By Jess Westendorf
Iowa soccer broke its five-game losing streak and gained its first conference win Sept. 30 against Purdue at the Iowa Soccer Complex.
The Hawkeyes, who have been lacking on offense, came out firing. In the third minute of the first half, junior Karly Stuenkel played a ball to freshman Olivia Fiegel, who then gave it to freshman Devin Burns. Burns kicked the goal, which held up the rest of the game as the winning one, past Purdue goalkeeper Jordan Ginther.
Because it was the first goal the Hawkeyes have scored in the first five games of Big Ten play and ultimately gave them a victory in the conference, the goal by Burns may very well be the most important one of the season so far.
“Considering we haven’t scored a goal in the Big Ten, it was important to come out as hard as we could, especially against a team like Purdue,” Burns said. “We knew getting the early goal was going to be really important.”
The strike she sent through was her second career game-winning goal. The first half was all offense for the Hawkeyes — Iowa out-shot Purdue 6-4 in the first half.
Iowa has preached all season long that it wants to take a lot of shots and put a lot of pressure on whatever team is running along side it. Thus far, the Hawkeyes have stuck to that plan really well, outshooting their opponents by a wide margin this year. The frustrating thing for them is that not many have found the back of the net.
Only one snuck by the Purdue goalkeeper on Sept. 30, but it was enough, and that sent the whole team home happy.
“It was a good start for us,” said head coach Dave DiIanni. “You know whenever you go 0-4 in the first four games, whether you work hard or not, you’re losing a little bit of confidence, so that was a good pick-me-up.”
In the second half, Iowa freshman goalkeeper Claire Graves pulled through and battled through Purdue’s offensive spark. The Boilermakers took 10 shots in the second half.
Graves saved 5, adding to her season total of 46, and tallied her third shutout of the season. She has the third most saves in the Big Ten this season.
“It’s going to have a positive effect for us; we have played some good soccer throughout the first four games, we just need to be consistent,” DiIanni said. “We bent today but didn’t break; we took their best. We grew up a little bit as a team today, and I was really proud of our kids.”
The Hawkeyes will turn their focus to the next match, Oct. 6 at Minnesota. Game time will be 7 p.m.