Hawkeye Fan Shop — A Black & Gold Store | 24 Hawkeyes to Watch 2019-20 | Hawk Talk Monthly — October | Photo Gallery | Box Score (PDF) | Boxscore
IOWA CITY, Iowa — For the second straight game, University of Iowa sophomore Samantha Tawharu scored the golden goal in the 110th minute, sending the Hawkeyes to a 2-1 double overtime victory over Ohio State on Sunday afternoon at the Iowa Soccer Complex.
The win is Iowa’s 15th of the season, tying the 2013 team for the most wins in a single-season in school history. The Hawkeyes finish 7-3-1 in Big Ten play to finish fifth in the regular season standings. The seven wins are tied for the most in a single season in school history.
Tawharu’s goal found the back of the net with just six seconds remaining in the second overtime. Sophomore Riley Whitaker sent a corner kick in the box with 30 seconds remaining. After the attempt sailed through the box, sophomore Sara Wheaton tracked it down and played a ball into Tawharu, who collected the pass and went far post for the game-winner. It was her third game-winning goal of the season and fifth overall.
The New Zealand native scored the game-winner with 26 seconds remaining in Iowa’s 2-1 double-overtime victory at Minnesota on Oct. 20.
The Hawkeyes took a 1-0 advantage in the 65th minute off the foot of freshman Gianna Gourley. Sophomores Skylar Alward and Tawharu were credited on the assist. It was Gourley’s fifth goal this season.
Ohio State evened the score in the 78th minute with a goal from Marike Mousset.
HEAD COACH DAVE DIIANNI SAYS…
“This is a resilient group. That is one of our core values, being resilient. What a season this group has had, we just wanted to finish this season as strong as we could, regardless of what seed we end up. We came out a little flat to start the game, but credit to Ohio State, they have one of the better players in the conference, Kayla Fischer. We kept plugging away, it had the same feeling as last week at Minnesota, they believed that they were going to stay in it, and they were going to win, and I am very proud of them.”
SOPHOMORE FORWARD SAMANTHA TAWHARU SAYS…
“I knew it was coming in from a cross and I saw the Ohio State defender was going up for it. I counted on that she was going to miss it and thankfully she did, and I had a good shot.
“This win was a testament to how well and how hard we have worked this season. We have pushed each other in trainings and in games, today we started a little slow today, but we came out with a different attitude in the second half and made sure we brought it to them and we came out with the W in the second half.”
SOPHOMORE DEFENDER SARA WHEATON SAYS
“I saw the clock when we had the corner kick and there was 50 seconds left, I told Riley ‘Hey, just calm down, give us a good kick, we have to get a chance here.’ The ball got flicked and my job is to keep the ball in the box, whatever I do. I served it in, and Sammy was in a perfect spot. That is something this team does so well, we just never stop, and it is amazing.”
OF NOTE
– Iowa out-shot Ohio State, 25-17, for the game. The Hawkeyes had an 18-8 advantage in the second half and in overtime.
– The Hawkeyes’ nine home victories set a program record for most wins at the Iowa Soccer Complex in a single season.
– Goalkeeper Claire Graves recorded a season-high six saves in today’s contest.
– Iowa earned the fifth seed in the Big Ten Tournament, tying the second-highest finish in the league in program history. It is the program’s first postseason appearance since 2017.
NEXT UP
The Hawkeyes will travel to State College, Pennsylvania, to take on Penn State in the quarterfinal round of the Big Ten Tournament on Nov. 3.
