Iowa soccer suffers third loss of season at Indiana

The Hawkeyes lost, 2-0, for the team’s third loss in a row to start the 2021 season.

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Shivansh Ahuja

Iowa defender Sara Wheaton passes the ball during a women’s soccer match between Iowa and Maryland at the Iowa Soccer Complex on Sunday, October 13, 2019. The Hawkeyes shut out the Terrapins, 4-0.

Hunter Moeller, Sports Reporter


The Iowa soccer team fell in a bout with Indiana, 2-0, in Bloomington, Indiana, Sunday afternoon.

The loss marks the third in a row for Iowa to start the season.

Indiana leaped to an early 1-0 lead in the contest with a goal from Melanie Forbes and an assist by Avery Lockwood in the seventh minute. Forbes got herself another goal in the 29th minute to increase the Indian lead to 2-0.

The second half was a stalemate for both teams, as neither team found the back of the net.

Iowa hasn’t had trouble getting shots this season so far. Iowa outshot both opponents in its first two contests. Against Indiana, it was no different. The Hawkeyes outshot the Hoosiers, 8-7. Juniors Hailey Rydberg and Sara Wheaton led Iowa in shots, both having two apiece.

In the first half, Iowa took three of its eight shots on corner kicks, but none ever led never to a score.

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Redshirt sophomore Monica Wilhelm has defended the goal for the Hawkeyes in every contest so far. She had three crucial saves in 40 seconds during the 69th minute, yet the Hawkeyes couldn’t get the ball into the net.

Three Hawkeyes played all 90 minutes of the contest, which were Wheaton, freshman Aleisha Ganief, and freshman Rielee Fetty.

The freshmen have had to step up this year on a team where the majority of the players are underclassmen. Iowa has one lone senior. Out of the 28 players on the team, 18 of them are underclassmen.

“Today, as a team, we improved,” Iowa head coach Dave DiIanni said in a release. “But youth and inexperience bring inconsistency, and with that, there are highs and lows as we saw today. Mistakes were made that were preventable, and at this level, we got punished for them, so credit to Indiana. I like how we played outside of the goals until the final 20 minutes where we lost our confidence, focus, and nerve to stay committed to the game plan tactically. Our team is growing every day both as a group and individually, but unfortunately, results matter also, so better balance is needed for that.”

Iowa will host Michigan at the TBK Bank Sports Complex in Bettendorf for its next game on March 4 at noon.