NOTEBOOK: Hawkeyes Set to Host Purdue, Nebraska

THIS WEEK
The University of Iowa women’s soccer team is set to host Purdue on Thursday at 7 p.m. (CT) for its annual “Gold Out Game” at the Iowa Soccer Complex. Then, the Hawkeyes host Nebraska on Sunday at 1 p.m. (CT) as they celebrate Senior Day.

WATCH/FOLLOW LIVE

  • Thursday’s match will broadcast live on Big Ten Network. Sunday’s game will stream on BTN+.
  • Links to streaming and live stats can be found at hawkeyesports.com/soccergameday.
  • Fans can follow the Iowa soccer program on Twitter (@HawkeyeSoccer) for live in-game updates.

SCOUTING THE BOILERMAKERS

  • Purdue is winless in Big Ten Conference play; their lone draw came against Sunday’s opponent, Nebraska. The Boilermakers defeated No. 18 USC, 3-0, on Aug. 18.
  • The Boilermakers are led offensively by sophomore Gracie Dunaway who has a team-high five goals, two assists, 28 shots, and 14 shots on goal for the season.
  • Junior Emily Matthews has a team-high five assists, which ranks tenth in the Big Ten.

SERIES HISTORY – PURDUE
Iowa leads the Boilermakers 10-7-4 in the all-time series. Purdue won last season’s match, 2-1, in overtime. The Hawkeyes won the previous meeting, 1-0, at the Iowa Soccer Complex in the 2021 spring season.

SCOUTING THE CORNHUSKERS

  • Nebraska enters the contest at 5-4-5 with a 3-1-2 record in Big Ten play. The Cornhuskers enter the week tied for fifth in the conference standings with 11 points.
  • Sophomore Sarah Weber and junior Eleanor Dale lead the Big Ten with 61 and 47 shots, each; along with Iowa’s Hailey Rydberg (50 shots in 14 games), the conference’s top three shot-takers will participate in Sunday’s game.
  • Head coach John Walker is in his 29th season at Nebraska; he joins Iowa head coach Dave DiIanni as one of two active Big Ten coaches with 300 career wins.

SERIES HISTORY – NEBRASKA
Iowa is 3-11-1 against the Cornhuskers in program history. The Hawkeyes are 3-1-1 in the series since 2017, including last season’s victory in which Iowa came back from a, 3-0, deficit to win, 4-3, setting a new program record.

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW

  • Head coach Dave DiIanni is in his ninth season at the helm of the soccer program. Last fall, DiIanni’s team posted a 12-6-2 record, tying for fourth in the Big Ten for Iowa’s highest regular season conference finish since 1999. The Hawkeyes return six starters and a host of other key contributors from the 2021 team. That includes a group of six fifth-year players from a class of seven seniors all with starting experience.
  • The Hawkeyes qualified for the Big Ten Tournament in 2021, advancing to the semifinals as the tournament five seed before falling to Rutgers. Iowa has qualified for three of the last four Big Ten Conference Tournaments, not counting the unorthodox 2020 event which saw all teams compete and which the Hawkeyes went on to win for the first time in school history.
  • In 2019 and 2020, Iowa made back-to-back NCAA Tournament appearances for the first time in program history. The 2020 group earned Iowa’s first victory in the NCAA Tournament.
  • Iowa returns 51.6 percent of its goal scoring production from last season. The Hawkeyes lose leading scorer Alyssa Walker, but return a majority of the 11 goal scorers from last season. Assist leader Hailey Ryberg is back this season after dishing seven assists across seven different wins in 2021. Rydberg and newcomers Kyndal Anderson and Elle Otto lead Iowa with three goals, apiece, this season.
  • Three Hawkeyes — Hailey Rydberg, Kenzie Roling, and Samantha Cary — were named to the Big Ten Preseason Honors List. Iowa was picked to finish eighth out of 14 teams in the preseason coaches’ poll.
  • Three players that earned Big Ten Conference postseason honors last season return in 2022. Sara Wheaton was named to the All-Big Ten second team, while Hailey Rydberg picked up third-team honors. Addie Bundy was a unanimous selection on the All-Freshman team.
  • Rydberg, Cary, and Wheaton were voted team captains for the 2022 season. Both Rydberg and Wheaton were captains in 2021.

LAST WEEK
Iowa fell on the road at Minnesota, 1-0, last Sunday.

  • The Gophers found the net in the 24th minute off a corner kick opportunity. Senior Hailey Rydberg recorded a game-high seven shots, including three shots on goal. Goalkeeper Macy Enneking was back in goal for the Hawkeyes for just the third game this season. She came up with four saves on the day. Iowa went to work in the second half, producing eight of its 12 shots on the afternoon in the second period. The Minnesota defense held firm, however, snapping a two-game Hawkeye winning streak in the series.

SENIOR LEADERSHIP
A class of seven senior leaders all with starting experience help anchor the Hawkeyes this season.

  • Midfielder Hailey Rydberg was a third-team All-Big Ten selection last season, starting all 20 games and posting two goals with seven assists across seven wins last season.
  • Defender Sara Wheaton earned second-team All-Big Ten honors and was Iowa’s Defensive Player of the Year on a defense that gave up just 20 goals and posted six clean sheets in 2021.
  • Other notable veterans include goalkeeper Monica Wilhelm (87 saves, nine wins), defender Samantha Cary (19 starts, two goals), Natalie Massa (20 games played, 4 starts), and fifth-year players Josie Durr and Jenny Cape who return to the pitch after being sidelined in 2021. Durr scored her first goal of the season on Aug. 28 in a 4-0 victory over DePaul; Cape has started in four of ten games she has played in this year.

MEET THE NEWCOMERS
The Hawkeyes welcome 14 newcomers in 2022, including eight incoming freshmen and six transfers.

  • The freshman class features Kellen Fife, Aubrey Hahn, Emma Kozicki, Morgan Leitz, Halle Skibo, Makenna Vonderhaar, Camille Welker, and Broolyn Woods.
  • Iowa also welcomes graduate students Cassidy Formanek (Houston), Molly Gervase (Denver), Caroline Halonen (Northern Michigan), and Anastasia Savich (Butler), as well as transfer students Kyndal Anderson (Furman) and Elle Otto (Mississippi State).
  • Anderson scored the game-winners against Cal Poly and DePaul and has matched the most Iowa goals this season with three; Otto has recorded three goals of her own, and her three assists on the year are the second most for the Hawkeyes.
  • Six of Iowa’s nine goal scorers so far this season are newcomers.

2 FOR THE MONEY
The Hawkeyes are undefeated in their last 34 games when scoring two goals or more. Since the start of the 2018 season, Iowa has a record of 32-0-2 when scoring two goals or more. That includes a 2-0-1 record in 2022, 9-0 in 2021, 2-0 in 2020, 13-0-1 in 2019 and 5-0 in 2018. The Hawkeyes won their final two games in 2017 when scoring two-plus goals. The last time Iowa lost a game while netting at least two goals was Oct. 1, 2017, at Michigan State (L, 3-2).

90 TRACKER
Seven Hawkeyes have played the entirety of at least one game this season, including Sara Wheaton (11), Samantha Cary (8), Cassidy Formanek (6), Hailey Rydberg (5), Josie Durr (3), Brooklyn Woods (3) and Rielee Fetty (2).

DEPTH AT GOALKEEPER
Iowa features depth at goalkeeper with redshirt senior Monica Wilhelm and junior Macy Enneking holding down the net. The Iowa defense posted seven shutouts and held 18 opponents to two scores or fewer through 20 games last season with both players in goal throughout the year.

  • Redshirt junior Monica Wilhelm notched 58 saves while allowing just 17 goals through 16 starts. Wilhelm tallied a career-best 11 saves against Rutgers last season.
  • Sophomore Macy Enneking saw action in five games down the stretch in 2021, including four starts. She tallied 27 saves and allowed three goals in that span.
  • In 2020, Enneking was the only unanimous Big Ten All-Freshman Team selection and earned Big Ten Tournament Most Outstanding Defensive Player accolades for allowing just one goal in four games at the conference tournament. She tallied 52 saves across 11 games and averaged a conference-best .912 save percentage, allowing just five goals in 956 minutes played.
  • This season, Enneking has posted 10 saves at an .833 percentage through 267 minutes, while Wilhelm has recorded 41 saves at a .788 percentage in 970 minutes played. Enneking returned to action last time out, starting in Sunday’s game at Minnesota.

SHARING THE WEALTH
10 different Hawkeyes have combined for 17 goals this season. Kyndal Anderson, Elle Otto and Hailey Rydberg have recorded three goals, apiece; Rydberg has a team-high 10 points on the season.

  • Hawkeye goal scorers this season are Kyndal Anderson (3), Hailey Rydberg (3), Elle Otto (3), Caroline Halonen (2), Samantha Cary, Josie Durr, Sara Wheaton, Morgan Lietz, Kellen Fife and Camille Welker.
  • Rydberg tallied a team-best seven assists last season. She currently tops the assist column for Iowa with four on the season.
  • Rydberg’s 50 shots through 14 games ranks third in the Big Ten Conference; her 19 shots on goal are more than twice that of the next Hawkeye (Elle Otto, 8).
  • Anderson leads Iowa with two game-winning goals. 

LOOKING AHEAD
Iowa travels to Evanston, Illinois, to take on Northwestern at 7 p.m. (CT) on Oct. 20. The Hawkeyes close out regular season play by hosting No. 25 Penn State at 1 p.m. (CT) on Oct. 23 at the Iowa Soccer Complex.