Iowa Soccer Send Seniors out with Something to Talk About

They finally did it!

The Iowa women’s soccer team finally got a Big Ten victory!

Iowa Women's Soccer head coach Ron Rainey (Photo via Hawkeyesports.com)

The only problem is that the first win took the entire Big Ten schedule, and the win didn’t come until the final game of the season.

For the victory, the Hawks had to dig deep against Purdue on Saturday night. Down 2-0, the Hawks rallied in the second half for a 3-2 victory over the Boilermakers.

What does this say about the team?

To me it says they never gave up on the season, which started out great (7-1) but fizzled around late September. From September 19th to October 31st, the Hawkeye soccer team went 0-8-3. It wasn’t until November 6th that Iowa finally got a win in Big Ten play.

At the Iowa soccer complex Saturday night, Iowa finally got the ball rolling in the second half after playing a less than impressive first.

Now the Hawkeyes go into the winter season with a better-than-bitter taste in their mouths. Although they Hawkeyes finished 8-9-3 overall and 1-7-2 in Big Ten play, it’s got to feel a lot better to know that they sent the seniors out on a W, and a dramatic W at that.

Sure, it’s a losing record.

Sure, it’s a one win season in conference play and there will be no NCAA Tournament for the Hawkeye soccer team.

But ending the season with not only a win, but a scrappy come-from-behind win, means that the team can go into the off season feeling good, not hanging their heads.

More importantly, the seniors who will hang up their cleats can leave the Iowa soccer team, which they have poured their souls into over the last four seasons, thinking of proud memories, not sulking on a winless Big Ten campaign.

Seniors Kali Feiereisel, Amanda Martin, Keli McLaughlin, Jenna Aleo, Mandy Hiemann and Stephanie Swanson will move on. But eventually they will return to The University of Iowa, and most likely they will recall the dramatic win over Purdue, not some pithy record or meaningless stat sheet.

Now head coach Ron Rainey needs to retool for the 2011 season. The self described grinder will look to the future, as all good coaches do, and find a way to improve on a season that was all at once disappointing and invigorating.