For most of Iowa soccer’s contest against Nebraska, there was no scoring. Both teams had numerous opportunities, but both defenses did a great job.

Then, Hawkeye freshman forward Gianna Gourley scored what turned out to be the game-winning goal in the 80th minute to give the Hawkeyes a 1-0 victory over the Cornhuskers, pushing their record to 11-2 overall, 3-2 in the Big Ten. The goal was Gourley’s third of the season and was assisted by captain and defender Isabella Blackman.

“[Melina Hegelheimer] just had a great run down line with a lot of speed,” Gourley said. “And then Bella recovered the ball, and she just had a great pass to me, and I cut it in and saw the open lane and took a shot.”

It was Gourley’s first start of her career; she filled in for injured redshirt senior forward Kaleigh Haus.

“It started off a little rocky,” Gourley said. “In the second half, I knew I needed to come out and pick it up a little bit. With the help of the team, it went well.”

The goal was not set up.

“I think in the flow of soccer you can’t set up anything,” Blackman said. “You’re not planning for anything to happen, and when those moments come, as a midfielder, those are the best moments when you see that split ball, and you see the defenders moving out of the space, and you see your teammate running through — that’s what we play for, and it was awesome for [Gourley] to make that run and finish that ball.”

Head coach Dave DiIanni was impressed with how his team came back from its 2-1 overtime loss to Northwestern Sept. 29.

He was already impressed with how the Hawkeyes trained this week and how they approached the game, but there was something else he was impressed with as well.

“I’m more impressed with the following of the game plan,” he said. “We wanted Nebraska to have to play the length of the field, and we were going to play a little bit of a higher line in confrontation.”

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The Hawkeyes didn’t stop the Cornhuskers the entire game, however. The Cornhuskers had five shots in the first half and four shots in the second half. DiIanni said the team really had to make them move the ball 90 yards, and he believes that helped the Hawkeyes defensively and in transition.

The Hawkeyes will travel to Michigan State on Oct. 6 for a 1 p.m. start. This season, the Spartans have not lost at home, and they have the No. 1 goal scorer in the nation in sophomore forward Gia Wahlberg.

The Spartans tied at Minnesota on Oct. 3, moving their record to 8-3-1, 1-2-1 in the Big Ten.

“It’s a tough place to play,” DiIanni said. “But we have five or six Michigan kids who are going home who are going to be very happy to play in front of their families.”

The players know this as well.

“We are expecting them to come out really hard,” Blackman said. “They are undefeated at home, which means they are a really strong team, and I think it’s really important to come out as strong as we did tonight and get that win.”