Iowa Soccer put together a pair of shutout wins over the weekend, to claim their first six points in conference play. The Hawks thrashed Purdue 4-0 and followed it up with a strong 1-0 win over Rutgers.
The Hawks had been knocking on the door over the past few weeks but hadn't been able to break through with goals. Last weekend's two wins can go a long way towards building some positive momentum. Iowa is a defensive-minded team, but they're not sitting back and inviting pressure. Instead, they look to control possession, quickly reclaim the ball in transition, and find opportunities to score before the opposition is set.
At their best, it turns into wins like Thursday's, but Sunday's win against Rutgers was just as impressive. The Hawks took a step up in competition and looked composed and in control throughout.
Elsewhere, Iowa field hockey suffered their first loss of the season, a tense 2-1 defeat to a top-15 Ohio State squad, but bounced back to beat Michigan State. They dropped to #3 in this week's poll but will have a chance to move right back up with #2 Northwestern coming to town this weekend. Iowa volleyball dropped a pair of tight matches to Illinois and Indiana, and Hawkeye cross country competed in the Joe Piane Invite.
You can catch up on all things Iowa Olympic sports here.
The Hawks had been knocking on the door over the past few weeks but hadn't been able to break through with goals. Last weekend's two wins can go a long way towards building some positive momentum. Iowa is a defensive-minded team, but they're not sitting back and inviting pressure. Instead, they look to control possession, quickly reclaim the ball in transition, and find opportunities to score before the opposition is set.
At their best, it turns into wins like Thursday's, but Sunday's win against Rutgers was just as impressive. The Hawks took a step up in competition and looked composed and in control throughout.
Elsewhere, Iowa field hockey suffered their first loss of the season, a tense 2-1 defeat to a top-15 Ohio State squad, but bounced back to beat Michigan State. They dropped to #3 in this week's poll but will have a chance to move right back up with #2 Northwestern coming to town this weekend. Iowa volleyball dropped a pair of tight matches to Illinois and Indiana, and Hawkeye cross country competed in the Joe Piane Invite.
You can catch up on all things Iowa Olympic sports here.
