The Iowa soccer team (6-6) will try to break its recent slump today at home against Purdue (3-7).

The Hawkeyes have lost five in a row, including their first four conference games to start the season. A 6-1 start has been squandered by a recent lack of offense from the team, having yet to score a goal against a conference opponent.

On paper, the home game against Purdue will be one of the easier conference matchups of the season and a great chance for the Hawkeyes to get into the win column in conference.

Purdue comes in with one conference win, which came against Illinois (3-8), but still has the worse record overall in the conference heading into today’s matchup.

Despite the recent absence of scoring, Iowa is still one of the top offensive teams in the Big Ten through the first 12 games of the season. In fact, the Hawks are second in goals (21) and third in shots (191).

If Iowa is able to find some of that spark from earlier in the season, it should be in good shape — Purdue has surrendered 20 goals in just 10 games this year.

Bri Toelle will have to lead the offensive charge. The senior led the Hawks in both points (15) and assists (5) last year, and she leads the team this year in goals (5) and points (12).

Defensively, Iowa is anchored by Claire Graves, the freshman goalie from Noblesville, Indiana. Despite Iowa’s woes, the young goalie has been a bright spot; she is third in the Big Ten in saves with 46. She has started all 12 games this season.

At the other end, the Purdue squad has split time between Erika Yohn and Jordan Ginther, who have 28 and 27 saves, respectively. Three players are tied for the most goals on the team with two each.

The Hawkeyes’ roster is made up of 31 players, 19 of whom are listed as either sophomores or freshmen. After a hot start to the season and then a very cold start to conference play, it will be interesting to see how the youngsters respond.