Iowa’s defensive battle against Nebraska ends in a 0-0 draw.
By Jordan Zuniga
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On a chilly night, the Iowa soccer team battled Nebraska for a full 110 minutes with neither team finding the back of the net, resulting in a 0-0 tie.
It was a valiant performance by Hawkeye keeper Claire Graves and the rest of the defenders to keep the game 0-0 to ensure the Hawkeyes would walk away with at least 1 point.
“I think they’re a very difficult team to play against,” head coach Dave DiIanni said. “This was kind of a bonus game for both of us. Everybody had two games left, [and] we had three, so to get a point out of it and keep climbing up the list is important for us.”
On the stat sheet under the “shots” column, Iowa found itself woefully outmatched — Nebraska outshot the Hawkeyes, 20-4.
That’s not a treasure map to success, but part of Iowa’s failure to get adequate chances stem0med from the play of Nebraska keeper Abrei Coder.
Most keepers spend the majority of the game inside the goalie box, but Coder didn’t follow that style and spent most of the game as far ahead of the goalie box as she could.
It was a different look than Iowa was used to, and it affected its ability to get a lot of ball control inside the box.
“Nebraska just came out really strong,” Devin Burns said, “They’re a really solid defense, and they’re hard to get through and very quick in the back.”
While the offensive side of the ball lacked inspiration, the defense was stellar. Continually being bombarded with shots, the defenders made the clearances they needed to, and Graves hauled in everything else.
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The defensive performance was especially impressive considering Iowa’s anchor, Rochelle Armand, has been sidelined for the rest of the season with a torn ACL.
That has given the true freshman Morgan Krause a chance to step up in her place. It’s a chance she has had in six other games in which Armand was unable to play.
In those previous six games, the Iowa defense yielded 11 goals, so last night’s performance was huge for her.
Krause attributed her success last night to the team’s veteran leadership.
“Honestly, all the upperclassmen are helping me out so much,” Krause said. “Coming in as a freshman, I didn’t think I would be starting and playing this much, definitely soaking it all up and having some fun. [Morgan] Kemerling has helped me so much. It’s so much fun playing with her.”
With the tie, the Hawkeyes find themselves just 2 points behind Purdue for a spot in the Big Ten Tournament with two games left to play.
Six teams are within 5 points of each other and are each fighting for the final three spots in the Big Ten Tournament.
One of those teams is Wisconsin, which Iowa will take on Saturday at 7 p.m. at the Iowa Soccer Complex.
Wednesday night’s game was a thriller, but with Iowa just 2 points behind Wisconsin for a spot in the tournament, Saturday’s game just might have more excitement.