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COLUMBIA, Mo. — The University of Iowa soccer team capped its spring slate with a 1-0 victory over Missouri on April 20.
Iowa finished the spring outscoring opponents, 19-2.
“This was a great way to end the spring. It was a good opportunity for us to compare ourselves against an opponent we played in the fall to see what kind of growth we have made as a team and individually,” said Iowa head coach Dave DiIanni. “It was our best performance from start-to-finish as a group. Collectively, it showed us that we have focused a great deal of time on the process and individual improvement in the last 12 weeks.
“One of the constant themes is our back line is pretty solidified with Samantha Cary, Sara Wheaton, Riley Whitaker, Hannah Drkulec, Leah Moss, Riley Burns, and Olivia Hellweg, but we have depth that comes from there. We were able to end the spring knowing that we are a little deeper in the midfield than we were in the fall. Sydney Blitchok, Josie Durr, and Hailey Rydberg have stepped up to make us deeper. I like that we have improved quite a bit and focused on the day-to-day tasks of improving. We have made a great deal of progress offensively, but are still looking for more consistent performances day in and day out from that line. It was great to see Devin Burns find the back of the net again this spring. That allowed us to build momentum heading into the Europe trip and summer.”
Senior defender Hannah Drkulec found the back of the net for her second goal of the spring. Senior goalkeeper Claire Graves and redshirt freshman Monica Wilhelm split time in goal to send the Hawkeyes to their fifth shutout of the spring.
Iowa will be on a short break before traveling to Germany, Sweden, and Denmark, May 13-22, to play three games.
