No. 11 Hawkeyes Host Northwestern in Big Ten Opener

THIS WEEK
The No. 11 University of Iowa women’s soccer team hosts Northwestern in its Big Ten opener on Friday, Sept. 12 at 6:30 p.m. (CT). The match will take place at the Iowa Soccer Complex.

WATCH/FOLLOW LIVE
- Iowa’s match against the Wildcats will be streamed live on B1G+ (subscription required).
- Links to streaming and live stats can be found at the gameday page on hawkeyesports.com.
- Fans can follow the Iowa soccer program on X (@HawkeyeSoccer) for live in-game updates.

SCOUTING THE WILDCATS
- Northwestern comes into the match with a 4-1-2 overall record. The Wildcats are 3-1-1 on the road with their lone road loss coming to No. 1 Duke.
- The Wildcats most recent win came over No. 4 TCU, 1-0, in Fort Worth, Texas. 
- Goalkeeper Nyamma Nelson has protected the net in all seven games for Northwestern. Nelson has allowed only six goals on the season while posting 22 saves. Her save percentage of .786 ranks 11th amongst Big Ten Goalkeepers. Nelson’s 610:40 minutes on the season ranks sixth in the Big Ten.
- The Wildcats shot accuracy of .500 ranks third in the Big Ten.
- Northwestern is outscoring their opponents, 8-6 this season. They are yet to score over two goals in a single match.
- Kennedy Roesch leads the Wildcats offensive attacks with three goals on 23 shots. She has fired 12 shots on goal.
- Roesch leads the conference in shots per game at 3.29.
- Alex Fallon and Liz Cardwell lead Northwestern with three assists apiece. 
- The Wildcats are a physical team, averaging 10.29 fouls per game. Their fouls rank 264th amongst 345 teams. 

SERIES HISTORY - NORTHWESTERN
Northwestern leads the all-time series between the Hawkeyes, 10-15-2. However, Iowa has won three of the last four matchups. The Wildcats are 8-5-3 all-time when playing in Iowa City. The most recent matchup between the two teams came last season when the Hawkeyes won, 2-1, on the road thanks to an Olympic goal from Lauren Geczik in the 87th minute. The first meeting between the two teams came on Oct. 10, 1997, when Iowa fell to Northwestern, 4-1.

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
- Sofia Bush, Millie Greer, and Liana Tarasco were named Big Ten Players to Watch. The Hawkeyes were picked sixth in the Big Ten Preseason Poll. Bush was also named a midfielder to watch by Top Drawer Soccer.
- Iowa is filled with veteran leadership, rostering eight graduate students and three seniors. 
- Meike Ingles (lower leg injury), Eva Pattison (redshirt), and Abby Warner (redshirt) will be out for the rest of the 2025 season.
- Iowa’s No. 13 preseason ranking was the highest preseason ranking in program history. It also marked just the second time Iowa earned a preseason ranking.
- The Hawkeyes No. 7 ranking in Top Drawer Soccer’s poll earlier this season marked the highest ranking in program history.
- The Hawkeyes graduated the program’s all-time winningest goalkeeper in Macy Enneking. Enneking defended the goal for Iowa in each of the last three seasons.
- Kenzie Roling, Millie Greer, and Sofia Bush were voted team captains.

THE DIIANNI FILE
- Head coach Dave DiIanni signed a contract extension on Feb. 27, 2025, that extended the programs all-time winningest coach through 2029.
- DiIanni is 3-2 in his Iowa career against opponents ranked sixth or higher. Before his arrival, Iowa was 0-7 in those games and was outscored, 29-4.
- Entering this season, DiIanni is the second active winningest D1 coach in the country by percentage, with a win percentage of .753. He only trails Paul Ratcliffe of Stanford at .784.
 - DiIanni entered 2025 with the 19th most wins amongst active D1 coaches.
- DiIanni is the 41st winningest coach of all-time based of win percentage. He is the sixth winningest D1 coach of all-time.
- DiIanni has won all four NCAA Tournament matches in program history. 

PRO FACTORY
Five members of Iowa’s 2024 senior class went on to sign professional contracts.
- Maggie Johnston: Spokane Zephyr FC
- Maya Hansen: Fimleikafelag Hafnarfjardar
- Macy Enneking: Fimleikafelag Hafnarfjardar
- Madison Wilson: Calgary Wild FC
- Rielee Fetty: Rio Ave FC

HAWKEYE FAITHFUL
- After hosting four home games at Iowa Soccer Complex, Iowa’s average attendance of 2,181 fans ranks sixth in the country and first in the Big Ten.
- Iowa’s home match against TCU marked a regular season crowd attendance record with 2,382 fans.
- The year prior to DiIanni’s arrival, in 2013, the Hawkeyes averaged an attendance of 522 fans per game. Their attendance ranked 76th in the country and eighth in the Big Ten.

2024 MILESTONES
- At 15-3-4 the Hawkeyes tied the program record for most victories in a season. Iowa won 15 games in 2013 and 2019.
- The Hawkeyes finished with four wins against ranked opponents in 2024 which was a program record. Prior to Coach DiIanni’s arrival in 2014, Iowa had a total of nine wins against ranked opponents. In DiIanni’s tenure they have 15.
- Iowa’s eight wins in conference marked a program record for most wins in the Big Ten regular season.
- Iowa advanced to the Sweet 16 for the first time in school history a season ago.
- The Hawkeyes defended their home turf, winning nine games at the Iowa Soccer Complex. The nine wins at home tied a program record.
- Iowa rose to as high as No. 9 in the polls last year, at the time, marking a program record.

QUICK HITTERS
- Graduate student Price Loposer’s 85 games played in her career are tied for the second most games played amongst active players.
- Greer has played and started in every game. She has also played the full 90 minutes in six of seven games this season and leads Iowa with 577 minutes.
- Liana Tarasco’s shot percentage of .706 ranks 15th in the country and second in the Big Ten.
- Abby Skiff and Liana Tarasco’s two game winning goals on the season are tied for the 30th most in the country and second in the Big Ten.
- Taylor Kane is 15-2 in her collegiate career as the starting goalkeeper.
- Sofia Bush’s four assists are the 22nd most in the nation and third most in the Big Ten. The single-season program record for assists is nine set by three different Hawkeyes.
- As a unit, Iowa ranks second in the Big Ten in shots on goal per game (8.00), total assists (16), total goals (16), and total points (48).
- Iowa has forced five consecutive shutouts.

MCGROATY’S HISTORIC DAY
Graduate student Kelli McGroarty broke the Iowa single-game record with her four-goal performance against Missouri State.
- McGroarty’s four goals tied for the second most goals scored in a single D1 match this season. Alivia Scott of Tennessee leads with five.
- McGroarty became the 10th Hawkeye in program-history to have at least three goals.
- Her eight points in the match marked a new program record, passing the previous record of seven. The last time a Hawkeye has seven points in a match was Devin Burns on Aug. 31, 2017.
- McGroarty’s eight points tied for the third most points scored in a single D1 match this season.
- Her nine shot attempts tied for the sixth most in program history. It also tied for the 10th most in D1 this season.
- The four-goal performance marked the second time of her career that she recorded at least three goals in a single match. In her junior year at La Salle, she recorded three goals over a seven-minute span against Fordham on Oct. 9, 2022.
- After her record-breaking performance, McGroarty was named Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week. She became the 11th Hawkeye in program history and the fifth player in DiIanni’s tenure to win the award. The last time an Iowa player won the award was Hannah Drkulec on Sept. 17, 2019.
- Two of McGroarty’s goals against Missouri State came within just over a minute of each other. (41:42 and 42:46).

2 FOR THE MONEY
Iowa’s record is 59-3-3 in its last 65 games when scoring two goals or more, which dates back to October 2017.  

SINCE 2019, IOWA...
- Won a pair of Big Ten Tournament Championships in 2021 and 2023
- Won all four NCAA Tournament matches in program history
- Made four out of the five NCAA Tournament appearances in program history
- Advanced to their first Sweet Sixteen in program history
- Has earned 12 postseason wins
- Has posted 58 shutouts
- Defeated 11 ranked opponents, nine top 15 opponents and two top five opponents
- Saw Coach DiIanni surpass 300 career wins and become the winningest coach in program history
- Set a new home attendance record (2,629); the overtime win over Bucknell was the first NCAA Tournament game hosted at the Iowa Soccer Complex
- Set a home average attendance record (1,479); in the 2024 season. Iowa’s attendance in the 2024 season ranked 13th nationally and second amongst Big Ten teams.

UP NEXT
The Hawkeyes travel to take on Purdue on Thursday, Sept. 18 at 6 p.m. (CT) in West Lafayette, Indiana. Iowa then returns home to host Minnesota on Sunday, Sept. 21 at 1 p.m. (CT). Both matches will be streamed live on B1G+ (subscription required).