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The independent newspaper of the University of Iowa community since 1868

The Daily Iowan
The independent newspaper of the University of Iowa community since 1868

The Daily Iowan

Roling’s early goal lifts Iowa soccer past South Dakota State in NCAA opener

The Hawkeyes relied on their strong defense to move on to the Round of 32.
Patrick Halma, Sports Reporter
November 15, 2025
Andy Espineira
Mia Bosch dribbles the ball as Kenzie Roling defends doing her best not letting Mia get by in the NCAA D1 Women’s Soccer First Round on Friday, Nov. 14, 2025. Iowa beats South Dakota State 1-0 to move on to round two of the NCAA tournament.

It was a packed house at the UI Soccer Complex on Friday night as the No. 5- seeded Iowa soccer team played host to its third consecutive NCAA tournament first-round game. 

This year, it was South Dakota State that made the trip to Iowa City, only to see the Hawkeyes escape with a narrow 1-0 victory. 

Iowa sprang out of the gate with a goal by graduate student Kenzie Roling on an assist from Lexy Griffin only three minutes into the first half. 

“I thought it was going to take all game to score on them, honestly,” Roling said. “It was just a perfect ball, and I was there, and I almost didn’t believe it when it went in.”

South Dakota State would try to set up its own offensive pressure, only to see minimal scoring opportunities. The Hawkeyes continually got steals in the midfield transitions, leading to eight first-half corners. 

“The game was going to be won in the midfield,” head coach Dave Dilanni said. “South Dakota State is very great in transition, and we just executed the opportunities right and got ahead of them before they could get back.”

Unfortunately for Iowa, no goals would come from the corners, something that would follow the Hawkeyes through to the end of the game. 

Iowa would end the game with 13 corners total and 18 shots, with the only goal coming from Roling, something the Hawkeyes hoped they would attack more. 

“I thought we weren’t very dangerous in the corners, we created them and then some of it was the service and some was the execution on the back post,” Dilanni said. “With 13 corners, you should probably score off one of them, and if we get those in the future, we will put them away.”

Contributing to Iowa’s strong offense was its defense, led by second-year goalkeeper Fernanda Mayrink. Of the seven Jackrabbit shots, Mayrink only had to make three, one of which came from an early penalty kick opportunity five minutes out of halftime. 

After Mayrink accidentally took down a South Dakota State player inside the box while fighting for the ball, she stood strong, making a diving save to preserve the Hawkeyes’ lead. 

“Fernanda is pretty good with PKs, and she reads shooters really well,” Dilanni said. “You have to have confidence in goal, and you have to be able to read shooters.”

South Dakota State would end the game with four total corners, but could not find the back of the net, and Iowa marched on to the second round. 

Up next 

The Hawkeyes will return to action on Nov. 20 against No. 4 LSU at a yet-to-be-determined site in the Round of 32 in the NCAA tournament. 

“Ahead of next week, we need to get bodies healthy and some people back up to speed, but again, it will be focusing on the transition game,” Dilanni said.