Hawkeye Fan Shop — A Black & Gold Store | 24 Hawkeyes to Watch | Week 9 Notes
THE MATCH-UP
The University of Iowa soccer team travels to Minneapolis to face Minnesota at 7 p.m. (CT) on Thursday at Elizabeth Lyle Robbie Stadium. The Hawkeyes will return home on Sunday to host Northwestern at 1 p.m. in the regular season finale at the Iowa Soccer Complex.
SENIOR SUNDAY
• Sunday’s game against Northwestern will be Senior Day. The Hawkeyes will honor the four seniors — Morgan Kemerling, Rose Ripslinger, Jenna Kentgen, and Karsen Rauch — prior to the game.
WATCH/FOLLOW LIVE
• Thursday’s game will be televised live on BTN and available on BTN Plus on BTN2GO, a paid subscription service.
• Sunday’s game will be streamed live on BTN Plus on BTN2GO, a paid subscription service.
• Live stats for both contests will be available on hawkeyesports.com by visiting the Iowa soccer schedule page.
• Fans can follow the Iowa soccer program on Twitter (@HawkeyeSoccer) for live game updates.
LAST TIME OUT
• Iowa shut out Michigan State, 1-0, at home on Oct. 12. Freshman Hailey Rydberg scored the game winning goal for the Hawkeyes in the 64th minute.
• The Hawkeyes posted their second straight shutout, downing Michigan, 1-0, on Oct. 14 for their third straight win. Junior Devin Burns scored the game-winning goal in the 51st minute.
SCOUTING MINNESOTA
• Minnesota is 8-7-1 overall and .500 in conference play with a record of 4-4-1.
• Senior April Bockin is leading the Gophers with eight goals, 20 points, 52 shots, and 25 shots on goal. She has also tallied two game-winning strikes.
• Head coach Stefanie Golan is in her seventh season at the helm of Minnesota.
• Gopher assistant coach Molly Rouse rejoined the Minnesota soccer program following a year at Iowa as an assistant coach during the 2017-18 season.
SCOUTING NORTHWESTERN
• Northwestern is 9-4-3 overall and 3-4-2 in conference play.
• Senior Brenna Lovera leads the Wildcats with seven goals, 17 points, and 30 shots. She has netted three game winning strikes.
• Michael Moynihan is in his seventh season as head coach at Northwestern.
THE SERIES
• Iowa is 4-12-4 all-time against Minnesota. The Hawkeyes fell, 3-0, to the 17th-ranked Gophers in Minneapolis the last time the two teams met in 2016. Despite the loss, junior goalkeeper Claire Graves registered four saves in 79 minutes of action.
• Iowa is 7-13-1 against Northwestern all-time. The Hawkeyes were bested, 1-0, by 22nd-ranked Northwestern in Iowa City in 2016. Graves made three saves in the loss, while the Hawkeyes outshot Northwestern, 9-7.
ETCHING INTO THE RECORDS
• Graves made three saves against Michigan State to move her into fifth in program history with 187 career saves.
• The junior goalkeeper posted two shutouts against Michigan State and Michigan to give her a career total of 17 — second most in program history.
• The two victories moved Graves to third in career victories in program history with 24.
B1G HONORS
• Senior Morgan Kemerling earned Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week for her play against Michigan State and Michigan on Oct. 12 and Oct. 14. The senior defender played the full 180 minutes, leading the Iowa defense in holding Michigan to zero shots on goal and posting back-to-back shutouts.
BURNS FOR THE WIN
• Devin Burns scored her second goal of the season and her second game-winning goal of the season against Michigan on Oct. 14. Burns has found the back of the net in two of Iowa’s last three games.
RYDBERG FINDING THE NET
• Freshman Hailey Rydberg scored her second career goal and first career game-winning goal against Michigan State on Oct. 12.
GAINING MOMENTUM
• The Hawkeyes are on a three-game winning streak after topping N0. 22 Nebraska, Michigan State, and Michigan. It is the first time Iowa has won three straight league games since 2014 (Indiana, Purdue, at Ohio State).
• Iowa has posted two straight shut outs after besting Michigan State and Michigan each 1-0.
PLAYING BOTH SIDES OF THE BALL
• Iowa is out-shooting its opponents, 34-24, over its last three games against No. 22 Nebraska, Michigan State, and Michigan. The offense has put 13 shots on goal. The Hawkeye defense has only allowed eight shots on goal over those three games with Graves making seven saves.
TOPPING A RANKED FOE
• Iowa topped No. 22 Nebraska, 2-1, in Lincoln on Oct. 5. This is the Hawkeyes first win all-time against Nebraska, making the all-time record 1-10-1.
• The win was Iowa’s first win over a ranked opponent this season and the highest team the Hawkeyes have defeated since 2013 — a 1-0 win over 20th-ranked Penn State.
WINTERS LEADING THE WAY
• Winters tallied her first assist of the season against Indiana and scored twice against Central Michigan for her first career two-goal game.
• The junior midfielder leads the Hawkeyes with five goals, three assists, 13 points, and 45 shots, putting 19 on goal. She has also converted both penalty kicks that she has attempted this season.
GOING THE DISTANCE
• Five Hawkeyes — Hannah Drkulec, Claire Graves, Morgan Kemerling, Riley Whitaker, Sara Wheaton — have played the full 90 minutes in Iowa’s last three games.
• Drkulec has played the full time in 10 of Iowa’s last 13 games, amassing 1,390 minutes of action on the season.
• Kemerling has played every minute as Iowa’s central defender in 14 of Iowa’s 16 games this season. She has played 90 or more minutes in 29 of Iowa’s last 34 games, including 45 straight starts.
• Freshman Sara Wheaton has started all 16 games for the Hawkeyes, playing 1,413 of the 1,486 minutes while tallying two assists.
FEELING AT HOME
• Iowa is unbeaten at home in 2018 with a record of 7-0-2, allowing just three goals in those seven games.
HAWKS ATOP THE B1G
• Junior Natalie Winters is fourth in the Big Ten with 45 shots and fifth in shots per game with 2.81.
• Redshirt freshman Josie Durr, junior Devin Burns, and redshirt senior Rose Ripslinger are third in the conference with two game-winning goals.
• Graves leads the Big Ten Conference with 0.55 shutouts per game. She is second in save percentage (.848), third in shutouts (6) and goals against average (0.66), and is seventh in saves per game (3.50).
ON THE HORIZON
The Big Ten Tournament begins Oct. 25 with the top four teams in the conference standings hosting quarterfinal games. The top eight teams in the league standings qualify for the tournament.
