The Hawkeyes are starting to gain a bit of early season momentum.
By Ricardo Ascencio
The early part of the season continued for Iowa soccer as it headed to Hawkeye Soccer Complex to face off against 1-1-1 Wyoming.
The Hawkeyes prevailed, beating the Cowgirls, 3-2, thanks to a 2-goal performance by senior Bri Toelle.
“I liked the way we played, especially against a good team like Wyoming,” said head coach Dave DiIanni. “We knew they would be a very difficult team; they are a quick-counter team, and if you don’t handle it well, you won’t like the results. However, we played well, and I like how we are developing.”
The Hakeyes got off to a quick start out of the gate when Toelle scored the early go-ahead goal to make the score 1-0.
“The first goal was a breakaway, but I wouldn’t have been able to do it without Devin [Burns],” Toelle said. “I think she just picked her head up and set me a nice air ball, and then all I had to do was beat the goalie.”
The senior’s score was made in large part thanks to freshman Burns, who was able to evade defenders and pass to Toelle for the assist.
After a rugged period of defending by goalkeeper Claire Graves, the Hawkeyes entered the half leading, 1-0.
However, halftime began rather bizarrely, as a lightning warning delayed the continuation of the game by almost two hours.
“The over hour and a half we had off, we just talked about being mentally focused and staying in the game,” DiIanni said. “I was really positive about how we came out and played. I thought we did some really nice things, and we were a lot more direct in the second half.”
While the long delay can be tough for coaches to be able to keep their teams motivated, the weather also put a burden on the players as well.
“Your legs start to tighten up, obviously, but I think we did a good job as a team to just kind of remain mentally focused and getting a nice good warm-up before the second half,” Toelle said.
After starting the second half sluggishly and giving up a goal to Wyoming’s Katie Marcheso, Iowa quickly rebounded with a tying goal in the 76th-minute by freshman Natalie Winters.
Even with the late score, the Hawkeyes refused to end it in a tie, as Toelle took the assist from junior Karly Stuenkel and scored the game winning goal in the 81st-minute to make the score 3-2.
“The second one wasn’t a breakaway, but Karly again picked her head up well and set up a nice pass for me to score,” Toelle said.
With the victory, the Hawkeyes left the field with an impressive 3-1-0 record.
Iowa will try to keep its momentum rolling going up against Colorado State on Friday at 7 p.m., at the Hawkeye Soccer Complex.
