IOWA CITY, Iowa – The University of Iowa soccer team will play 11 games at the Iowa Soccer Complex during the 2021 season, it was announced Tuesday by head coach Dave DiIanni.
The complete schedule includes 20 games, which includes two exhibition contests. Iowa opens the season with two exhibition games against South Dakota (Aug. 7) and Northern Iowa (Aug. 13) before traveling to Chicago to face DePaul on Aug. 19 in the regular-season opener.
- The Hawkeyes will face opponents from the Big East, Atlantic 10, Big 12, and Southeastern Conferences in nonconference action.
- Iowa will face a pair of 2020 NCAA Tournament teams in 2021 in Saint Louis and Rutgers. The Billikens were the Atlantic 10 regular season and tournament champions in 2020 to earn the No. 15 overall seed. Saint Louis finished 15-1-1 overall. Both the Billikens and Scarlet Knights joined the Hawkeyes in the Round of 32.
- The Hawkeyes will host Iowa State in an Iowa Corn Cy-Hawk Series matchup on Aug. 26 at the Iowa Soccer Complex.
- Iowa will host Northwestern, Maryland, Michigan State, Illinois and Minnesota in Big Ten play, while traveling for road games at Indiana, Purdue, Rutgers, Nebraska and Wisconsin.
- Big Ten Tournament quarterfinal games will be played at campus sites on Halloween, while the semifinals and title game will be Nov. 4 and Nov. 7 at the highest overall seed.
- NCAA Tournament action will be held from Nov. 12-14. Iowa has made two straight NCAA Tournament appearances.
The Hawkeyes are coming off a season of firsts. Iowa won the first Big Ten Tournament title in program history in 2020 to earn an automatic berth in the NCAA Tournament. The team then defeated Campbell, 1-0, on its home field to tally the first NCAA Tournament victory in the school history.
Iowa will return 17 letterwinners and all but one starter in 2021, while adding two graduate transfers and six newcomers to the roster.
