Aug. 12, 2015
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IOWA CITY, Iowa — The University of Iowa women’s soccer team opens the 2015 season with an exhibition contest at Illinois State on Friday at 7 p.m. (CT) at Adelaide Street Field in Normal, Illinois.
The Hawkeyes enter the season with five starters returning from last year’s 14-win team. University of Iowa head soccer coach Dave DiIanni will lead a Hawkeye squad that features 10 incoming freshmen and one transfer in junior Rachele Armand. Iowa’s five returning starters are juniors Amanda Lulek, Bri Toelle, Natalie Krygier, and Corey Burns, and senior goalkeeper Hannah Clark.
The Hawkeyes finished 2014 with a school-record 14 shutouts in 22 games to rank 20th nationally with a .545 shutout percentage. Iowa’s defense also was in the top 35 in the country in saves percentage (31st, .838) and goals against average (35th, .754).
In his first season with the Hawkeyes, DiIanni led the Hawkeyes to a 14-7-1 overall record and a 7-5-1 mark in Big Ten action. The seven conference victories ties the program record for most Big Ten wins in a single season, and the 14 wins are the second most in school history.
Iowa defeated Illinois State, 1-0, in 2002 and leads the all-time series, 1-1-0. The Redbirds finished 16-6-0 overall in 2015 and advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament for the second-consecutive season. Illinois State returns six starters, including the 2014 Missouri Valley Conference Freshman of the Year and All-MVC Freshman Team selection, Kelli Zickert.
Live stats for Friday’s exhibition contest will be available here. GameTracker is also available on the Iowa women’s soccer schedule page.
Iowa opens the regular season at home against Pacific on Aug. 21 and Nebraska Omaha on Aug. 23 at 7 p.m. (CT) and 1 p.m., respectively.
