Fueled by two timely clutch goals late in the second half, the No. 11 Hawkeyes pushed past unranked Northwestern 2-1 on Sunday, keeping their no-loss Big Ten record alive as they look to Indiana.
The Wildcats were envisioning to be the first team in the Big Ten to defeat the Hawkeyes, but their hopes were soon crushed by forwards Elle Otto and Lauren Geczik.
With four minutes left in the game, the Hawkeyes found themselves in a tight 1-1 brawl with the Wildcats. Otto tied it up to dodge a shutout loss.
But just one minute later, with three minutes left in regulation, Geczik found herself eyeing down the Wildcat defense in a crucial position for Iowa on a corner kick.
Geczik, from the corner, sent the ball with precision to the top left of the goal, inching by multiple Wildcat defenders.
And scoring the clutch go-ahead goal for the Hawkeyes, shifting the momentum to the Hawkeyes and putting the score to 2-1 in favor of Iowa.
Iowa goalkeeper Taylor Kane reflected on some key contributions on the pitch that helped shift the momentum in favor of Iowa.
“We try to focus on winning 50-50 balls and completing the simple things,” she said. “If you watch the last 20 minutes of the entire game, it was in our attacking third, which really allowed us to keep the pressure going.”
After the remarkable goal from Geczik, with less than three minutes of play left in the game, the Wildcats were unable to pull off any miraculous play to tie the Hawkeyes.
The two timely goals for Iowa late in the second half of play propelled Iowa to 9-0-3 on the season — and to an impressive 4-0-1 record in Big Ten play.
“It was a really exciting win for us — it’s always hard to win on Sundays away from home,” Kane said. “Just to be able to keep fighting as a team, that’s one thing I am really proud of [in] this team: We always work together, and we find a way to win.”
The Hawkeyes finished the game with an efficient seven shots, six total corner kicks, and two saves on one goal allowed. And they jumped to 11th from 18th in the United Soccer Coaches poll this week after the win.
Hawkeyes prep for Big Ten battle against the Hoosiers
Looking ahead, the 9-0-3 Hawkeyes will have had a whole week’s worth of preparation to prepare for the Indiana Hoosiers on Sunday.
In an extremely tight Big Ten race, with a total of six teams that have yet to lose a Big Ten game, Iowa finds itself on the top of the leaderboard.
Indiana has struggled, though, particularly in Big Ten play this season. The Hoosiers are 6-4-1 overall but a noticeable 0-4 in Big Ten play.
“Indiana is a very good team,” Kane said. “I think we are really focusing on our set pieces. How we can execute those extra possessions are really important. So, we will definitely be working on those.”
Leading the charge offensively for Indiana is Sarah Sirdah, who has recorded an impressive seven goals on the season. Following Sirdah, there are also three Hoosiers who have three goals.
Hoosier goalkeeper Jamie Gerstenberg has allowed 10 goals on the season but has accumulated 32 saves in the same time frame.
While the team has yet to scout the Hoosiers, Kane notes that despite a poor conference record, Indiana should not be overlooked.
“Indiana usually has a strong midfield,” Kane said. “We must figure out how we can use our strong midfield to break down their midfield. It’s always a numbers game.”
The match will start at 1 p.m. at Bill Armstrong Stadium in Bloomington, Indiana.