Scouting Georgetown, what would a Round of 16 trip mean for Iowa Soccer?

On Friday evening, the Iowa Soccer team walk onto the pitch at Wallis Annenberg Field in Los Angeles looking to do something that has never been done in the history of the program. Advance to the Round of 16. Standing in their way is the sixth-seeded Georgetown Hoyas, who defeated Fairfield 3-0 in the opening round.

The Hawkeyes earned the right to host for the second consecutive season, defeating the MVC champion Missouri State Bears 2-1 last Friday at the UI Soccer Complex. Goals by Meike Ingles and Maggie Johnston lifted Iowa to their third NCAA Tournament win in program history.

“I thought we played quite well, to be honest. We created a lot of chances. Our XG (expected goals) factor statistic was 4.0 to 0.5. That means we had a lot of great, high-level chances…We need to score those goals. We need to reward ourselves when we create those opportunities because as you move on, the opponents become better and the margin for error is smaller.”

Scouting the Georgetown Hoyas

Georgetown has been a successful soccer program in the Big East, making their 11th NCAA Tournament appearance this season, including trips to the Final Four in 2016 and 2018. The Hoyas have a 13-3-4 record this season, including a 2-2-3 mark against tournament teams.

“First of all, they have a great coach, great foundation of winning and have been very successful in the Big East,” said Dilanni.

When scouting the Hoyas, the first thing that stands out is that they are an elite defensive team. They rank third in the country in goals allowed per game (0.45), while opponents are managing just 6.6 shots and 3.1 shots on goal per game. The group is led by First Team All-Big East defender Lawson Renie, while Big East Goalkeeper of the Year Cara Martin and Anna Karpenko has split the duties in goal. Both have been solid, with Martin owning an 87.0% save percentage and Karpenko not far behind at 83.8%. Their 85.5% save percentage ranks 13th-best in the country.

“I think they look a lot like us. The systems will be very similar, they’ll be difficult to score on and they’ll be very disciplined in terms of how they play, and they won’t expose themselves.”

“You’ve got to create the chances; you’ve got to get entries into the box, and you’ve got to get on the end of things,” said Dilanni. “There are moments where you just need to be gritty, put your nose into it, get a toe poke and you might get banged physically, but we call it a garbage goal”

On the other end of things, the Georgetown offensive attack is spearheaded by Big East Offensive Player of the Year Maja Lardner. The senior from Dallas has had a breakout season, with 11 goals and seven assists, and ranks second in the Big East averaging 1.42 points per game. Their group of attackers goes deeper, with six players totaling at least three goals this season. Midfielder Eliza Turner (8 gls, 1 ast) and forward Natalie Means (5 gls, 7 ast) are the top two behind Lardner, while forward Jocelyn Lohmeyer (4 gls) scored in the first round against Fairfield. The Hoyas rank 20th in the country in shots on goal per game (8.25) and 30th in goals per game (2.11).

“They go from defense to offense very quickly, I think they transition really well. They put a lot of numbers forward, and so for us, we’ve got to be good in transition,” said Dilanni. “We’ve got to be able to value the ball and not turn the ball over in bad spaces…For us, it’s about limiting their opportunities that we give them, or at least controlling where those opportunities come from.”

What would a trip to the Round of 16 mean for the Iowa Women’s Soccer program?

In a lot of ways, it would be the biggest moment Iowa Women’s Soccer history. After all the years of finishing near the bottom of the Big Ten, being an afterthought to the rest of the conference, this group of Hawkeyes has a chance to take a massive step for the program.

“In some ways, this would be one of the top accomplishments (in my time at Iowa),” said Dilanni. “They’re built in a lot of different ways. We have a lot of firsts that were really important in terms of building the foundation of the program, whether that be making the NCAA Tournament or making the Big Ten Tournament on a consistent basis. For me, this is a bit more of the finality part of it, where it really shows that we can be amongst the best programs int he country.”

Last season, Iowa hosted an NCAA Tournament game for the first time and defeated Bucknell. They fell short of the Round of 16, losing 3-2 to Georgia in the second round, but eight of the 11 starters in that game will see the field on Friday. A chance to avenge that loss from a year ago.

“We’ve got a lot of seniors that have played a lot of soccer for this team. Meike Ingles, Maggie Johnston, Rielee Fetty, Macy Enneking, just players that have played a lot of minutes here. I think it’d mean a lot to them. They’ve put a lot of hard work into the process, and your legacy is what it is when you leave at the end.”

Final Thought

This team has spoken all season about accomplishing things that have never been done at Iowa, and now they have the chance to check off a big one.

“We talk a lot about, what are you leaving with your jersey? Is it better than when you found it,” said head coach Dave Dilanni. “I think this group has done a great job with emptying the tank every single game. They’ve really been quite the pleasure to be able to coach this year.”

It’s time for the Hawkeyes to empty the tank once again. This matchup pits two top ten scoring defenses against each other, so don’t be surprised if the winner advances with a 1-0 victory. Iowa has given up a few cheap goals this season, so they have to be at their best defensively in a game where margins will be slim. That being said, they’ve done a good job creating chances all season and it may only take one on Friday. I’m picking Iowa to advance to their first ever Sweet Sixteen. IOWA 1 GEORGETOWN 0