Iowa soccer surrendered two second-half goals Sunday afternoon to fall, 2-1, against Michigan State at the Iowa Soccer Complex.

In the 80^th minute, Spartan forward Jordyn Wickes intercepted a ball that bounced off the right crossbar, knocking it into the net for the game-winning goal.

Michigan State tied the match in the 71^st minute when Spartan forward Ava Cook got past a one-on-one matchup with Iowa goalkeeper Monica Wilhelm for a wide-open goal.

“I thought we had a lot of good stuff from today,” Iowa head coach Dave DiIanni said. “This team has gone from more adversity than we care to admit in the first five weeks of the season but playing with a lot of people on the sidelines that could help us, but the reality is I thought the game was in our grasp.”

DiIanni added the Hawkeyes committed too many mistakes to earn the win.

The Spartans outshot the Hawkeyes, 25-19.

“I just think today we had some mental lapses and they capitalized on that,” midfielder Hailey Rydberg said.

Hawkeye defender Sam Cary started the scoring in the match, as she scored in the 13th minute from just outside the penalty area off a pass from midfielder Maggie Johnston.

It was Cary’s second goal of the season.

“It was an exciting moment,” Cary said. “We knew Michigan State is a very good team so we wanted to start off strong, and the ball had bounced around the box, we knew that we could get them in the width, Maggie had a great touch back to me, and I was able to put my head down and bury it in.”

BIG PICTURE

The Hawkeyes spilt their home series after taking down Maryland on Thursday, and Sunday’s defeat was their first home loss of the season. With the loss, the Hawkeyes fall to 8-4-1 overall and 2-3 in the Big Ten.

It was the second time in three matches the Hawkeyes lost after scoring the first goal of the match.

Halfway through the Big Ten season, the Hawkeyes have six points — ninth place in the conference standings. Currently, the Hawkeyes would miss out on the eight-team Big Ten tournament.

NEW FORMATION

The Hawkeyes switched their alignment from a 4-3-3 to a 3-5-2 on Sunday because of recent injuries.

Sunday’s match was the first that freshman midfielder Addie Bundy did not play after starting all previous matches.

Senior defender Olivia Hellweg, after starting the first 11 matches, is out for the season, and midfielder Josie Durr hasn’t participated since suffering an injury in a preseason match.

UP NEXT

The Hawkeyes have a week break before taking on Rutgers in Piscataway on Oct. 10. Currently, the Scarlet Knights are 9-2 overall and 4-0 in the conference, atop the Big Ten standings.