Iowa fell to Kansas in the Hawkeyes’ 2022 home opener Thursday at the Iowa Soccer Complex. 

The Jayhawks beat the injury-plagued Hawkeyes, 1-0, outshooting Iowa 15-13. Iowa, however, put eight shots on goal to Kansas’s seven.

Fifth-year Monica Wilhelm started at goalkeeper for Iowa, replacing the injured Macy Enneking, who broke her nose in Sunday’s game at Cal Poly.

Head coach Dave DiIanni said it is unclear when Enneking is expected to return, but it’s likely she won’t play against DePaul on Sunday.

The Jayhawks controlled most of the possession and fired eight shots in the first 45 minutes to Iowa’s four.

Kansas forward Shira Elinav scored the night’s lone goal in the 53rd minute as she found the back of the net with a header off a Jayhawk corner kick. 

https://t.co/DMcq1DFVVD pic.twitter.com/O6Rq9aNxBM

— Kansas Soccer (@KUWSoccer) August 26, 2022

The Hawkeyes generated chances in the second half, but none caused too much trouble for Kansas goalkeeper Melania Pasar, who had seven saves on the night.

Iowa head coach Dave DiIanni said while the Hawkeyes were able to bounce back from the rough start, turnovers in the midfield hurt his team throughout the game.

“We asked them to be a bit braver with the ball and we knew that turnovers were going to result in some transition,” DiIanni said. “We turned the ball over a lot in the first half in particular and even though it got better in the second half, there was still a theme.”

Big Picture

Iowa narrowly missed out on the NCAA Tournament in 2021, partly because of losses in nonconference games, resulting in a bad RPI ranking. DiIanni said because Iowa has been playing tough teams, he’s not too concerned about the 1-2-0 start to the current season.

“We lost to UCLA and Kansas,” DiIanni said. “Kansas was a top-25 team up until last week and still might be again.  UCLA is top 10.  We scheduled hard because we knew we needed to.”

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The early-season losses most likely will not harm the Hawkeyes’  postseason chances if they right the ship in the upcoming weeks 

Finishing struggles

Thursday’s contest marked the second time in the year’s first three official games that Iowa has failed to score.

DiIanni said while the Hawkeyes got a lot of shots off, his team needs to work for higher-quality opportunities. 

“I think that we need to be more patient in the final third when we get the ball and that was something we talked about — not giving the ball away cheaply,” DiIanni said.

DiIanni said injuries also affected Iowa’s performance in the attacking third. Four starters — Addie Bundy, Cassidy Formanek, Maggie Johnston, and Kenzie Roling — each sat out. 

Wilhelm stepping in

Monica Wilhelm made five saves on the night while filling in for Enneking.

Wilhelm, who made four of those stops in the first 45 minutes of action, said she fed off early momentum as the night wore on. 

“There’s four goalkeepers and only one spot, so you have to be ready for when your name’s called,” Wilhelm said. “Unfortunately, I didn’t [start] in the first two games, but I was ready for this one … There’s only four months left in my career and I just play every game like it’s my last.”

What’s Next

Iowa will continue its stretch of home games against DePaul and Pacific on Aug. 28 and Sept. 1 before going to Waco, Texas, to face Baylor.

The Hawkeyes most recently faced DePaul on the road in 2021, where they picked up a 2-1 win.

Iowa, in six matches against DePaul, has a record of 5-1-0.