Iowa Soccer downs Missouri State in the NCAA Tournament
Dave Dilanni has said all season that this team came into the year with the goal of doing things that had never been done before by Iowa Soccer. One of those goals was to advance to the program’s first ever Sweet Sixteen. Step one to accomplishing that goal? Win in the first round on Friday night.
On a chilly night in Iowa City, a record crowd showed up at the UI Soccer Complex to watch the third-seeded Iowa Hawkeyes defeat Missouri State 2-1 to advance to the Round of 32 for just third time in program history.
“I thought we played quite well. We started off in a good place, and we wanted them to play loose, aggressive and fast…I like our mentality. I thought that we were aggressive both offensively and defensively in transition,” said Coach Dilanni. “Big games require big players to step forward to win and I thought we had that.”
At Thursday’s pregame press conference, Dilanni said he wanted to see his team to be aggressive early and take some chances. Under 20 seconds into the match, the Hawkeyes produced a scoring chance. Kenzie Roling put a shot on goal, but MSU goalkeeper Camielle Day made the save.
“We missed some chances very early, and we just stayed committed to it,” said Dilanni.
In the 14th minute, Day was called into action once again. Lauren Geczik played a fantastic cross to teammate Maya Hansen, but Camielle Day denied the header attempt from Hansen with a sprawling save. Meike Ingles tapped it in at the far post, but was deemed to be offsides.
Ingles, the fifth-year senior that was a big part of the 2020 NCAA Tournament team, didn’t let the disallowed goal stop her and Iowa broke through in the 22nd minute. Kenzie Roling chased down a pass on the end line and delivered a perfect cross to the back post. Meikle Ingles timed her run perfectly and finished at the net to put the Hawkeyes in front 1-0.
“Scored a little later than what we thought we would with all the chances that we created,” said Dilanni. “We thought they were going to try to press us a little bit, and they did. The space in between their back line and the midfield we thought was going to be available. It was…I thought we did a good job in that space.”
Iowa took a 1-0 lead into the locker room, but they knew that wasn’t going to be enough. Dave Dilanni expected Missouri State to come out of halftime with their best effort, but thought a second goal could put the game away.
“I wanted more of what they had. I thought a second goal was going to be impactful,” said Dilanni. “I wanted them to continue to fight and continue to push. I knew (Missouri State) they were going to give us everything they had for the first five minutes of the second half.”
The second goal came quickly in the 48th minute. Lauren Geczik got the ball at her feet on the edge of the box after a bit of a broken corner kick play and sent a cross towards the back post. Maggie Johnston was there waiting and finished with a header to extend the lead to 2-0.
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“In the game of soccer, the second goal is massive because it kind of kills the life of the team. I actually thought if we would have got a third, the game would have been over,” said Dilanni.
That third goal never came, as the Missouri Valley Goalkeeper of the Year Camielle Day continued to make save after save, including a point blank save on a shot from Berit Parten in the 73rd minute. Day finished the game with 11 saves and gave her Bears team a chance in the closing minutes of the match.
“We created chances, and their goalkeeper made great saves. We were a little bit sloppy with some chances that could have made the game a bit easier, but their goalkeeper also kept them in it.”
Missouri State got on the board and closed the gap to 2-1 in the 78th minute. Iowa goalkeeper Macy Enneking collided with teammate Berkely Binggeli away from the goal and a bouncing ball in front was knocked in by Jenna Anderson.
Although the MSU goal made things a bit more interesting for the final ten minutes, the Hawkeyes were able to close out a 2-1 victory to advance to the Round of 32 in Los Angeles. Iowa outshot the Bears 28-7 and held a 13-3 advantage in shots on goal.
“Kenzie Roling was excellent early in the game, Meike Ingles is playing like one of the best players in the Big Ten. We just asked them to put everything into it for 90 minutes,” said Dilanni. “We just want to play seven more days; we want to get out to UCLA and continue this journey.
Up Next: The Hawkeyes will travel to Los Angeles to face off against either Georgetown or Fairfield next Friday with a trip to the Round of 16 on the line. Kickoff time and TV are still to be announced.
