Iowa Soccer Moving On in NCAAs

Hawkeyes Open Tournament By Downing Bucknell in OT Friday

(Photo - HawkeyeSports.com)

IOWA CITY, Iowa — University of Iowa women’s soccer downed Bucknell in overtime, 2-0, in the NCAA Tournament First Round on Friday night. The Hawkeyes drew 2,639 spectators to shatter the program home attendance record.

With its 13th clean sheet of the year, the Iowa defense set a new program record for shutouts in a single season.

The Bison took No. 14 Iowa to extra time despite a 25-4 Hawkeye advantage in shots during regulation, thanks to nine saves for the game by Bucknell goalkeeper Jenna Hall. The Hawkeyes totaled 67 percent time of possession, creating 31 shots and 11 shots on goal against Bucknell.

In the 94th minute, Iowa’s 26th shot connected off the foot of seventh-year player Josie Durr. A hustling Elle Otto fell to the ground advancing the ball laterally to Durr at the top of the key, who fired a rocket through the back of the net.

Durr’s goal comes on the heels of another game-winner in the Big Ten Tournament Championship against Wisconsin. She leads Iowa with seven goals and matches a team-best 16 points this season.

Iowa’s second score came in the 108th minute, when senior Kelli McGroarty drilled her third goal of the postseason. McGroarty rebounded a deflected save on a shot from sophomore Morgan Lietz, her second putback score during the tournament run.

HEAR FROM HEAD COACH DAVE DIIANNI

“That is by far the biggest crowd that I have seen in my time here… That is the Hawkeye community. I said to our kids yesterday, I didn’t have a deep appreciation for it before I got the job here, but everybody supports one another in the athletic department and the community of Iowa City. To have that crowd around you, a lot of people also came from around the state of Iowa. We have deep appreciation for that, and we tried to put on a good show for them.

I really like how we played. That was how we thought the game was going to play out, to be honest. They took Ohio State right to the end last year into overtime. They don’t quit. They play hard. They compete. They’re athletic. When we missed some chances early in the game, my concern was that it was going to be a difficult 90 minutes. Their goalkeeper is first team all-conference. We knew she was good.

The game played out kind of how we thought it would, but I was very pleased with how we played tactically. For 90 minutes we were creating chances, and it can be easy to start to become undisciplined, but I thought we pushed through and stayed committed to what we are trying to do.”

HAWKEYE NOTABLES

• Iowa set a new home attendance record of 2,639; the previous record was 1,847 set in 2015 against Ohio State. The Hawkeyes hosted an NCAA Tournament game for the first time on Friday.
• The Hawkeyes have won 10 postseason games since 2021 and are 12-6 in the postseason under Coach DiIanni. ­
• Iowa totaled 31 shots, the most in a single game for the program since Oct. 31, 2012, against Penn State.
• Iowa makes its fourth appearance in the NCAA Tournament (2013, 2019, 2020, 2023).
• Enneking’s 26 career victories rank fourth in program history. Enneking’s 22 career shutouts rank third in the Hawkeye record books. Her 12.5 credited clean sheets this season are a single-season program record.
• Four consecutive victories is the most for Iowa since starting the season with a 5-0 record.
• 90 Tracker: Nine Iowa position players logged at least 90 minutes in the extra-time contest. Eleven total Hawkeyes have played at least 90 minutes in a game this season, including fifth-year Samantha Cary (16), freshman Millie Greer (16), senior Maggie Johnston (8), freshman Eva Pattison (7), senior Rielee Fetty (6), freshman Sofia Bush (3), seventh-year Josie Durr (2), senior Kelli McGroarty (2), junior Elle Otto (2), junior Kenzie Roling (2), sophomore Kellen Fife,

UP NEXT

Iowa will face fourth-seeded Georgia on Nov. 17 for the NCAA Tournament Second Round. The game will be hosted be Clemson University. Kickoff time is to be determined.