One season after winning the Big Ten Tournament, the Iowa soccer team will not repeat the feat. The Hawkeyes fell at No. 4 Rutgers, 2-0, in the conference semifinals on Thursday.

After a scoreless first half, the Scarlet Knights tallied their first goal in the 67^th minute. Rutgers forward Allison Lowrey took a shot from outside the penalty area that barely crept by Hawkeye goalkeeper Macy Enneking.

Rutgers took the momentum from there and struck again 15 minutes later.

Scarlet Knights midfielder Amirah Ali rushed down the pitch with two Iowa defenders in front of her, and then executed a juke that sent defender Sara Wheaton in a different direction. Ali then unleashed a shot that went around defender Sam Cary and Enneking to seal the match.

The Hawkeyes only mustered six shots against the Scarlet Knights, with three on goal. Midfielder Hailey Rydberg led Iowa with two shots.

“It’s been an honor to coach this team this year,” head coach Dave DiIanni said in a release. “We asked them to compete for 90 minutes, be brave and confident on the ball and leave everything on the field. They did just that. Unfortunately, Rutgers was more dangerous than we were offensively.

“I personally want to thank the senior class for all they’ve done in this program. They’ve been special people, students, and players during their time here. They leave as the most successful class in the history of our program. Two NCAA tournaments, a Big Ten Championship, and three Big Ten Tournament appearances. It is a big class which stayed together and invested in every area in takes to be a successful Hawkeye. The adversity this team has been forced to deal with could have broken us, but instead you saw us get stronger.”

BIG PICTURE

Iowa’s defeat knocked the Hawkeyes out of the Big Ten Tournament.

The Hawkeyes finished fifth in the regular season conference standings. Iowa was sitting at 67^th in the RPI heading into Thursday’s match, and the NCAA soccer selection committee will select 32 at-large teams to fill a 64-team field.

TOURNAMENT WINNING STREAK ENDS

 With Thursday’s defeat, the Hawkeyes’ conference tournament victory streak concluded at five.

On their run to winning the Big Ten Tournament last April, the Hawkeyes won four consecutive games. They defeated Illinois and Minnesota during the conference’s regional weekend, and then came out on top against Penn State in the semifinals and Wisconsin in the championship game.

In this fall’s tournament, Iowa downed Michigan State in the quarterfinals.

UP NEXT

If the Hawkeyes are selected for the NCAA Championship, they’ll find out Monday at 3:30 p.m.

Iowa has qualified for national tournament three times in program history. The Hawkeyes were selected as an at-large bid in 2013 and 2019. Iowa was an automatic qualifier for the spring 2020 season as they won the Big Ten Tournament.