Iowa soccer notches first win of 2020-21 season against Maryland
Iowa soccer beat Maryland on the road Sunday afternoon, 1-0.
Iowa forward Gianna Gourley fights for possession during Iowa’s match against Illinois State on Sunday, September 1, 2019. The Hawkeyes defeated the Red Birds 4-3.
March 21, 2021
Iowa soccer picked up its first win of the season on the road at Ludwig Field against Maryland. The Hawkeyes won the contest, 1-0.
With the win, the Hawkeyes are now 1-6-1 on the season.
“Results aren’t always a great indicator of progress being made,” head coach Dave DiIanni said in a release. “I’ve said before that this group understands we are a work-in-progress and want to continue to get better. I’m happy with being rewarded with three points today.”
For the first 90 minutes of Sunday’s game, neither team could get the ball in the back of the net. It wasn’t until the first overtime period in the 98th minute of the game that Hawkeye sophomore Gianna Gourley scored a game-winning goal for Iowa.
Gourley delivered the strike towards the top of the goal, and the ball found its way across the goal line, despite the efforts of Maryland goalkeeper Kennedy Tolson, who did get a touch on the ball.
The goal was Gourley’s first of the season and her second career game-winner. Her first game-winner came in the Hawkeyes’ 1-0 win over Nebraska in October 2019.
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Freshman Macy Enneking made her first career start for the Hawkeyes at goalkeeper Sunday. Enneking had three saves on the day.
Despite only scoring one goal, the Hawkeyes did outshoot the Terrapins.
In the first half, both teams shot the ball three times. In the second, Iowa fired 15 shots.
Outshooting their opponents hasn’t been out of the ordinary for Iowa this season. The Hawkeyes have outshot their opponents in five of their eight matches this season — counting Sunday’s contest against Maryland.
While the Hawkeyes have gotten their fair share of shots-on-goal, they have struggled to get the ball in the back of the net. Iowa’s first goal of the season came in its last contest — a 2-1 loss to Rutgers.
Iowa has been fortunate enough to get players back from injury in recent weeks. Junior Sara Wheaton returned from injury last week against Rutgers after missing Iowa’s contest against Minnesota.
Four Hawkeyes also played a complete game on Sunday. Wheaton has played the entirety of every match the Hawkeyes have participated in this season — with one exception due to injury. Sophomore Sam Cary, freshman Rielee Fetty, and senior Diane Senkowski have all played in four complete games in 2020-21.
“We created chances to score [Sunday], held a very athletic, countering team to limited chances, and earned a clean sheet for Macy, who made her first career start,” DiIanni said in a release. “We will use this as a springboard to continue our growth for the remaining games and build the culture of how Hawkeye soccer needs to compete.”
Iowa’s next two matchups will come at home in Iowa City. First, the Hawkeyes will take on Penn State March 25 at 2 p.m. Then, they’ll face Purdue March 28 at 1 p.m. Both games will stream live on Big Ten Network+.
Counting those two home games, just three regular season games now stand between Iowa the postseason — which starts April 8 with Big Ten Wildcard Weekend.
