Iowa Soccer battles rain showers, holds off Illinois
A quiet first half at Demirjian Park in Champaign turned into an eventful final 45 minutes in more ways than one on Sunday afternoon. The Iowa Soccer team battled through some heavy rain showers and came out on top, downing Illinois with a pair of second half goals to earn a 2-1 victory. The Hawkeyes have now won seven of the last 11 meetings against the Fighting Illini dating back to 2014.
“Winning on Sundays is hard in the Big Ten. I loved our grit to push through when we were flat to begin the game and our ruthlessness in the second half to finish it,” said head coach Dave Dilanni.
Facing their second leg of a two-game weekend Big Ten road trip, the Hawkeyes were just as Coach Dave Dilanni said, a little bit flat in the first half. The defense was able to limit the Illini to just two shots, but they weren’t able to create much on the other end of the field with just five shots of their own.
Their best chance of the half came with the final seconds ticking off of the clock. Midfielder Lauren Geczik pushed the pressure with a ball for Rielee Fetty in the box. After a couple of deflections, Sofia Bush appeared to put Iowa in front with a goal, but offsides on the Hawkeyes wiped it out. The game went to halftime tied 0-0.
Despite the slow start, Dave Dilanni’s squad was able to get things going in the right direction. The Hawkeyes showed signs of life on the offensive end with a couple of chances early in the second half and finally broke through in the 61st minute. Off of an Illinois clearance, Eva Pattison quickly forced the issue with a long ball to the top of the box for Kenzie Roling. A brilliant flick forward from Roling found the feet of Berit Parten and she scored a sliding goal to put the Hawkeyes on top 1-0. Her sixth goal of the season has her in a tie for 5th-most in the Big Ten.
With rain cascading down from the clouds, Iowa extended their lead to a two-goal advantage off of a 69th minute corner kick. GK Izzy Lee punched the initial ball into the box from Lauren Geczik into the air, but went to the ground after colliding with Millie Greer. Rielee Fetty got a head on the ball as it came down and Greer put a slight touch on it in front to knock it in for the second goal of the game.
There was a lengthy VAR check to see if Greer impeded GK Izzy Lee from making a play on the ball, causing her to hit the turf, but the review came back inconclusive. It’s just the second goal of Millie Greer’s career.
Illinois did not go away without making things interesting in the late stages of the contest. In the 88th minute, the Illini were awarded a penalty kick after Eva Pattison was whistled for a foul in the box. Forward Lia Howard stepped up and converted the penalty to cut the Iowa lead to 2-1 with under three minutes to play. Her second goal of the season closed the gap, but it wasn’t enough. The Hawkeyes were able to close out the final minutes and picked up their seventh win of the season.
Iowa outshot the Illini 14-5 and held a 7-2 advantage in shots on goal. Berit Parten and Elle Otto combined for nine shots, including five on goal. Iowa has now won 50 of their last 55 games when scoring 2+ goals dating back to 2017.
Up Next: The Hawkeyes will return to the UI Soccer Complex on Thursday for a top 25 showdown against #9 Penn State. Kickoff is set for 7:00pm CT on BTN+.
