Turns out the most notable defense at the University of Iowa may not belong to the #9ranked Hawkeye football team. This weekend, Head Coach Ron Rainey’s women’s soccer team put together a 6-0 win over the intrastate rival Northern Iowa Panthers. This marks the 4th shutout the Hawkeye soccer team has posted this season; that’s four shutouts in five games.
After going scoreless themselves in the season opener against DePaul, the Iowa women’s soccer team seems to have pulled the hard 180.
In the past four games, the Hawkeyes have out worked their opponents by a combined score of 12-0. Not all of the wins were blowouts however: most notably, a 1-0 nail biter against Central Michigan, which saw a lone second half goal off the foot of forward Alyssa Cosnek be the difference. The lesson here seems to be that the Hawkeyes can win with 1-0 close calls or 6-0 out right beat downs. (For people who can only think in touchdowns, 6-0 in soccer = 42-0 in football.)
The Hawkeyes have used a swarming team effort to keep their opponents out of the net. In the last four games, the Hawkeyes have taken 61 shots. Hawkeye opponents have only mustered 35.
Although it took the Hawkeyes 24 minutes to get the first goal against UNI on Sunday, Iowa found the back of the net for their second goal less than five minutes later. It was open season after that, as the Hawkeyes used a total team effort to secure the win over the Panthers of the northland. Each of the six goals can from a different player, and five Hawkeye players added to their season assist totals, led by Stefani Campbell who had two assists in the match. Also, ten Iowa players took shots at the Northern Iowa goal. In comparison, only four Panther players took shots. (FYI- The Hawkeyes took 19 total shots to UNI’s 7)
Yes, the season is young and the real test for Ron Rainey’s squad will come when Big Ten competition starts in late September against Minnesota, but right now you have to be optimistic about this team. This is a talented squad with a lot of senior leadership and experience. Judging from the last four games the Iowa Hawkeye soccer teams knows what it's doing, offensively and defensivly.
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