Keeping with its theme for the season, the Iowa soccer team started slowly in the first half but flipped the switch to attack mode in the second half to win a pair of home matches over the weekend.

The Hawkeyes (5-2) scored three goals in the second half to beat Loyola-Chicago, 4-1, on Sept. 11 before netting all four of the team’s goals in the latter half of a 4-0 shutout against Wisconsin-Milwaukee on Sunday.

“We identified things at halftime, so we tried to go out there in the second half and really put it out there on the field,” freshman midfielder Alyscha Mottershead said. “Definitely something we’re going to work on for the next couple weeks is trying to come out like that in the first half.”

Mottershead and junior forward Keli McLaughlin each scored two goals against Loyola-Chicago.

The Hawkeyes assaulted the Wisconsin-Milwaukee goal in the second frame of Sunday’s Game. Iowa fired shot after shot, which eventually led to the Hawkeyes netting three of the team’s four goals within three minutes of each other.

Sophomore forward Alyssa Cosnek dribbled around the Panthers’ goalkeeper for the first goal, and 15 seconds later, freshman midfielder Katherine Lewis scored her first career goal on a short header.

Head coach Ron Rainey was impressed with the way the Hawkeyes attacked over the weekend, especially his forwards, who he said made “first-class finishes.”

“We have a rotation up top with the rotation of Keli and Alyssa and Dana,” Rainey said. “They’re like a three-headed monster up there, and I think it’s really wearing down opponents.”

However, Mottershead said the tale of two halves theme was something the Hawkeyes can’t afford to rely on every game.

“In a sense, it’s a concern because you never know. If a team starts taking it to us in the first half before we do, then we are just making it a lot more difficult for us,” she said. “So it’s definitely something we’re going to try to identify and fix.”

In turn, Rainey was asked how concerned he was with the ongoing trend of starting slow.

“Not a ton, because I don’t think we gave up a ton of attacking chances in the first half,” he said. “We have to figure out that at the beginning of the game, we should be looking to keep possession of the ball as much as we do in the second half of the game.”

Iowa’s depth was something the team identified as an area of strength even before the season began. And the sophomore Cosnek said strong bench play is a big advantage for the Hawkeyes — especially in the second half of games.

“We have a lot of depth this year,” she said. “We have a lot of confidence in everybody on the team. Everybody who goes in just plays with their hardest intensity. We hope to just keep winning and coming out with big wins where everybody is contributing.”

The win over Wisconsin-Milwaukee also marked the third shutout of the season for sophomore goalkeeper Emily Moran.

But while the two wins put Rainey and the Hawkeyes in a good mood, they have yet to be satisfied.

“This weekend went perfect for us,” Rainey said. “So now we said to the team, ‘Let’s get greedy with each other and have our best week of practice this week and prepare for Iowa State.’ ”