Sept. 5, 2005
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Debbie Birrell may have a tough time leaving California after the Hawkeyes three-game road trip this past weekend. Today, the senior midfielder scored three goals in Iowa’s 8-1 victory over the Pacific Tigers. It was the third straight game in which the Kentucky native scored to put her season total at five.
Kelly Slattery found Birrell open for a goal just 7:48 seconds into the game. That was only the beginning of the onslaught as minutes later Kadi Sickel scored Iowa’s second goal after a pass from Lauren Pfeiffer to lead the game 2-0. At the 22:37 mark Kara Zappone had a solo shot and with under a minute left to the half Birrell again found the net to give Iowa a 4-0 lead.
At the start of the second half the Hawkeyes went on an offensive tear taking four shots in less than a minute, but every time Tiger Valerie Niles was there for the save. Pacific scored their one and only goal when Jennifer Chaney rebounded a loose ball and Natalie Purcell scored to cut Iowa’s lead to 4-1.
Almost halfway through the second half, two Iowa freshman hooked up for a score when Caitlin McCurdy found Pfeiffer open for a score. Later, Katie Naughton scored her first collegiate goal to make it 6-1 and Slattery took a pass from McCurdy with just over ten minutes left in the game to put the Iowa lead at 7-1. Birrell scored her third goal seconds later to cement the Iowa win, 8-1.
Lissa Munley, the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week, earned her third collegiate victory against the Tigers. With the Hawkeyes on offense for much of the game, the freshman had just two saves and only one goal scored against her.
The Hawkeyes took 25 shots in the game and 15 shots on goal, compared to just nine and three, respectively, by Pacific. Iowa held the advantage in corner shots, with ten shots to the Tiger’s three.
Iowa (3-2) will be back in Iowa City Friday to face the Ball State Cardinals. Start time is slated for 3 p.m. at Grant Field.