Sept. 25, 2015
IOWA CITY, Iowa — A pair of second half goals broke a 1-1 tie to lift Ohio State to a 3-1 victory over the University of Iowa soccer team on Friday night in front of a school-record crowd of 1,847 fans at the Iowa Soccer Complex.
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“We are getting better. We competed and played hard,” said head coach Dave DiIanni. “We created more opportunities tonight than we did in the last two games combined. There were moments where we could have taken the momentum, but we didn’t.”
The Hawkeyes came off the bench strong, holding off the Buckeyes for more than 32 minutes of play. Ohio State managed to get on the board in the 34th minute after Nicole Miyashiro connected a pass with Nishelle Prince, who made her way up the middle and scored from 25-yards out.
It didn’t take long for the Hawkeyes answer. Just two minutes later, senior Brooke Backes punched her second goal of the year past Ohio State goalkeeper Jillian McVicker to tie it up, 1-1. Junior Rachele Armand played a perfect through ball to Backes to earn credit for the assist.
It was all Ohio State in the second half, scoring two goals and outshooting Iowa, 10-3. Freshman Alina Magruder had an opportunity to give the Hawkeyes the lead in the 66th minute after receiving a through ball from Bri Toelle for a 1-on-1 with the Buckeye goalkeeper, but her shot missed by the narrowest of margins to keep the game knotted.
The Buckeyes grabbed the lead back in the 70th minute when Nikki Walts was able to find the back of the net after a free kick. Prince added an insurance goal — her second of the game — at the 85-minute mark, giving the Buckeyes a 3-1 lead.
Ohio State outshot Iowa 20-8, with a 10-2 advantage of shots on goal. Senior Hannah Clark had six saves in the loss.
“We don’t score very well so games like this are hard,” said DiIanni. “We need to be able to capitalize when we get those chances.” The Hawkeyes (6-4-0, 0-3-0) return to action Sunday, hosting No. 12 Penn State at 1 p.m. (CT).
