation point came in 2008 when the Hawkeyes advanced to their first Final Four in nine years.

“That team was super special,” Griesbaum said. “Skilled, talented, great leadership and just fire in their eyes all the time.”

After a regular season that included a stretch of five straight wins by four-plus goals, Iowa’s postseason wins were much closer.

The Hawkeyes’ Big Ten semifinal and championship games both went into overtime en route to their third straight tournament title.

Then they squeaked through the first two rounds of the NCAA tournament with 1-0 wins over No. 13 Louisville and No. 10 Michigan State.

The game against the Spartans, with a Final Four spot on the line, was a rematch of the Big Ten semifinals and a home game for Michigan State.

After a snow squall delayed the final 27 minutes and 43 seconds of the game until the next day, the Hawkeyes finally scored the winning goal with about 10 minutes left.

Iowa suffered a 2-1 loss to then-No. 1 Maryland in the Final Four, but Griesbaum proudly remembers it as “probably one of the best games that group of players has played.”

“We threw everything at them,” Griesbaum said. “It was such a fun game. … We dominated that game and lost on a heartbreaker penalty corner in our second overtime.”

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