IOWA CITY, Iowa – University of Iowa women’s soccer downed Maryland, 5-0, on Sunday in the home finale at the Iowa Soccer Complex. The Hawkeyes improve to 9-3-3 overall and 3-3-2 in Big Ten Conference play.
Iowa dominated all phases of the contest, finishing with a 16-2 advantage in shots and a 10-1 lead in shots on goal. Half of those shots on goal connected as the Hawkeyes piled on a season-best five goals. The clean sheet is Iowa’s 10th this season.
Junior Elle Otto gave Iowa the lead out of the gate, drilling a fourth-minute goal on assists from senior Kelli McGroarty and freshman Eva Pattison. Otto sliced a fastbreak ball behind the sliding Terrapin goalkeeper for her fifth score of the season.
Otto’s five goals and 12 points lead the Hawkeyes this season.
Iowa struck again in the 19th minute, this time on a set piece that saw a pair of headers dump the ball to the bottom-left corner of the goal. Senior Maggie Johnston launched a long free kick into the box, which freshman Millie Greer lofted up to McGroarty; the Voorhees, New Jersey, native spiked the ball where it needed to be to give Iowa the, 2-0, advantage.
The Hawkeyes took a 3-0 lead into halftime thanks to a 36th minute score tacked on by junior Addie Bundy off a corner kick. Bundy took the kick, hooking the ball through the net despite grazing the Maryland keeper.
Iowa converted again in the 54th minute on a Josie Durr penalty kick. That score makes four goals and 10 points for the seventh-year veteran this season, her most in a single season as a Hawkeye.
Freshman Sofia Bush put the seasoning in the stew in the 81st minute, firing a deep goal to a spot no one was getting to at the top of the net. The long ball was Bush’s second career goal.
Seven Hawkeyes recorded offensive points as Iowa picked up three crucial points in the Big Ten standings to keep its postseason aspirations alive.
HEAR FROM HEAD COACH DAVE DIIANNI
“We talked about having a fresh approach mentally today and not bemoaning the last two games. I loved our mental approach. We asked them to be competitive and to do everything together.
I think the scout was really good. We wanted to move the ball. We wanted to shift them. I thought that when we did that they became a lot more isolated individually on defense. I would imagine today was probably the most passes we have been able to put together. We defended well as a group, and we pressed well. The first and second goal were results of turning them over in the back. We were sharp in the box.
I talked to them a little about how it is never as good and never as bad as you think it is. Live somewhere in the middle. I am really happy with their mental resolve. Just be in the day. You can’t be in tomorrow until you are done with today. Go win the day, and we did that today.”
HAWKEYE NOTABLES
- Iowa’s 10 shutouts through 15 games (.667) lead the Big Ten this season.
- Senior goalkeeper Macy Enneking ranks fifth in the Hawkeye record book with 22 career victories (.676 win percentage). Enneking’s 19 career shutouts rank third in program history.
- 90 Tracker: No Hawkeyes played the full 90 minutes on Sunday. Twenty-three Iowa players logged minutes against Maryland. The following position players have recorded at least one 90-minute outing this season: fifth-year Samantha Cary (11), freshman Millie Greer (11), freshman Eva Pattison (2), senior Rielee Fetty (4), senior Maggie Johnston (4), freshman Sofia Bush, junior Kenzie Roling and sophomore Kellen Fife.
UP NEXT
Iowa faces Michigan at 7 p.m. (CT) on Oct. 19 at U-M Soccer Stadium. The Hawkeyes close out the regular season against Michigan State on Oct. 22 at DeMartin Soccer Complex. Kickoff is slated for 1 p.m. (CT).