Iowa soccer draws against Michigan, takes loss at the hands of Michigan State.
By Jordan Zuniga
When Iowa soccer departed for Michigan, its plane flew alongside their hopes for the weekend.
But after a 2-2 draw to Michigan and a heartbreaking 3-2 loss to Michigan State, the Hawkeyes are left at the end of another weekend feeling as though they should’ve walked away with more points.
“It was a difficult loss to accept today.” head coach Dave DiIanni said after Sunday’s loss. “The team competed all game, which is a big positive on a Friday and Sunday weekend. But we aren’t doing enough to help ourselves out for long enough periods of time all over the field and today it cost us three points.”
Contrary to last weekend, the Hawkeyes’ problem wasn’t getting their shots to hit the back of the net; it was stopping their opponent from scoring.
In Friday’s game against the Wolverines, Iowa found itself down 1-0 at halftime, but came out of the tunnel with steam and tied the game early in the second half off a beautiful header from Kaleigh Haus.
That lead was short lived, as Michigan quickly took back the lead three minutes later. Past Hawkeye teams might’ve called it after that goal, but not this group as they continued to create chances until Devin Burns was able to score sending it to overtime.
The Hawkeyes were the aggressors in overtime, but their aggression failed to yield a goal and they were stuck with a tie.
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Friday’s effort against a valiant Michigan squad had DiIanni and the rest of his team content and ready to face the lesser Michigan State.
“The team prepared well to go into a difficult environment and play a very well coached team in Michigan.” DiIanni said. “We are happy with not only the effort, but the quality in which we played tonight. It’s great to get a point on the road especially after going down 1-0 early.”
On paper, it seemed Michigan State would be an easy opponent for Iowa, as the Spartans had a -18 goal differential going into Sunday’s game.
The first half opened with the Hawkeyes opening up a firing range at the Spartan goal, but to no avail as it was the Michigan State who drew first blood in the 19th minute.
Senior midfielder, Karly Stuenkel hastily re-tied the game at one apiece with her first goal of the season.
The game remained tied for the first 15 minutes of the second half when the teams traded goals to give each team two. Iowa’s goal came from Hannah Drkulec, and was her first as a Hawkeye.
Michigan State’s final blow came from its goal scoring leader, Jamie Cheslik, in the 67th minute. Iowa would have chances to tie the game, but none would make it on the scoreboard.
These losses were tough to swallow because of how well Iowa played in both games, outshooting both of their Michigan opponents by a combined 17 shots.
Yet, at the end of the day, the only stat that really matters is how many goals were scored against how many goals were allowed, and it has been five games since Iowa has claimed victory in that category.
They will try to snap their five-game losing streak Thursday against No. 16 Rutgers at Iowa Soccer Complex, kicking off at 7 p.m.