Iowa soccer wins in an upset against No. 22 Nebraska
No. 22 Nebraska fell to the hands of hands of the Hawkeyes Friday evening, 2-1.
Iowa forward Kaleigh Haus wins a header during Iowa’s game against Central Michigan on Friday, Aug. 31, 2018.
October 7, 2018
The road is finally forgiving for the Iowa Hawkeyes. After suffering six road losses in a row, Iowa stunned No. 22 Nebraska on the Huskers’ home turf.
The Hawkeyes, now 6-6-2, topped Big Ten-leading Nebraska, 2-1, at Barbara Hilber Soccer Stadium on Oct. 5.
“I’m proud of our team in how they responded to playing against a top-25 team on the road,” head coach Dave DiIanni said in a release. “We’ve talked about needing to be more mentally and physically present for the entire game, and tonight was that moment.”
Iowa applied pressure to the Huskers right out of the gate, attacking early and often following the opening whistle. Junior Kaleigh Haus opened the scoring for the Hawkeyes in the 13th minute. Freshman Skylar Alward broke free from the Nebraska defense and laid the ball off to Haus, who netted the goal.
Goalkeeper Claire Graves kept the Huskers at bay throughout the rest of the first half, saving two shots back-to-back in the 43rd minute.
Iowa was in the driver’s seat going into the intermission, and the Hawkeyes continued their quest to top the Big Ten’s best.
In the 48th minute, Devin Burns scored her first goal of the season and extended Iowa’s lead to 2-0. Burns, last season’s leading scorer, has been sidelined with injury for most of the season but has made her presence known in the Hawkeye attack.
Burns had the ball at her feet after Nebraska keeper Aubrei Corder deflected a screamer from outside the box. Last year’s leading scorer easily planted the ball in the back of the net to extend the Hawkeye lead.
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Burns continued pressuring Nebraska. She had opportunities in the 62nd and 70th minute but was unable to add her second goal of the game.
Nebraska seemed to wake up in the final minutes, but Graves made three crucial saves to halt the Husker attack. Nebraska was able to cut Iowa’s lead to 1 with a goal in the 76th minute, but Graves added another stop in the 84th to seal the win for the Hawkeyes.
“I loved how we attacked the game in the first half, but more importantly, we didn’t wilt after missing some good chances to go up 3-0 and Nebraska got on the board with a set-piece goal,” DiIanni said in a release. “It was important to this team to get the first Iowa win in history of this series.”
In 11 games with the Huskers, Iowa had gone 0-10-1. The 12th appearance finally ended in Iowa’s favor thanks to a successful Iowa attack from the start, and stellar play from Graves in the goal.
The Hawkeyes will return home after three-straight away games on Oct. 12, when they will face Michigan State. The unforgiving away slate of the season is nearly complete, as the Hawkeyes will only see Minnesota on the road on Oct. 18.
Iowa enters the Michigan State game with newfound momentum. Nebraska marked Iowa’s highest ranked win since 2013, when they topped No. 20 Purdue. Michigan State, on the other hand, has not been in the win column since Sept. 6. Since then, it has tied three games and lost six.
