Iowa’s sophomores deliver kick

Iowa’s Kaleigh Haus collects her first career hat trick as the Hawkeyes trounce the Spiders.

Jordan Zuniga, [email protected]

August 21, 2017

Iowa goal keeper Claire Graves reaches out for the ball over Michigan midfielder Abby Kastroll during the Iowa v. Michigan match at the Iowa Soccer Complex on Friday, September 16, 2016. The Wolverines defeated the Hawkeyes in a close 1-0 match. (The Daily Iowan/ Alex Kroeze)

The Iowa soccer team looked in midseason form Sunday afternoon when it routed Richmond, 5-1, in the season-opener.

After finishing last season losing 10 of their last 12 games, Sunday’s game was a great way to kick off the Hawkeyes’ 20th season.

“Today was very important for us to make sure we put in a great effort so that we could leave Richmond with a win, especially after losing a game on Friday to weather,” head coach Dave DiIanni said in a release. “We will evaluate the good things we did today and continue to work on areas of improvement.”

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The contest was played at E. Caliborne Robins Stadium in Richmond, Virginia, and opened with a flurry of early goals for the Hawkeyes.

Sophomore Kaleigh Haus drew first blood when she knocked a shot past Spider goalie Katie Brennan to give the Hawkeyes a quuick 1-0 lead.

Richmond answered in the seventh minute on a free kick, but it only took seven minutes for Haus to answer with her second goal of the half to put the Hawkeyes up 2-1.

Sophomore Olivia Fiegel added a goal in the 30th minute to send the Hawkeyes into the locker room with a 3-1 lead.

The second half was more of the same for the Hawkeyes. Fiegel added another goal in the 52nd minute, and in the 56th minute, Haus completed her hat trick when her shot ricocheted off Brennan.

Five goals were more than enough for the Hawkeyes; their keeper, Claire Graves and the rest of the defense was able to keep the Spiders off the scoreboard.

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Haus and the Hawkeyes outshot the Spiders 14-5, making it an easy day for Graves, who only had one save.

Doing most of the engineering for the Hawkeye offense was Big Ten All-Freshman team honoree Natalie Winters, who finished the game with 3 assists.

Rose Ripslinger, Karly Stuenkel, and Isabella Blackman also tallied assists.

“This was a team win, with solid efforts and performances by everyone involved,” DiIanni said in a release. “We had special moments at times in the final third that created the 5 goals and other chances to score.”

For Haus, her 3-goal performance was her best game in a Hawkeye uniform; last year she had just 1 goal all season.

Sunday was the first match for the Hawkeyes, but it hadn’t been scheduled that way. The Hawkeyes were slated to face VCU on Aug. 18, but the game was canceled because of poor weather.