Iowa Soccer shuts out MAC favorite Western Michigan

Although there’s nearly a whole season left to play, and nothing is decided by what happens in August, Sunday was an early test for Iowa Soccer. After coming up short in a top ten battle under the lights on Friday, with a regular season record crowd in attendance, the Hawkeyes had to regroup quickly for a match with MAC favorite Western Michigan. It was a test, not only on the field, but a test of their mental fortitude and their ability to respond. They handled it well, scoring a goal in each half and shutting down the Broncos attack for a dominant 2-0 victory.

“Not everyone wants to win on Sunday. Everyone wants to play under the lights on Thursday,” said freshman midfielder Josie Jones. “Bouncing back and being able to win on a Sunday at 1pm is really important.”

“I challenged them to put Thursday to bed and told them that this is a growth moment for us,” said head coach Dave Dilanni. “We needed that. Western Michigan is going to win a lot of games in the MAC.”

A complete 180 from the match on Thursday against TCU, the Hawkeyes controlled the pace and possession from the opening kick. The biggest difference, Dilanni said, was how his team played in the midfield, winning 50/50 balls that went against them a couple days prior.

“We won a lot of balls in the midfield, which we did not win against TCU. I thought the backs played really well. Abby Skiff and Josie Jones won a lot of balls that protected the back line, but the most critical part was our front-line players. They were pressing and making Western Michigan rush service out of the back or pass balls out of bounds. That adds up time, adds up momentum and adds up in terms of mental fatigue.”

It felt like, with all the possession they had collected in the first half, that a goal was coming at some point. The Hawkeyes broke through in the 26th minute on a brilliant goal off of a set piece.

Already on their fifth corner kick off the half, Liana Tarasco opted to go with a short corner pass to Price Loposer setting up a chance from a different angle. The veteran defender delivered a perfect ball for freshman Josie Jones who made a perfect run, connecting on a header for the opening goal of the match.

“I have a spot I’m supposed to be in, but Millie took a run back post and drew two players with her, so I was able to cut right in front of her,” said Jones. “That space was created with the creativity of we start where we’re at, but we work off of it.”

“She played when she was younger, and that was an area of her game that wasn’t very strong,” said Dilanni. “Before she came to Iowa, she put a lot of time in trying to better. She was personally committed to playing better than she thought she did on Thursday. That goal was special.”

Although the Hawkeyes were dominant for the majority of the match, Western Michigan had a 15-minute stretch after halftime where they made a push and nearly equalized the match.

In the 60th minute, the Broncos got their best look of the match and nearly tied the game. Forward Abby Werthman won a downfield ball, cut back and centered a ball for Meredith Vance. She took a couple of dribbles and sent shot towards the far post, but Iowa GK Taylor Kane got just enough of a glove on it to knock it wide.

Even though WMU wasn’t able to find the equalizer in that moment, it showed that no matter how much possession the Hawkeyes had, they were still just one play away from staring a possible 1-1 draw in the face. Coincidently, that was their fate when the two sides met in Kalamazoo last season. This time, they put it away with an insurance goal.

In the 73rd minute, the Hawkeyes pressed on for the nail in the coffin. A long throw in from Kelli McGroarty got into the box and Elle Wildman chased it down at the edge of the box to keep the pressure on. The true freshman patiently tried to turn her defender, finally beating her on a move towards the end line. Wildman sent a low cross in front of the goal, which was deflected by WMU keeper Reagan Sulaver, but Shae Doherty was there to finish for the second goal of the match.

“I spoke with Elle when she came off the field. I just wanted her to play with a bit more confidence and be a bit more dangerous and less thinking and more just letting her physical qualities take on,” said Dilanni. “I told her, no more thinking, just take players on and do what you feel like is right. She tried to turn her, didn’t give the ball away, turned her again and got a nice ball across to Shae. I’m really proud of Shae to get that goal.”

“Even when Western Michigan pushed back in the second half for 15 minutes, we took that and then got the second goal to make life a little easier for ourselves.”

The Hawkeyes were able to keep the stress at a minimum over the final quarter of an hour and finish off the shutout victory. With the win, Iowa moves to 2-1 on the season and now have a 57-3-3 when scoring 2+ goals, a stat that dates back to 2017.

“The reality is it’s hard to win on Sunday’s. The NCAA Tournament and seasons are dictated on Sunday’s…I think our mentality that existed for 90 minutes, our ability to compete and follow the game plan for 90 minutes was really great to see.”

FINAL STATS

26′ – Goal Iowa Josie Jones (1-0), 73′ – Goal Iowa Shae Doherty (2-0)

Shots: Iowa 21-5 Shots on Goal: Iowa 12-1 Corners: Iowa 11-2 Fouls: WMU19-12

Up Next, the Hawkeyes will travel to Chicagoland for a matchup against the Loyola-Chicago Ramblers on Thursday night. Kickoff is set for 7:00pm CT on ESPN+.