Oct. 4, 2005
Despite a late offensive charge by Northwestern, the University of Iowa (8-4, 1-1) held on for a 4-3 victory today in a non-conference contest.
Coach Tracey Griesbaum was happy with the outcome of the game, but knows there are things that her team has to improve on.
“We never got into an offensive or defensive rhythm; our play was sporadic throughout the game,” said Griesbaum. “We need to learn from today’s game and work on things in practice the next few days before our big contest with Penn State on Saturday.”
Senior Debbie Birrell started the Hawkeyes off with a score three minutes into the game, but the Wildcats tied the game a few minutes later. That was the end of scoring for the first half as the two teams combined for just eight more shots and went into the halftime break knotted up 1-1.
Iowa’s Caitlin McCurdy scored a corner shot goal at the 43:04 mark and the Hawkeyes went up 3-1 two minutes later on a goal by Lauren Pfeiffer. The Hawkeyes put on the cruise control for a bit, but were jolted back to reality when Northwestern’s Meghan Small closed the gap to 3-2 later in the second half.
The Hawkeyes offense was sparked when junior Kara Zappone scored her fifth goal of the season to put Iowa ahead 4-2. A goal by Jill Putnam cut Iowa’s lead down to 4-3, but time expired before Northwestern could score again to send the game into overtime.
The statistics reflect how close the game was. Iowa took 18 shots to Northwestern’s 15, and both teams had eight corners. Lissa Munley had three saves for the Hawkeyes and gave up three goals. The Wildcats Sherri-Anne Nyberg allowed four goals and had five saves.
The 12th-ranked Hawkeyes play sixth-ranked Penn State this Saturday in a noon contest at Grant Field. It will be Iowa’s third Big Ten game of 2005.