Iowa soccer battled to a 1-1 draw against Mississippi State Sunday at the Iowa Soccer Complex.

Though the Hawkeyes had 19 shots compared to the Bulldogs’ three, each team got the ball into the net once.

“I think they’re disappointed,” Iowa head coach Dave DiIanni said. “And that’s ultimately the emotion I would expect from them and happy they’re bit disappointed. I thought they played very well. They’re disappointed with the result.”

The Hawkeyes got on the board in the 81st minute when graduate transfer Alyssa Walker found the back of the net off a corner kick from freshman midfielder Addie Bundy.

“The goal was super exciting,” Walker said. “We had one corner that just came, and I barely missed it and I thought to myself after we got a replay is like this is my chance, it’s now or never. Seeing that perfect flight of ball from Addie come in. Just finding it and seeing it roll down the back of net that’s just super exciting, especially when we were down a goal.”

The Bulldogs only needed one shot in the first half to score a goal

Bulldog defender Niah Johnson lined up for a corner kick in the 37th minute and executed perfectly as midfielder Hannah Telleysh knocked in a header for the first goal of the match.

Though the Hawkeyes accomplish what they wanted offensively, they were impressed with their defense.

“I mean, it was a tough game,” defender Sara Wheaton said. “We knew they were going to be strong, physical, and fast. So, I think mentally it was a good mental engagement game. As long as were tight to every player we were winning a lot of tackles.”

BIG PICTURE

 In Iowa’s first draw of the season, the Hawkeyes struggled finishing offensive attacks. Though the Hawkeyes had the ball 58 percent of the time, many of the goals were off as they went wide or high of the net.

With the Hawkeyes wanting to score more, they will focus on finishing during practice, which Walker said is an easy fix.

“I think we were putting ourselves in the right positions to score,” Walker said. “It’s just that last second where you got to keep that mentality right and just place it and I think that’s one thing we were falling behind on today.”

The Hawkeyes are averaging 1.83 goals per game.

STAR WATCH

Freshman forward Kenzie Roling had five shots, four on goal, in 97 minutes of action. Like many of the Hawkeyes, she was in good position but couldn’t get the ball past Bulldog goalkeeper Maddy Anderson.

With Walker’s goal, she and Roling are tied for the team lead with four goals.

UP NEXT

The 4-1-1 Hawkeyes will travel to take on Kansas City on Thursday.

The Roos are 2-4 on the season, coming off a 5-1 loss at Tulsa Sunday.

Forward Kassi Ginther leads the Roos with four goals. The Roos have played two goalkeepers in their six games, with Mackenzie Caldwall getting the start in the last two.

Thursday will be the first time the two programs have met.