First Month in Review: Iowa Hawkeye Soccer

It’s October, the chlorophyll is withdrawing from the trees, and it’s time for another Iowa Hawkeyes September in Review.

IOWA HAWKEYE SOCCER:

Historically, the Iowa soccer team is nothing particularly impressive. Since the program’s inception in 1997, the Iowa Hawkeye women’s soccer team has an overall record of 98-133-17 going into the 2010 season. It would be easy to overlook coach Ron Rainey’s Iowa soccer team.

But they may be the hottest fall team to sport the tigerhawk logo.

The soccer schedule was the first to start the fall season, actually beginning official play as early as August 20th. The premier match against DePaul resulted in a 2-0 loss, but it would be over four weeks- seven games- until the Hawkeye soccer team would win again.

The streak started at the Iowa Tournament in Iowa City, which featured Iowa, Central Michigan, Northern Illinois and Northern Iowa. (Somehow, the Hawkeyes didn’t play UNI in this weekend tournament) They would however, pick up a 2-0 win over Northern Illinois, and a scrappy 1-0 win over Central Michigan, a Sunday match in which Alyssa Cosnek scored a second half goal with the help of a Leah DeMoss assist.

Next, the Hawkeyes would be on the road for six consecutive matches, starting with Loyola in Chicago, a 3-0 win, before a trip up north to take on UNI. (There we go.) A big 6-0 beat down of the Panthers in Cedar Falls left the Hawkeyes riding the September winds on a massive wing of confidence.

On the weekend of September 10th, the Hawkeyes would travel on their furthest road trip of the season (unless they make the NCAA Tournament and get sent further) to Charleston, North Carolina. A 2-0 victory over The College of Charleston gave the Hawkeyes a streak of five consecutive shutout wins. In these five games, the Hawkeyes out-scored their opponents 14-0. Unfortunately, the shutout streak would come to an end on Sunday, Sept. 12th . The winning streak, however, would continue. The Hawks beat Davidson 3-1 before returning to the Midwest.

The Iowa soccer team would give The University of Iowa a 5-2 advantage over Iowa State in the Cy-Hawk Series with a 4-0 victory in Ames. In this game, Leah DeMoss picked up 2 goals, and Morgan Schowalter picked up a goal and an assist.

All good things must come to an end, (I don’t see why, but this is what wise people tell me) and the Hawkeye winning streak would snap at the feet of the Nebraska Cornhuskers by a 3-1 final.

The Hawkeyes would finish the month of September about as unremarkable as it gets: two consecutive ties. In the Big Ten opener, the Hawkeyes brought the #18 Minnesota Golden Gophers to a http://www.hawkeyesports.com/sports/w-soccer/recaps/091910aab.html, and then would play an entire scoreless game against St. Louis.

The Iowa Hawkeye soccer team would end the month of September 7-2, arguably the best month among all Hawkeye teams, and certainly the most surprising.

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FYI- The Hawkeyes began the month of October with a 2-0 loss at Wisconsin. The Hawks out-shot the Badgers 10-7, but couldn’t break through a Wisconsin defense that sits at the top of the Big Ten in goals allowed.