April 26, 2014
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IOWA CITY, Iowa — The University of Iowa soccer team blasted Northern Illinois, downing the Huskies, 7-0, Saturday afternoon at the Iowa Soccer Complex. The Hawkeyes finish the spring with a 4-0-2 record.
Freshman Bri Toelle gave Iowa the early 1-0 lead, scoring the game’s first goal in the 13th minute after slotting the ball on the ground to the far post. Juniors Katie Nasenbenny and Melanie Pickert assisted on the strike.
The Hawkeyes pushed their lead to 2-0 on an own goal after junior Cloe Lacasse beat a NIU defender on the end line and served a low driven ball into the six-yard box, where it hit off a Huskie defender into the goal. Iowa pushed its lead to 3-0 before the half when Lacasse beat a defender on the dribble and played the ball to senior Alex Melin, who finished from the top of the six-yard box.
After leading 3-0 at the break, Iowa netted its fourth goal early in the second half when Lacasse found the back of the net following assists from freshman Amanda Lulek and sophomore Brooke Backes. The Hawkeyes scored their fifth goal with 31 minutes remaining following a Pickert free kick. The defender found Nasenbenny on the service, who headed the ball over the Northern Illinois goalkeeper.
Less than a minute later, Lacasse made the score 6-0 with her second goal of the game when she beat the NIU goalkeeper in the top corner. Toelle was credited with the assist. Junior Emily Scott scored Iowa’s final goal with two minutes remaining with Sarah Mazur tallying the assist. Mazur beat her defender on the dribble before delivering a pass to Scott, who was making a run on the back post.
Junior Kiley Beck and sophomore Hannah Clark combined for the shutout. Beck played the first half before giving way to Clark over the final 45 minutes.
The Hawkeyes went 4-0-2 in six games this spring with victories over Western Illinois (4-1), Arkansas (2-0), Kansas (2-0) and Northern Illinois (7-0). Iowa played to a pair of draws against Marquette (0-0) and Milwaukee (1-1) on March 30 in Milwaukee.