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WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
• The Hawkeyes finished the 2019 season with a 15-5-1 record and the team made its second NCAA Tournament appearance in program history — the first under head coach Dave DiIanni.
• Iowa’s 15 wins tied for the most in a single season in school history. It was the second 10+ win season under DiIanni; the Hawkeyes won 14 games during DiIanni’s first season in 2014.
• All 15 of Iowa’s wins came during the regular season. Iowa needed two postseason wins as the No. 7 seed in the Big Ten Tournament to set the previous school record in 2013.
• The Hawkeyes posted seven Big Ten victories, which tied for the most in a single season in school history. Iowa also won a school-record seven Big Ten games in 1999 and 2014.
• Iowa’s fifth place Big Ten finish tied for the second-highest finish in program history.
• The Hawkeyes finished the season ranked fifth in the United Soccer North Region rankings.
• Senior Claire Graves won her 37th career game in Iowa’s road win at Minnesota, making her the winningest goalkeeper in school history. Graves finished with 38 career victories.
• Iowa tied a school record, winning its first nine games of the 2019 season.
• The Hawkeyes had three All-Big Ten honorees in 2019, tied for the most in a single season in program history.
• Iowa scored 45 goals in 2019 — the second-most in the Big Ten and the 28th-most nationally.
BACK TO THE NCAAs
The Hawkeyes earned their second NCAA Tournament berth in school history after winning 15 games during the regular season.
• Iowa had to travel to Lawrence, Kansas, to face the third-seeded Jayhawks in the Round of 64. No. 11/16 Kansas scored a second-half goal to down the Hawkeyes, 1-0.
WINTERS EARNS ALL-REGION HONORS
Senior Natalie Winters earned her second career United Soccer Coaches all-region honor in 2019. The midfielder earned second-team All-North region honors after scoring six goals, including three game-winners, and registering two assists.
• Winters is the fourth player in school history to earn two or more all-region honors, joining Sarah Lynch, Cloe Lacasse, and Melanie Pickertt. Winters was a third-team selection in 2018.
ACADEMIC DISTINCTION
Seniors Kaleigh Haus and Hannah Drkulec earned CoSIDA First-Team Academic All-America honors in 2019 — the second such honor of their Hawkeye careers. Haus was a first-team honoree last season, while Drkulec was a second-team selection.
• Iowa is the only school in the nation to have two first-team Academic All-Americans. The Hawkeyes are one of four programs to have two Academic All-Americans (first, second, or third team), along with Alabama, Navy, and Stanford.
• Haus and Drkulec were Iowa’s first ever Academic All-Americans in 2018. The were also named to the CoSIDA first-team academic all-district 6 teams.
B1G HONOREES
• Iowa tied a school record with three All-Big Ten selections. The Hawkeyes also had three honorees in 2002, 2008, and 2011.
• Senior Natalie Winters earned second-team All-Big Ten honors to become the first Hawkeye to earn Big Ten postseason recognition all four seasons. She was an All-Freshman team honoree in 2016 and third-team All-Big Ten in 2017 and 2018.
• Senior Devin Burns earned her first career All-Big Ten honor, garnering third-team honors. She tied for the team lead with six goals.
• Freshman Gianna Gourley was named to the Big Ten All-Freshman Team after scoring five goals during the regular season. She is Iowa’s first All-Freshman team honoree since Winters in 2016.
• Sophomore Riley Whitaker was named to the Big Ten All-Tournament team, while senior Claire Graves was named Iowa’s Big Ten Sportsmanship honoree.
TEAM HONORS
• Senior Natalie Winters was named Iowa’s MVP for a second straight season after tying for the team lead with six goals and netting three game-winners. It was Winters’ fourth career team award; she was MVP and Offensive Player of the Year as a junior and Newcomer of the Year in 2016.
• Senior Devin Burns was selected as Iowa’s Offensive Player of the Year for the second time in her career after tying for the team lead with six goals. She also earned the distinction as a sophomore.
• Sophomore Riley Whitaker was tabbed as Iowa’s Defensive Player of the Year after helping the Hawkeyes post eight shutouts. Whitaker logged a team-high 1,889 minutes in 2019. She was the team’s Newcomer of the Year as a freshman.
• Sophomore Samantha Tawharu earned the team’s Newcomer of the Year honor after scoring five goals and registering five assists in her first season as a Hawkeye. The New Zealand native scored three game-winners, including two in the 110th minute in back-to-back games against Minnesota and Ohio State.
• Senior Isabella Blackman received the Hawk Award, a distinction presented to a player that makes an impact in the classroom, community, and on the field. Blackman started all 21 games in the midfield and was a team co-captain in 2019.
ACADEMIC PROWESS
The Hawkeyes had a school record 19 Academic All-Big Ten selection in 2019, including four student-athletes with perfect 4.0 grade point averages. Iowa’s Academic All-Big Ten honorees included: Bianca Acuario, Skylar Alward, Isabella Blackman, Sydney Blitchok, Devin Burns, Riley Burns, Jenny Cape, Hannah Drkulec, Claire Graves, Kaleigh Haus, Leah Moss, Adianna Naumoski, Grace Necker, Hailey Rydberg, Zoey Slettehaugh, Emma Tokuyama, Sara Wheaton, Riley Whitaker, and Monica Wilhelm.
IOWA TIES SINGLE-SEASON WINS RECORD
Iowa won 15 games during the 2019 season, tying the program record for single-season victories. The Hawkeyes won a school-record 15 games in 2013, the year the program made its first NCAA Tournament appearance.
DYNAMO DEVIN
Senior Devin Burns registered a point in nine of Iowa’s 21 games in 2019. She scored her team-leading sixth goal in the Hawkeyes’ 3-0 win over Michigan State on Oct. 6, giving her 20 goals for her career. The total is sixth all-time in program history.
• Iowa was 16-0-1 in games in which Burns scored in her career.
GRAVES GETS IT DONE
• Senior Claire Graves posted 14 victories in goal in 2019, which were the second-most in a single season in program history.
• The Indiana native posted 7.5 shutouts, a career high. The figure was third in a single season in program history.
• Graves finished 14-5-1 with a 0.87 goals against average. She made 45 saves.
DEJA VU: BACK-TO-BACK 110TH-MINUTE STRIKES
Sophomore Samantha Tawharu achieved the improbable in back-to-back games, propelling the Hawkeyes to their 14th and 15th wins. The forward scored a golden goal with 26 seconds left to give Iowa a 2-1 double-overtime victory at Minnesota on Oct. 20. A week later, Tawharu scored a golden goal with six seconds left in double OT to send the Hawkeyes past Ohio State, 2-1.
• Tawharu finished third on the team with five goals, including three game-winners. She also tied for the team lead with five assists.
DRKULEC DOES IT ALL
Senior Hannah Drkulec earned four Big Ten weekly honors during the regular season. She was the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week on Aug. 27, Sept. 10, and Oct. 8 and the Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week on Sept. 17. • Drkulec became the third Big Ten student-athlete all-time to garner Offensive and Defensive Player of the Week honors in the same season (Lisa Grubb, Ohio State, 2001; Izzy Rodriguez, Ohio State, 2018).
• Drkulec’s four weekly honors match Britta Vogele for the most in a single-season in school history.
• The defender was also named to TopDrawerSoccer’s National Team of the Week on Sept. 17.
• Drkulec scored a career-high five goals in 2019. She scored her second career game-winning goal in the road win at Michigan State on Oct. 6.
A PROGRAM FIRST
The Hawkeyes debuted in the United Soccer Coaches poll on Sept. 17, coming in at No. 19. It was Iowa’s highest ranking in school history and the first time the program has been in the United Soccer Coaches poll (previously NSCAA).
• Iowa also joined TopDrawerSoccer’s Top 25 for the first time since 2014, when the Hawkeyes were ranked 25th.
ADDITIONAL HAWKEYE HONOREES
• Senior Claire Graves was named the Big Ten Goalkeeper of the Week on Sept. 10 after posting back-to-back shutouts of No. 14 NC State and UNC Greensboro. She was also named honorable mention on TopDrawerSoccer’s National Team of the Week on Sept. 10.
• Freshman Gianna Gourley was named the Big Ten Freshman of the Week on Oct. 8 after scoring the game-winning goal in the home win over Nebraska.
• Iowa had six Big Ten weekly honors during the regular season — the most in school history.
NATIONAL RANKINGS
The Hawkeyes finished in the top-40 nationally in eight categories during the 2019 season. Iowa was the 26th-best scoring team nationally, averaging 2.14 goals per game. The team was first in penalty kicks (1.000), 19th in shots on goal per game (8.14), 28th in points per game (6.10) and goals (45), 29th in shots per game (16.52), 30th in points (128), 35th in assists (38), and 38th in assists per game (1.81).
IN THE B1G
• The Hawkeyes led the Big Ten Conference in goals per game (2.10), while ranking second in goals (44), assists (38), assists per game (1.81), and shots (347), and third in points (126).
• Devin Burns finished tied for seventh in the conference in shots (53) and sixth in shots per game (2.52).
• Senior Natalie Winters and sophomore Samantha Tawharu tied for eighth in game-winning goals (3).
• Senior Claire Graves tied for fourth in the league in shutouts (8), fourth in goals against average (.87), and tied for fifth in shutouts per game (0.38).
IOWA’S DEFENSE…
• allowed seven or fewer shots in 13 of its 21 games. Iowa allowed just two shots in three games — wins over Western Michigan, Northern Iowa, and Northern Colorado — and three shots in the road loss at Purdue.
• posted eight shutouts, including back-to-back-to-back against No. 14 NC State, UNC Greensboro, and Northern Colorado. Four of Iowa’s seven Big Ten wins came via the shutout.
OFFENSIVELY SPEAKING
• Iowa out-shot its opposition, 347-155, and the Hawkeyes had an 120-66 advantage in corner kicks. The Hawkeyes had 20 or more shots in six games.
• Nine different Hawkeyes scored a game-winning goal in 2019, including career firsts from: Hannah Drkulec, Gianna Gourley, Samantha Tawharu, Emma Tokuyama, and Sara Wheaton.
• The Hawkeyes scored three or more goals in eight games.
I SCORE, YOU SCORE, WE ALL SCORE
The Hawkeyes scored 45 goals in 21 games (Iowa scored 20 total goals in 2018) and 16 different players found the back of the net. Seventeen different players tallied a point.
• Iowa had an NCAA-best 16 different goal scorers in 2019.
• Freshmen Gianna Gourley, Sara Wheaton, and Samantha Cary, sophomores Samantha Tawharu, Skylar Alward, Jenny Cape, and senior Emma Tokuyama scored their first career goals.
• Iowa scored six goals in its 6-1 victory over Northern Iowa on Aug. 25 — the most for the program since 2017. The six goals (and six assists in the game) tied for the most in a single game in the Big Ten this season.
DOWN GOES NO. 14
• The Hawkeyes’ 1-0 victory at No. 14 NC State was the program’s third-highest ranked victory in its history and the highest ranked opponent since 2013.
• Iowa defeated No. 7 Michigan in the Big Ten Tournament quarterfinals in 2013. The program also knocked off 12th-ranked Wisconsin in 1999.
A RECORD FALL AT THE ISC
• The Hawkeyes won a school record nine games in 2019 at the Iowa Soccer Complex. Iowa is 16-2-3 at home dating back to the start of the 2018 season, which includes a 9-2 record this season.
HAWKEYE TIDBITS
• The Hawkeyes went 6-3-1 on the road this season, a year after going 1-7-0 away from Iowa City. The six road wins tied for the most in a single season in school history.
90-MINUTE CLUB
Iowa had five position players that were a part of the 90-minute club. The club included: Riley Whitaker (17 games), Hannah Drkulec (13), Sara Wheaton (13), Isabella Blackman (10), and Samantha Cary (8).
QUICK ATTACK
• The Hawkeyes’ offense came out fast, scoring in the game’s first seven minutes in four contests — (UNI (6:58), Illinois State (0:47), UNC Greensboro (3:52), Northern Colorado (6:09).
• Iowa scored first in 14 of 21 games. The Hawkeyes fell behind in the road win at Notre Dame, but responded by scoring three times in a 10-minute stretch in the 3-2 victory.
• Out of 1,956 total minutes this season, Iowa only trailed for 218 minutes and 49 seconds.
EXPERIENCE GALORE
• The Hawkeyes boasted a roster featuring 13 seniors and 15 total upperclassmen. The 13 seniors are believed to be the most by a team in the nation.
• The 13 seniors combined to start 447 games in their collegiate careers.
• Iowa’s senior class played 77 games since the group arrived in 2016. Nine seniors have appeared in 50 or more games in their careers.
• Senior Natalie Winters started 76-of-77 career games and she appeared in all 77 contests. Iowa’s senior class’s experience includes: Hannah Drkulec – 76-of-77 games (53 starts); Isabella Blackman – 75-of-77 (67 starts); Claire Graves – 72-of-77 (71 starts), Kaleigh Haus – 68-of-77 (50 starts); Devin Burns – 70-of-77 (57 starts), Olivia Fiegel – 59-of-77 (17 starts); Leah Moss – 59-of-77 (40 starts); Emma Tokuyama – 56-of-77 (4 starts).
GRAVES TIES CAREER WINS RECORD
Senior Claire Graves became Iowa’s career wins leader in Iowa’s 2-1 double overtime win at Minnesota on Oct. 20. Graves finished her career ranking in the top-four in three categories — first in career wins (38), second in career shutouts (24.5), and fourth in career saves (236).
BURNS AMONG CAREER LEADERS
• Senior Devin Burns scored six goals during the 2019 season, giving her 20 career goals, which are the sixth-most in school history.
• Burns is also tied for third all-time with nine career game-winning goals.
• She finished her career with 52 points, tied for sixth place all-time.
