Aug. 27, 2010
Iowa vs. Northern Illinois Photo Gallery
IOWA CITY, IA– The University of Iowa women’s soccer team controlled the tempo in Friday night’s match against Northern Illinois to earn the 2-0 decision in the team’s first game of the Iowa Tournament.
The Hawkeyes offensive force was anxious, quickly pushing the ball up the field in the beginning of the game. However, Northern Illinois’ defense was keen to the quick Iowa attack, waiting on several forward pass attempts to stick Iowa with the off sides call three times in the first 15 minutes of the game.
Iowa did not slow, but continued to pressure Northern Illinois goalkeeper, Amy Carr with a shot from Jade Grimm in the 21st minute. Carr made the save, but would continue to be challenged to throughout the first half. Dana Dalrymple and freshman Leah DeMoss created several Iowa opportunities around the NIU goal, but the opponent’s defense held the Hawkeyes off to preserve the scoreless game at half time.
Junior Alyssa Cosnek fired up the Iowa offense to start the second half, taking aim at the goal in the 48th minute. The first shot of the half triggered a flurry of Iowa challenges at the net leading up to the Dalrymple goal in the 61st minute. DeMoss controlled the ball and pushed ahead on a breakaway up the left side of the field. The freshman centered the ball to senior captain Mandy Heimann. Dalrymple got the tip from Heimann and sent the ball to the top left corner of the net.
The Hawkeyes nearly stole another goal in the 62nd minute, but the Huskies’ defense tightened up at the goal line to clear the ball to midfield. Iowa’s midfield was strong throughout the duration of the game, giving the Hawkeye defense little action.
Grimm led the team to the attacking third yet again in the 86th minute. The Cedar Rapids native fired at the opposing goal, but was blocked in the box. A Northern Illinois foul inside the box following the shot set up an Iowa penalty kick. Gabby Ainsworth did the honors for the Black and Gold and sealed the home team win with a swift shot to the top corner of the net.
“I was really excited about our energy tonight,” Head Coach Ron Rainey said. “I really hope we continue that into the rest of our games. I thought we had a great first half too. We created a lot of great opportunities that lead to the team gaining confidence and the high tempo play in the second half. We continued to take chances and score some great goals.”
Iowa goalkeeper Emily Moran saw four shots come her way in the first half of the game, making a single save to earn the shutout victory.
The Hawkeyes play Central Michigan Sunday afternoon at the Iowa Soccer Complex to complete the Iowa Tournament. The teams are set to kickoff at 1:30 in the afternoon. Central Michigan defeated Northern Iowa in an earlier match Friday night, 2-0.