After suffering a gut-wrenching loss to Wisconsin on Thursday, No. 9 Iowa women’s soccer handled No. 15 Rutgers in a 2-0 shut-out victory in New Jersey early Sunday afternoon.
The Iowa offense justified its No. 9 ranking, keeping the Scarlet Knight defense on its toes throughout the entire night. The Hawkeye offense recorded a total of 14 shots, half of which were on goal.
Midfielder Sofia Bush got the Hawkeye offense rolling at the 36:09 mark, taking advantage of an Iowa corner kick by positioning her body in the air to score the ball past the Scarlet Knight goalkeeper.
And moving the score to 1-0, in favor of Iowa.
Midfielder Meike Ingles opened the second half of play with a goal of her own at the 49:15 mark, improving her goal total on the season to five.
Ingles sliced through the Scarlet Knight defense, and with a booming right legged kick, scored through the upper left part of the goal — giving the Hawkeyes a 2-0 advantage and destroying any hopes of a Scarlet Knight comeback.
The stout Iowa defense, led by goalkeeper Macy Enneking, went back to its roots after a shaky game against Wisconsin. Enneking recorded four saves on the night and did not allow a goal, increasing her save total on the season to 36.
Offensively, Rutgers had multiple opportunities to score, recording a total of 13 shots, four of which were on goal. Defensively, the Scarlet Knight goalkeeper Olivia Bodmer was busy in the box and recorded six saves on two goals allowed.
The 2-0 victory over the Scarlet Knights pushes Iowa to third place in Big Ten standings with a 6-1-1 record.
Up next
The Hawkeyes have two conference games this week, hosting Big Ten newcomers Washington and Oregon in Iowa City on Thursday and Sunday, respectively.
The Huskies are a respectable 8-4-2 on the season and 5-3 in their inaugural season in the Big Ten. Washington has losses to No. 15 UCLA, No. 25 Santa Clara, and Rutgers.
Washington will be looking to improve its win streak to three with an upset win this Thursday at 7:30 p.m.
Oregon has not fared as well as Washington in its first season in the Big Ten, accumulating an overall record of 5-8-2 and a conference record of 1-5-2.
The match between the Hawkeyes and Ducks is set to start at 1:00 p.m.