Iowa Set For 1st Road Trip

Sept. 2, 2015

THE MATCH-UP
The University of Iowa soccer team hits the road for the first time during the regular season, traveling to Missoula, Montana, for a pair of contests. The Hawkeyes will face Utah State on Sept. 4 at 3 p.m. (CT) before facing the Grizzlies on Sept. 6 at 11:30 a.m.

ON THE WEB
Iowa soccer fans can follow all home contests via live stats (GameTracker) on hawkeyesports.com. Click on the “GT” link found on both the front page and the soccer schedule page to access the live stats feed. Fans can also follow @HawkeyeSoccer for live in-game updates.

SCOUTING UTAH STATE
? The Aggies bring a 3-1-0 record into Friday’s match. Utah State fell at Utah Valley, 1-0, on Aug. 28 before topping Houston, 2-0, at home on Aug. 30.
? Utah State went 10-8-2 in 2014, finishing fifth in the Mountain West Conference with a 5-3-2 record.
? The Aggies return seven starters, including their leading scorer and College Sports Madness All-Mountain West second-team honoree, Jessica Brooksby. The junior forward led the Aggies in goals (4), assists (3) and points (11) last season.
? Utah State is led by head coach Heather Cairns, who is in her 13th season.

UTAH STATE VS. IOWA — THE SERIES
? The Hawkeyes lead the all-times series 2-0-0.
? Each of the teams have hosted one match with Iowa hosting the first ever meeting on Sept. 5, 1999 — a 4-2 Hawkeye victory.
? This week’s game will be exactly 15 years since Utah State hosted Iowa on Sept. 4, 2000.

SCOUTING MONTANA
? The Grizzlies bring a 2-1-1 record into Sunday’s match. Montana topped Nevada,1-0, on Aug. 28 before falling to Utah Valley, 6-2, on Aug. 30.
? Montana returns eight starters, including its leading scorers in sophomore Hallie Winder and senior Mackenzie Akins. Last season, Winder — the Big Sky Conference Newcomer of the Year — led the team in goals (7) and points (17). Akins — a second-team All-Big Sky Conference selection — played in all 20 matches last season. She led the Grizzlies in assists (4) and shots (58).
? Montana went 12-6-2 in 2014 and won the Big Sky Conference title with an 8-0-2 record.

? Montana is led by head coach Mark Plakorus, who is in his fifth season. Plakorus was an assistant coach at the University of Iowa from 2002-04.

MONTANA VS. IOWA — THE SERIES
? Sunday will be the second all-time meeting between Iowa and Montana. The Hawkeyes downed the Grizzlies, 2-0, in Iowa City during the 2009 season.

QUICK HITTERS
? Junior Bri Toelle leads the Big Ten in shots per game (24), assists (three) and assists per game (1).
? The Hawkeyes shutout their first two opponents before surrendering their first goal on Sept. 1 against UNI.
? Iowa is one of three remaining unbeaten teams in the Big Ten Conference, along with Rutgers and Illinois.
? Iowa is out-shooting its opponents, 53-27, in three games this season, which includes a 28-14 advantage in shots on goal.
? Senior Hannah Clark leads the Big Ten in saves per game (4.33) and save percentage (.929). ? Iowa currently ranks 10th in the Great Lakes region of the NSCAA NCAA Division I Women’s poll.
? Karly Stuenkel and Bri Toelle both scored their second goals of the season in a 2-1 overtime win over UNI on Sept. 1. Stuenkel’s strike was her first career game winner.
? The Hawkeyes are 3-0-0, starting the year with three wins for a fourth straight season.

SCHEDULE CHANGE
The Iowa Corn Cy-Hawk Series match on Friday, Sept. 11, has been changed from a 7 p.m. (CT) start time to 6:30 p.m.

LAST GAME
Sophomore Karly Stuenkel’s goal in the 94th minute sent the Hawkeyes to a 2-1-overtime victory over UNI on Sept. 1. Iowa took an early lead in the first half when junior Bri Toelle dribbled through the UNI defense and bent a shot into the top right corner. Senior Hannah Clark recorded five saves on the night.

TOELLE TIES PROGRAM RECORD
Junior Bri Toelle tied the school record for single game assists after notching three assists in Iowa’s 4-0 victory over Nebraska Omaha on Aug. 23. Toelle shares the school record with Morgan Showalter (8/23/08) and Jenna Sorensen (9/5/97).

IOWA IN THE RANKINGS
The Hawkeyes have broken into the top 10 in the NSCAA Great Lakes Region rankings. Big Ten Conference schools occupy nine of the 10 spots in the team rankings.

MAGRUDER NAMED B1G FRESHMAN OF THE WEEK
University of Iowa midfielder Alina Magruder was named the Big Ten Freshman of the Week on Aug. 25.

The Mustang, Oklahoma, native played more than 50 minutes in the first two games of her collegiate career, tallying four shots and two goals in helping the Hawkeyes post a pair of wins over Pacific and Omaha and improve to a 2-0 record for a fourth straight season.

The honor is the first of Magruder’s career and she is the first Hawkeye freshman to earn the weekly conference honor since Hannah Clark on Oct. 8, 2012.

TEAM CAPTAIN
Senior Hannah Clark has been named Iowa’s team captain for the 2015 season.

3 HAWKEYES ON B1G PLAYERS TO WATCH LIST
Senior Hannah Clark and juniors Amanda Lulek and Corey Burns were named Big Ten Players to Watch for the 2015 season.

Clark started 17 matches last season, logging 1,598 minutes in goal. She ranked third in the Big Ten in save percentage (.844), tied for third in shutouts (9), and ranked fourth in goals against average (0.79).

Lulek, a native of Geneva, Illinois, started 13 games as a sophomore. The defender played every minute in five games, including all 103 minutes (two overtimes) of the Big Ten title game against No. 11 Wisconsin.

Burns saw action in 20-of-22 games last season with 20 starts. The Green Oaks, Illinois, native led the team in assists (seven), and helped lead Iowa’s defense that ranked second in the Big Ten in shutouts and fourth in goals against average (0.75).

SENIOR EXPERIENCE
Senior Hannah Clark is back as the unquestioned leader of the 2015 Hawkeyes, and the team’s starting goalkeeper — her fourth season in a starting capacity.

Senior Brooke Backes has played 45 games in her first three seasons, scoring two goals and adding two assists. Senior Sarah Mazur played a career-high 15 games as a junior, while fellow senior Mackenzie Guindon is looking to contribute in 2015 following an injury-plagued career.

HAWKEYES ON TV
Iowa will appear on BTN/BTN Plus on BTN2Go eight times during the 2015 season. The Hawkeyes’ Oct. 11 home contest against Minnesota will be broadcast live on BTN.

BTN Plus will stream Iowa’s games against Michigan State (Sept. 18), Michigan (Sept. 20), Ohio State (Sept. 25), Wisconsin (Oct. 8), Illinois (Oct. 15), Nebraska (Oct. 23) and Rutgers (Oct. 28).

BTN will also be televising the Big Ten Tournament on Nov. 1-8.

LEADER OF THE DEFENSE, Hannah Clark…
? broke the school record for career shutouts in Iowa’s 1-0 victory at Michigan State on Oct. 2, 2014. Clark currently has 22 career shutouts.
? was 10-5-1 with nine shutouts and a 0.84 goals against average in 2014. The nine shutouts are the second most in a single season, while the 10 wins are the sixth-most in program history. Clark also holds the school record in both categories, posting 10 shutouts and 15 wins in 2013.
? had four consecutive shutouts from Sept. 7-20, where she had sevens saves over 379:26 scoreless minutes. It was the second-straight season she had a four-game shutout streak.
? Clark has 32 career victories, the second-most in Iowa history, and her 229 career saves rank third in the UI record books. She is three wins shy of passing Emily Moran as the program’s all-time wins leader.

TRANSFER ADDED
Junior Rachele Armand joined the Hawkeye soccer program this fall after spending two injury-plagued years at Louisville, helping the Cardinals to an NCAA Tournament berth in 2013.

Armand is one of three players on the Iowa roster from Waubonsie Valley High School in Illinois, along with freshmen Emma Rigby and Morgan Kemerling.

B1G IN THE POLLS
Penn State, Ohio State, and Rutgers are ranked in the NSCAA Top 25 poll as of Sept. 1.

Penn State is ranked No. 7, Ohio State sits at No. 17, and Rutgers was voted No. 22. Wisconsin (75) and Illinois (5) are receiving votes.

ROSTER BREAKDOWN
The Hawkeyes enter the season with five starters returning from last year’s 14-win team. Head 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.

2014 IN REVIEW
The Hawkeyes finished the 2014 season with a 14-7-1 overall and 7-5-1 Big Ten record. The seven conference victories ties the program record for Big Ten wins in a single season, and the 14 wins are the second most in school history. After entering the Big Ten Tournament as the No. 5 seed, Iowa posted victories over No. 23 Rutgers and Northwestern to advance to the conference tournament championship game for a second straight season.

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).

Academically, the Hawkeyes garnered the NSCAA Team Academic Award for an eighth straight season, and nine soccer student-athletes garnered Academic All-Big Ten honors. Seniors Caitlin Brown and Emily Scott received Scholar All-Region recognition.

BURNS, ARMAND WIN WPSL NATIONAL TITLE
Juniors Corey Burns and Rachele Armand helped lead the Chicago Red Star Reserves to a Women’s Premier Soccer League (WPSL) National Championship — the team’s first national title — on July 27 in Edmond, Oklahoma.

NEXT UP
The Hawkeyes returns home to face in-state rival Iowa State in a Iowa Corn Cy-Hawk Series match Sept. 11. The game will begin at 6:30 p.m. (CT) at the Iowa Soccer Complex.

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