The Hawkeyes’ defense is doing all it can to help the team find a win.

By Courtney Baumann
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If there is one thing that could salvage a few wins for the Iowa soccer team by the end of the Big Ten season, it’s the Hawkeyes’ defense.

The team’s offense has been underwhelming. During conference play, Iowa has averaged only 6.86 shots per game, and the team has scored only three times in seven games.

To provide a comparison, Penn State, which is near the top in almost every conference statistic, has taken 140 shots in the Big Ten and averaged 2.57 goals per game.

With next to no offensive for the Hawkeyes, the responsibility has been placed upon the defense to hold the team together.

Iowa’s Big Ten defensive statistics are not the greatest, and the team is far below most of the conference leaders. Those numbers are not a good representation of what the Hawkeyes can do, though.

“It’s going to happen when you’re playing a lot of defense, you’re going to have a couple of mistakes,” junior Amanda Lulek said. “The other teams are going to capitalize on them.”

The defense did not happen by chance; it has been good for a while. Defense has been a staple of the Hawkeye program for years.

Hawkeye defender Lulek said that since she joined the program, the defense has felt like a family. She attributed a lot of that to the leadership of Hannah Clark, the lone team captain this year.

This season, Iowa has averaged 1.29 goals allowed per game, which is the highest it has been since 2010. It may seem like a high number compared with other NCAA teams, but another thing to take into consideration is that opponents have taken 221 shots against the Hawkeyes.

That leaves their opponents’ shot percentage at .081.

Clark, the senior goalkeeper, should receive much of the credit for that.

Through her three seasons and then some at Iowa, Clark has posted 295 saves, 25 shutouts, and a cumulative save percentage of .813 percent. She has played in 76 games, starting 60.

“Hannah to us is an all-conference player, and she’s something we rely on to make saves as a four-year starter,” head coach Dave DiIanni said. “She’s been a great leader for us.”

Unfortunately for the Hawkeyes, they have only put together six wins so far.  Even if Iowa wins out, the 10-win record would be Iowa’s worst since 2010.

Only the top-eight teams in the conference make the Big Ten Tournament, and as long as Iowa wins its next four games, the team still has a chance.

Those wins will not come solely from the defense, and the offense knows it will need to step up.

“We know that our finishing isn’t so great,” Brooke Backes said about the offense. “We get the opportunities, but we definitely need to need to focus and make better use of our chances to score.”

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