Sept. 13, 2015
IOWA CITY, Iowa — The University of Iowa soccer team notched its sixth win of the season with a 3-0 shutout victory over Illinois Chicago on Sunday afternoon at the Iowa Soccer Complex. The Hawkeyes head into Big Ten Conference play with a 6-1 record.
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“We had a little bit of a hangover emotionally today after playing Iowa State on Friday,” said UI head coach Dave DiIanni. “I don’t know that we were in this game mentally until the end. This game lacked a lot of zip and product, but we still did what we needed to do to score the goals and get a win.”
Junior Bri Toelle got Iowa on the board in the 15th minute, getting a through ball from sophomore Karly Stuenkel before beating UIC goalkeeper Kelly Fritz to the far post. The strike was Toelle’s team-leading fourth goal of the season.
After taking a 1-0 lead into the break, the Hawkeyes picked up the pace in the second half. It led to an 11-8 shot advantage — nine of which were on goal.
Freshman Hannah Brobst put Iowa up 2-0 with a goal at the 67:09 mark. Freshman Alina Magruder sent a cross to the near post, and Brobst buried the goal into the opposite corner. It was Brobst’s first career goal, minutes into her first game as a Hawkeye.
“I knew I had to be on the other side because we do a lot of practicing with crosses in,” said Brobst. “When I got the ball I needed to hit it toward the goal and hope for the best.”
Iowa found the net a third time in the 74th minute on a strike by Stuenkel. After corralling a pass from freshman Chelsey Henry, Stuenkel chipped a shot over Fritz into the upper left hand corner, pushing the Hawkeyes’ lead to 3-0.
Iowa had a chance to at least double its lead in the final 20 minutes of action, when it peppered shot-after-shot at the UIC goal, but reserve goalkeeper Ana Hernandez made three stops in 13 minutes.
The Hawkeyes went deep into the bench against the Flames with all 23 field players seeing action. Brobst and freshman Rose Ripslinger made their debuts.
“Hannah and Rose are two players that will continue improving and start creeping in and take minutes from people because they’re competitors,” said DiIanni. “They want to be on the field and they work hard.”
Senior Hannah Clark faced 10 shots, making three saves to record her second straight and fourth shutout of the season. Clark enters Big Ten play with a 0.43 goals against average and 26 saves.
Iowa (6-1) heads to the state of Michigan for its first two league contests. The Hawkeyes face the Spartans of Michigan State on Sept. 18 at 1 p.m. (CT).
