Iowa soccer wins 3-0 at Michigan State
With the Big Ten’s leading scorer out for the game, the Iowa soccer team took advantage of the Spartans and won its 4th Big Ten game this season
Iowa players hug after a goal during a soccer game between Iowa and Illinois on Sept. 26, 2019 at the Iowa Soccer Complex. The Hawkeyes defeated the Fighting Illini, 3-1.
October 6, 2019
For the first time all season, the Iowa soccer team won a Big Ten game on a Sunday after shutting out Michigan State, 3-0, on the road.
This win pushes the Hawkeyes to 12-2 on the season and 4-2 in Big Ten play. This was the Spartans’ first home loss of the season. It was the Hawkeyes fifth road-win of the season, and the four conference wins matches their total from last season.
The Hawkeyes got a huge break before the game started as the Big Ten’s leading scorer this season, sophomore forward Gia Wahlberg, did not play due to an injury she sustained Oct. 3.
With that in mind, the Hawkeyes took advantage of the situation. They outshot the Spartans, 20-6, and had seven corner kicks compared to one corner kick by the Spartans.
Senior captain and defender Hannah Drkulec scored her fifth goal of the season in the 19th minute, a header off of her head in front of the goal box. The pass came from sophomore defender Riley Whitaker outside of the penalty box.
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Twelve minutes later, senior forward Emma Tokuyama scored right in front of the goal off a loose ball that was saved by freshman forward Gianna Gourley.
The Hawkeyes added insurance in the 79th minute, as senior forward Devin Burns scored a header directly off a corner kick from Tokuyama. Again, the goal came from inside of the goal box. This was Burns’s team-leading sixth goal of the season.
“It’s always hard to win in the Big Ten, especially on the road, so this makes it even more exciting,” head coach Dave DiIanni said in a release. “I liked our mentality to compete and be committed to attacking a dangerous Michigan State team for 90 minutes. There are some areas we need to continue to improve on, to keep growing as a team. But we got a big save from Claire [Graves] early on to keep us in the game and quality, gritty goals, two of which were on set pieces. Our bench stretched out the minutes today and that was a big factor in the game.”
Graves, the senior goalkeeper, had the 35th win of her career, which tied her for second on the all-time wins list at Iowa. She also had her seventh shutout of the season, tying a single-season career-high for her.
The Hawkeyes return home Friday for a 7 p.m. start against Rutgers.