Sept. 8, 2008
This Week
The University of Iowa soccer team returns to the Midwest to play a pair of teams from the Missouri Valley Conference. The Hawkeyes will end their current three-match road trip Friday at Northern Iowa before hosting Creighton Sunday at the UI Soccer Complex. Match times are scheduled for 7 p.m. and 1 p.m., respectively.
The Hawkeyes play five of their next six matches away from Iowa City.
Last Time Out
Last week, Iowa made its first-ever trip to the West Coast, but saw its record fall to 2-3-0 on the season after dropping two matches at the Pepperdine Nike Challenge.
The Hawkeyes lost a heartbreaker to Pepperdine 1-0 in overtime last Friday and suffered another 1-0 loss Sunday at the hands of San Diego.
All three losses have come by one goal (South Dakota State, 2-1; Pepperdine, 1-0 (OT); San Diego, 1-0).
San Diego won the Pepperdine Nike Challenge with a 2-0 record (wins over Northwestern and Iowa). Pepperdine and Northwestern were both 1-1, while Iowa was 0-2.
Scouting Northern Iowa
Northern Iowa is winless in the 2008 season, with a record of 0-5-1. It has been outscored 15-4 in its six matches.
The Panthers are coached by Jen Plante, who is in 10 first season. They return ten letterwinners from last season and have 10 freshmen. Northern Iowa has only one goalkeeper on its roster.
The Hawkeyes own a perfect 5-0-0 record against Northern Iowa, including a 4-0 drubbing last season in Iowa City. Stephanie Hyink, Heather Windsor and Mandy Heimann all scored goals for the Hawkeyes in last season’s match-up.
Scouting Creighton
Creighton has a record of 4-2-0 on the season. The Bluejays finished third in the Missouri Valley Conference last season.
They are led offensively by Marcy Gans, who has three goals and three assists on the season. Emily Orbell, Nicole Delue and Mary Zapapas each have two goals on the season.
The Bluejays are coached by Bruce Erickson, who is in his 10th season at Creighton. He has a career-record of 162-137-24.
Iowa owns a record of 4-1-0 all-time against Creighton, including a 1-0 win last season in Omaha.
Three Hawkeyes Recognized
Seniors Stephanie Hyink and Kelsey Shaw were named to the Pepperdine Nike Challenge All-Tournament Team, along with sophomore defender Jenna Aleo. Hyink had three shots over the weekend (one shot on-goal), while Shaw had two shots (one shot on-goal). Aleo did not record a shot.
Former Teammates Square Off
Former high school teammates square off against each other in this weekend’s matches.
Against Northern Iowa, the Chicago suburb of Wheaton will be well represented, with UNI sophomores Laura Heaton and Kalyn Jones matching up against Iowa freshmen Allison Bellmer and Sarah Langlas. All four attended Wheaton Warrenville South H.S.
Hawkeye freshman Rachel Blakesley will be pitted against her former high school teammate, Carey Dahlquist, when the Hawkeyes face Creighton Sunday. Both attended Notre Dame H.S. in Peoria, IL.
Big Ten Rankings
Through three weeks in Big Ten soccer, freshman Alyssa Cosnek is tied for seventh in the Big Ten in goals with three.
Freshman goalkeeper Emily Moran ranks in the top-half in two of the goalkeeping categories. The Kent, OH, native has split time with sophomore Kali Feiereisel, but is second in save percentage (.929) and third in goals-against-average (0.39).
As a team, the Hawkeyes are tied for third in goals allowed (four), fourth in goals-against-average (0.79) and second in saves (23).