The Iowa soccer team fell short of an upset Thursday night, losing to No. 23 Nebraska, 2-1.

The loss is the Hawks’ third of the Big Ten season, dropping their record in conference play to 1-3-0 and their overall record to 9-3-0.

“I thought we played close to, if not our best game of the year,” Iowa head coach Ron Rainey said. “Both teams worked really hard. I felt like they made one more play in the end.”

The Cornhuskers struck first in the match with a goal in the 27th minute. Sophomore Katie Kraeutner found the back of the net with an assist by midfielder Stacy Bartels for her fourth goal of the season.

The Hawkeyes tied the match at 1 at the 58:47 mark of the game. Originating from a Cloe Lacasse assist, Katie Nasenbenny was able to find the back of the net for her second goal of the season. The assist was Lacasse’s sixth of the season — the most on the team.

Nebraska responded in the 81st minute of the match on a header from midfielder Sydney Miramontez with the assist coming from junior Samantha Areman. The goal was Miramontez’s fourth goal of the season.

The match was another example of how closely contested each Big Ten game can be as even the smallest details can determine the outcome of the game.

“It hurts because I feel like we’ve been in all of these Big Ten games that we lost,” Rainey said. “All the games for the most part from here on out are going to be 1-goal games if we show up and play like we did today.”

The Hawks outshot the Cornhuskers 19 to 16 on the night, but neither team’s shots landed on target very much. Both teams recorded 5 shots on goal.

The two goals allowed by the Black and Gold pushes their total number of goals given up on the season to 10 — an average of 0.83 goals allowed per game.

“We have to play a little bit better and minimize our errors on both sides of the ball,” Rainey said. “If we put our heart and soul into it like we did today, that’s what competition is about.”

The Hawks will return home to face Michigan State on Oct. 6 at the Iowa Soccer Complex. The Spartans will enter the match with a record of 7-3-2. The game is slated to begin at 1 p.m.

“Nobody on our team should not be proud of the way we competed today,” Rainey said. “Anybody associated with our team knows how hard we worked today and that was special to be a part of.”