The Iowa soccer team went 1-1 this past weekend in games against Ohio State and Penn State — two teams with which the Hawkeyes (11-3-2, 3-3-2 Big Ten) have struggled.

Head coach Ron Rainey got his second career win against the Buckeyes (8-7-1, 3-4-1) when the Black and Gold beat Ohio State, 1-0, in Columbus on Oct. 14.

Sophomore midfielder Alex Melin connected on a corner kick from Morgan Showalter in the 55th minute, and Iowa was able to hold off the Buckeyes to earn the victory.

Iowa’s struggles against Penn State (14-3-0, 7-1-0) continued on Sunday, though. The No. 15 team in the nation used three second-half goals to down the Hawkeyes, 4-0. The Black and Gold have never beaten the Nittany Lions in their 14-year existence, and they have been outscored 55-6 in those games.

"Overall, going in [to the weekend] if somebody said we we’re going to split, we probably would’ve accepted that," Rainey said. "Penn State punished us for our mistakes, and so it’s something good for us to go into next week and work on in practice."

Penn State sophomore forward Maya Hayes added to her nation-leading goal tally by scoring twice. She has 21 goals on the season.

"People are a little bit disappointed today after being so excited about the Ohio State result," Rainey said. "We didn’t do enough against a real good team; Penn State is an excellent team."

Iowa will end its three-game road stretch when it faces Nebraska in Lincoln on Thursday.

— by Ben Wolfson