Opinion | Iowa soccer superlatives: best and worst of the year

The Daily Iowan looks at some of Iowa soccer’s best and worst moments of the 2022 season.

Johnny Jarnagin

Iowa midfielder Caroline Halonen goes in to celebrate with teammates after a goal scored by Iowa forward Hailey Rydberg during a soccer game between Iowa and Michigan at the University of Iowa Soccer Complex in Iowa City on Sunday, Oct. 2, 2022. The Hawkeyes and Wolverines tied, 1-1.

Sam Knupp, Sports Reporter
October 27, 2022

Iowa soccer had an up-and-down season.

The Hawkeyes finished the year at 5-6-7 overall, with a record of 2-3-5 in the Big Ten, putting them ninth in the conference.

The Daily Iowan will take a look at some of Iowa’s best and worst moments of the 2022 season.

Best goal: Sam Cary’s corner kick at Northern Iowa

This goal was amazing. You’ll have to take my word for it because the goal wasn’t tweeted anywhere or posted anywhere.

The left-footed Cary put in an in-swinging ball, which found the top left corner of the goal, just out of reach of Panther goalkeeper Caitlin Richards.

The goal came in the 18th minute against the Panthers, putting the Hawkeyes up, 3-0, en route to a 6-0 victory.

Honorable mention: Addie Bundy’s firecracker at Northwestern

This was difficult. I thought about Camille Welker’s goal against DePaul, along with Caroline Halonen’s score against Penn State.

But, the honorable mention clearly has to go to Addie Bundy for her screamer from the right side of the box at Northwestern.

The 33rd-minute goal gave Iowa a 2-0 lead over the highly ranked Wildcats, and proved to be the difference maker, as the Hawkeyes went on to win, 2-1.

Best win: Northwestern

Piggybacking on the previous point, the Hawkeyes went into Evanston as underdogs against the then-No. 13 Wildcats, who finished the regular season second in the Big Ten.

An own goal from Northwestern in the 28th minute, followed by Bundy’s rocket of a shot, gave the Hawkeyes a 2-0 lead. Northwestern came back strong in the second half with an Ella Hase goal right out of halftime. But Iowa kept the Wildcats at bay, for the most part, earning a 2-1 win.

Worst loss: Iowa State

Iowa State soccer had a rough season in 2022, going 3-9-4.

The Cyclones took an early lead with two goals from Jada Colbert. Iowa looked flat in the first half, dull compared to Iowa State. The Hawkeyes regrouped in the second half and eventually got the ball across the goal line with a Hailey Rydberg penalty kick, but it wasn’t enough to come back.

Best assist: Sara Wheaton to Kyndal Anderson

Wheaton picked up a couple sweet assists this year. The first one came at Cal-Poly when the senior delivered a perfect cross into the box to give the Hawkeyes the only goal of the match.

But the real standout helper came against Pacific when Wheaton sent in a free kick from about 55 yards out, which was headed in by Kyndal Anderson.