Hawkeyes Open 2026 Season Against Milwaukee and Loyola Chicago

THIS WEEK

The University of Iowa women’s soccer team will host a pair of matches at the Iowa Soccer Complex to open the 2026 season.  The Hawkeyes will face Milwaukee on Wednesday at 7 p.m. (CT) before squaring off against Loyola Chicago on Saturday at 7 p.m.  Admission is free.

WATCH/FOLLOW LIVE

- Both matches will be streamed live on B1G+ - a paid subscription service.

- Live statistics will be available on StatBroadcast, which can be accessed on hawkeyesports.com.

- Fans can follow the Iowa soccer program on X (@HawkeyeSoccer) and Instagram (@HawkeyeSoccer) for live in-game updates.

OF NOTE...

- The Hawkeyes return seven starters and 17 letterwinners this season. The team also added 11 newcomers, including eight transfers.

- Iowa welcomes back Berit Parten, who missed all but seven games during the 2025 season.  Parten scored seven goals and had three assists during her freshman season in 2024.

- The team returns four players who garnered All-Big Ten honors in 2025 -- first-team selections Sofia Bush and Millie Greer and Big Ten All-Freshman team honorees Liana Tarasco and Elle Wildman.

- Tarasco tied for second on the team with four goals and had 10 points a season ago.

SCOUTING MILWAUKEE

- The Panthers, the preseason Horizon League favorite, finished the 2025 season with a 13-5-3 overall record and went 8-0-2 in league play.

- Milwaukee won the Horizon League Tournament title, marking its 18th overall and eighth consecutive conference championship. The Panthers also collected their 23rd Horizon League regular season crown.

- The Panthers have qualified for eight consecutive and 19 total NCAA Tournaments.

- In 2025, the Panthers ranked sixth nationally in assists (65), eighth in points (173) and ninth in goals (54).

- Head coach Kevin Boyd was named 2025 Horizon League Coach of the Year and the Panthers had five first-team all-conference selections. 

- Second-team all-league selection Emily Petring returns for her senior season after scoring eight goals and tallying six assists during the 2025 season.

- Milwaukee has only lost two road contests in the past two seasons.

SCOUTING LOYOLA CHICAGO

- The Ramblers, picked to finish fifth in the A10, finished 2025 with a 9-4-6 overall record and a 4-2-4 record in conference play.

- Loyola Chicago made their second consecutive and third total Atlantic 10 Tournament appearance since joining the conference in 2022.

- The Hawkeyes last faced Loyola Chicago on Aug. 28 last season, resulting in a 0-0 draw.The all-time series is locked 2-2-2.

- Senior Zoey Hevey was selected to the 2026 Atlantic 10 Women’s Soccer Preseason All-Conference Team. The forward recorded five goals and six assists for 16 points, receiving 2025 All-A10 First-Team recognition.

- The Ramblers open their season at home against Central Michigan on Aug. 12 before facing Iowa on Aug. 15.

NEW YEAR, NEW STAFF

The Iowa soccer program welcomes a new staff for the 2026 campaign with Dean Ward taking over as the head coach following two seasons at Xavier.

- Ward has nearly two decades of collegiate soccer coaching experience and currently holds a 31-8-4 overall record as a head coach. During his two years at Xavier, he led the Musketeers to 31 wins, a BIG EAST Tournament Championship and an NCAA Tournament appearance in 2025.

- Assistant coach Kelly Altman joins the staff after three seasons at Florida. Altman completed his 19th season in coaching following the 2025 campaign, working at multiple levels, including NCAA Division I and III, high school and club soccer. Across coaching stints at Florida, Dayton, New Mexico, Valparaiso, High Point and Trinity, he has compiled a combined record of 190-79-50.

- Assistant coach Meghan Gill recently completed three seasons as associate head coach at Richmond. In 2025, the Spiders finished second in the A-10 Conference in save percentage (.841), while posting six shutouts. She arrived at Richmond from Davidson, where she served as the team’s recruiting coordinator for two seasons.

- Assistant coach Noah Smith was hired after spending two seasons at Xavier as an assistant coach, working with the goalkeepers. The Musketeers recorded eight shutouts in 2025, and the coaching staff was recognized as the United Soccer Coaches East Region Staff of the Year.

- Director of operations Josie Durr joins the coaching staff after playing for the Hawkeyes across six seasons from 2017–22.  The Solon, Iowa, native most recently served as a competition manager for the Arizona Soccer Association.

LOOKING BACK AT 2025

- The Hawkeyes finished the 2025 campaign with a 12-5-4 overall record and 6-2-3 Big Ten conference record.

- Iowa rose to as high as No. 5 in the national rankings in 2025, which marked a program record.

- The Hawkeyes qualified for the Big Ten Tournament for the fourth straight season, marking their 16th appearance all-time.

-Iowa earned an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament, earning a No. 5 seed. It marked their third straight NCAA Tournament appearance, a program record.  Iowa hosted its third striaght opening round contest.

- Iowa downed South Dakota State, 1-0, in the Round of 64 to advance to the Round of 32 for a third straight season.  The Hawkeyes are one of just 11 programs to advance to the second round in three straight seasons, along with Florida State, Wisconsin, Notre Dame, Arkansas, Michigan State, North Carolina, Texas Tech, Penn State, Georgetown, and Stanford.

- Iowa’s average home attendance of 2,076 marked a program record for the second consecutive year and it led the Big Ten and ranked fifth nationally.  The program drew a regular season record 2,382 fans for a home match against TCU.

- The Hawkeyes posted 10 shutouts on the season, giving the program 35 shutouts in 65 games (.538) over the past three seasons.

- Iowa finished tied for third in the Big Ten regular season standings for the second consecutive season. It tied a program record for best conference finish.

TURNING HEADS

- Elle Wildman, Sofia Bush and Millie Greer were named Big Ten Players to Watch for the 2026 season.

- Millie Greer, Iba Oching and Sofia Bush received 2026 United Soccer Coaches Women’s Players to Watch recognition.

- Bush and Greer came in 57th and 72nd, respectively, on Top Drawer Soccer’s Preseason Women’s National Top 100 rankings.

HAWKEYE FAITHFUL

- Iowa’s average home attendance of 2,076 ranked fifth nationally and first in the Big Ten during the 2025 season.  The program set program attendance records in back-to-back seasons.

- The TCU match in 2025 drew a program-record regular season crowd of 2,382 fans.

2 FOR THE MONEY

- Iowa is 64-3-4 in its last 71 matches when scoring two or more goals dating back to October 2017. 

SINCE 2019, IOWA HAS...

- Won a pair of Big Ten Tournament Championships, winning the title in 2021 and 2023.

- Won all five of its NCAA Tournament matches in program history.

- Made five of the six NCAA Tournament appearances in program history.

- Advanced to its first Sweet 16 in program history.

- Has earned 13 postseason wins.

- Has posted 63 shutouts.

- Defeated 12 ranked opponents, nine top 15 opponents and two top five opponents.

- Set a new home attendance record (2,629) in the overtime win over Bucknell in 2023, which was the first NCAA Tournament game hosted at the Iowa Soccer Complex.