The Hawkeyes have suffered a tough start to their conference season

By Courtney Baumann
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The Iowa soccer team has had a rough going in the first half of the Big Ten season. Below are some statistics from the Hawkeyes’ first five games of conference play.

Record: 0-4-1

It’s been a difficult road for Iowa so far. For their second, third, and fourth games, the Hawkeyes played Michigan, Ohio State, and Penn State back to back to back, all solid Big Ten teams. The Hawks’ most recent match ended in a tie with Indiana in double-overtime.

Currently, Iowa is in 13th place in Big Ten standings with just a single point. The cutoff point for the conference tournament is eighth, where Rutgers is holding on with 7 points.

With six games left in Big Ten play, Iowa has the opportunity to earn up to 18 points — if the team wins out. To even be in contention, Iowa must win two games. However, that also means the rest of the teams have to lose, a lot.

It could be difficult for the Hawks to work their way out of the hole they are in by the end of the season.

Goals Scored: 3

Considering Iowa scored 13 goals in its seven nonconference games, the 3 scored in Big Ten play seems like a dwarf of a number. Only Indiana and Maryland have scored fewer goals than the Hawkeyes, with 2 and 1, respectively.

The 3 goals have come from different players: 1 from senior Brooke Backes, another from junior Bri Toelle, and the third from freshman Alina Magruder.

The Hawkeyes will have to figure out how to get past their difficulty in finding the back of the net in order to salvage a few wins in the upcoming games.

Goals Allowed Per Game: 2.20

Last year’s goals allowed per game was only 0.75. This number has nearly tripled since last season, and it’s not surprising the Hawkeyes have yet to tally a victory.

Not having much offensive control of the games seems to wear out the defense, which has allowed 11 goals in five games. This puts the Hawks in dead last in the Big Ten for goals against — 4 more than penultimate Purdue.

Saves Per Game: 7.40

Senior goalkeeper Hannah Clark is on top of the Big Ten in most saves with 35. This season, she has 61 — only 15 fewer than she had all last season.

While that number puts both the Hawkeyes and Clark No. 1 in their respective categories, the differential between first and second is large — and possibly worrisome. The gap is nearly 2 points.

This could be because Iowa has allowed an average of 21 shots per game. Six of the top seven teams in the conference have allowed fewer than 50 shots in Big Ten play.

That forces Clark to work overtime to make up for the number of shots being taken by the other team. That number may get Clark honors at the end of the season, but Iowa does not want her to need to make this many saves.

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