Last week was another tough one for Iowa Olympic sports. As many teams wrapped up their regular season or postseason conference tournaments, they faced some of their toughest competition of the year and came up just short. Even with the disappointing results, every team still has a chance to close out their season's on a high note.
Let's take a look.
Soccer
Iowa soccer (13-2-4, 8-2-1 Big Ten) lost its opening Big Ten Tournament game last week, falling in penalty kicks (5-4) against Washington (10-5-3, 7-4).
The Hawkeyes put three shots on goal in the first half, all courtesy of Sofia Bush, but none found the back of the net. Goalkeeper Macy Enneking picked up two saves in the first half, keeping the game deadlocked. The second half was incredibly tense, with the Huskies firing ten shots to the Hawkeyes eight. Each team through haymakers, but Washington's keeper saved seven shots in the second half to keep the game deadlocked while Enneking added three more of her own.
After 90 minutes proved insufficient to split the sides, the teams headed to overtime, but neither could find a winning goal and after two overtimes, the sides were forced to resort to penalty kicks to determine a victor.
Even the penalty kicks were close, with each team converting four of the five attempts, sending the match to sudden death. The Hawkeyes and Huskies each saved the first attempt from the opposition, but Washington was able to put their second PK away and Iowa's was saved, giving Washington the 5-4 PK win.
The loss was heartbreaking for the Hawkeyes, but you can't really fault the gameplan or performance. Of course, you'd hope the team could be more clinical in front of goal, but ten shots on goal is usually enough to bring home a win. The defense was stout throughout, but the randomness of penalty kicks didn't go their way.
With the defeat, Iowa lost its best opportunity to improve its NCAA Tournament resume. Iowa isn't in danger of missing the tournament by any means, but a tournament run would have gone a long way toward earning a home game or even a home regional. They'll find out their fate when the NCAA Tournament bracket is revealed next Monday (11/11, 3:00 PM CT).
Field Hockey
#16 Iowa field hockey (9-8, 2-6) fell 3-0 to #8 Michigan (12-4, 5-3) last week, wrapping up their regular season. The Wolverines capitalized on an early Iowa turnover to jump ahead in the first quarter. Iowa rebounded to keep the margin at one going into halftime, but Michigan turned up the pressure in the third quarter. Mia Magnotta saved six shots in the quarter, but nine third quarter penalty corners proved too much to overcome and the Hawks gave up a second goal. Another penalty conversion in the fourth quarter put the game out of reach.
Friday's match looked similar to many of Iowa's losses throughout the regular season. The Wolverines dominated the pace of play, putting up 23 shots in the match compared to only two for the Hawkeyes. The Iowa defense did all it could, but with a stat sheet that lopsided, it was always going to be difficult to hold up against a top-ranked team.
Still, Iowa did earn the 7th seed in the upcoming Big Ten Tournament. They'll need to play some of their best matches of the season to make a run, but they'll have an opportunity to play Cinderella, starting Thursday when they take on 2nd-seeded Maryland (12-5, 6-2) (1:00, BTN+).
Volleyball
Iowa volleyball (9-15, 3-9) dropped two matches last week, falling 3-0 at Ohio State (10-12, 3-9) and 3-1 to #3 Penn State (22-1, 12-0).
The service line proved to be Iowa's Achilles heel once again against the Buckeyes. Ohio State racked up eight aces compared to the Hawkeyes five and Iowa added in eleven service errors that proved too much to overcome. Still, Iowa was within striking distance in both the first set (25-21) and third set (25-23) because of strong matches from Gracie Gibson and Hannah Whittingstall who each notched seven kills. Claire Ammeraal added 18 assists as she continued to work back into the lineup after injury.
The service line struggles were so painful for the Hawkeyes because they limited the team's opportunities to create long runs and allowed Ohio State's one or two-point runs to turn into five or six-point runs. Momentum is key within a volleyball set and getting stuck in a rotation can make a set feel lost long before a team reaches 25.
Iowa played better in their second match of the week, ironically against a far stronger opponent in the 3rd-ranked Nittany Lions. The Hawkeyes dropped the first set 25-19, but bounced off the mat to take set two 25-17 after a 7-3 run to close the set. Penn State found a new gear for the final two sets, each of which featured big runs by the Nittany Lions, to claim the 3-1 victory. Redshirt freshman Alyssa Worden put together a career night, compiling a double-double with 14 digs and 10 kills.
Inconsistency is still the biggest hurdle for the Hawkeyes to overcome. When they serve and receive well, they can keep up with much of the Big Ten, but there's such a small margin of error against the best teams in the country that any lapse can quickly turn into 7-0 runs that put a set out of reach.
The schedule doesn't let up for the Hawks this week, as they'll take on #7 Wisconsin (16-5, 10-2) (11/8, 6:00, BTN+) and Northwestern (4-16, 2-10) (11/10, 2:00, BTN+)
Cross Country
Iowa cross country ran in the Big Ten Conference Championships last weekend. The men's team finished 13th, while the women's team finished 16th. Miles Wilson was the top finisher for the men, running a personal-best 23:54.5 in the 8,000m to finish 63rd. Brauden Burnett was the next Hawkeye finisher at 24:03.7 (77th).
On the women's side, Miriam Sandeen's personal-best 20:58.6 paced the Hawkeyes, finishing 104th, and Elena Torres was right behind her, finishing 105th with a personal-best time of 20:59.0. Iowa will race in the Midwest Regional meet in Peoria on November 15th.
