Nov. 6, 2010
IOWA CITY, Iowa –The University of Iowa women’s soccer team wrapped up the 2010 season at the Iowa Soccer Complex Saturday night, hosting Purdue on Senior Night. The Hawkeyes pushed through an early 2-0 deficit to post a thrilling, come from behind 3-2 victory over the Boilermakers. The first conference victory of the season was quite the gift for the outgoing senior class, as the Hawkeyes benefited from underclassmen efforts in the win.
Purdue was the first to strike with a goal midway way through the first half when Kellie Phillips scored on a bobbled save. Purdue’s Liz Secue found the net on a hard angled shot from the right side to give the Boilermakers a 2-0 lead with 35 minutes remaining in the match.
The visiting team seemed content with the two-goal lead, but the Hawkeyes never quit fighting. A series of corner kicks proved to be Iowa’s golden opportunities in the second half. Junior Morgan Showalter lofted a corner kick from the right side into the box where Iowa defender Rachael Blakesley capitalized with a header into the top corner of the net. Blakesley got the Hawkeyes on the board in the 65th minute with her first career goal.
Just three minutes after the first goal, it was Showalter again with the assist from a corner kick. This time, freshman Alex Melin was the Hawkeye to use her head to push the ball past Purdue goalkeeper Carianne Betts. The equalizer was the freshman’s third goal of the season.
As the minutes ticked away, Iowa’s intensity in the attacking third never wavered. Freshman Ashley Catrell used perfectly controlled footwork to maneuver around a Purdue defender at the edge of the six-yard box and bury the game-winning goal in the net in the 81st minute.
Iowa’s defense held a relentless Purdue attack off in the final nine minutes of play to claim its first conference victory of the season and bid the senior members of the team a sweet farewell.
Hawkeye junior goalkeeper Emily Moran made two key saves in 90 minutes in goal. Iowa’s talented backline also cleared a ball off the line in the final minute to secure the win.
“It’s pretty exciting,” Head Coach Ron Rainey said of his team’s comeback win Saturday night. “I felt that we were doing nice things both offensively and defensively. They had a couple good finishes, but we kept pressing. We had two great corner kicks, and then it was a world-class finish with Ashley’s goal at the end. This was an exciting game, and we had a nice attack with possession oriented soccer.”
The women’s soccer team finished the 2010 season 8-9-3 overall and 1-7-2 in Big Ten play. Iowa was lead offensively this season by freshman Leah DeMoss with five goals and three assists. Moran played 1,838:14 minutes in goal for the Hawkeyes this season, making 91 saves, putting her in second place on Iowa’s all-time career saves list with 255.