No. 11 Iowa women’s soccer closes out regular season with 2-1 loss to Minnesota

The Hawkeyes will now turn their attention to the Big Ten Tournament on Thursday, where they still await their opponent.

Trey Benson, Sports Reporter

October 27, 2024

Emily Nyberg/The Daily Iowan

Iowa midfielder Kellen Fife moves the ball down the field during a soccer game between No. 7 Iowa and Oregon at the University of Iowa Soccer Complex on Sunday, Oct. 20, 2024. The Hawkeyes defeated the Ducks 4-0. (Emily Nyberg/The Daily Iowan)

The No. 11 Iowa women’s soccer team dropped a heartbreaker to unranked Minnesota 2-1 on Sunday afternoon, marking Iowa’s second loss of the season and concluding the regular season with an impressive 13-2-3 record.

Minnesota now moves to 12-3-3 on the season with the win, and has some noticeable wins on their schedule. The 2-1 victory over the Hawkeyes is the Golden Gophers’ second win against a ranked opponent this season after a triumph against No. 8 Ohio State on Oct. 10.

Forward Madison Wilson jump-started the Iowa offense early on a goal in the first minute of play, marking her first goal on the season. After splitting the narrow difference between multiple Gopher defenders, Sofia Bush was credited with the assist.

The early momentum did not last long for the Hawkeyes, as Minnesota found success in the box several minutes later at the 9:25 mark off the leg of Paige Kalal, her second of the season, and tying the score at 1 apiece.

Teammate Khyah Harper was credited with the assist, her sixth of the season. Harper has an astonishing 17 goals on the season, but was held scoreless by the Iowa defense in this one.

But the Hawkeyes were held at bay in the first half offensively, recording only two shots, while Minnesota dictated the pace with eight shots in the first half, but the next goal wouldn’t come until the second half.

Sophia Broman took advantage of a penalty kick at the 64:40 mark, scoring past veteran Iowa goalkeeper Macy Enneking and moving the score to 2-1 in favor of Minnesota.

The goal ended up being the deciding factor for the last regular season game, as the Hawkeyes were unable to capitalize on any late push to send the game into overtime.

Offensively, Iowa finished with 11 shots, four of which were on goal. The Gophers finished with 12 total shots, eight of which were on goal.

Defensively for the Hawkeyes, goalkeeper Enneking recorded six total saves on the day, and allowed two goals. On the flip side, Sarah Martin recorded three saves on one goal allowed for Minnesota.

Enneking finished the regular season with 10 allowed goals and 48 saves, while the Iowa offense finished the year with 35 regular season goals on 271 shots.

Up Next

Iowa will return to action on Oct. 31 for the quarterfinals of the Big Ten Tournament in St. Louis, Missouri. The Hawkeyes will presumably be the three seed entering the tournament against an undetermined opponent.