IU challenged by Iowa in 2-0 win

For the seven seniors on the field Sunday, it was a Senior Day to remember.
The Hoosiers (10-3-2, 2-2-2) were victorious in a 2-0 rout against Iowa, but the game was much more competitive than the score indicates.

Both teams came out of the gates aggressively, but IU outshot the Hawkeyes 9-1 in the first half. The action didn’t start heating up until late in the second half. At which point, 18 different Hoosiers clocked time on the field.

IU women’s soccer coach Mick Lyon substituted multiple times to compensate for the fast-paced game play.

“There were several players getting tired, and it was because of the effort they put in,” Lyon said. “I thought the effort was just tremendous.”

Sophomore midfielder Devon Beach dribbled down the end-line and had a shot deflected by an Iowa defender.

Junior forward Jocelyn Moses made a rebound to strike it into the back of the net for a 1-0 lead.

However, Iowa had a chance to even things back up in the 87th minute. The Hawkeye’s were awarded a penalty kick, and pitted senior midfielder Alex Seydel against freshman goalkeeper Lex Dickison.

Seydel sent the penalty kick to the lower left side of the net where Dickison made a terrific save to keep the lead.

“Overall, it’s always going to be a guess as to where the ball is going,” Dickison said. “But I tried to make a read and guessed correctly.”

In the 90th and final minute of the game, the Hoosiers put the game away.

Junior defender Leigh Anne Cumming’s sent a ball to freshman Orianica Velasquez Herrera at midfield, where she battled an Iowa defender one-on-one and sent a shot over the goalkeepers head and into the back of the net for a 2-0 lead.

“That’s the thing about the Big Ten – there is no bad team,” Lyon said. “Iowa was really looking to come to play. The best part about that is it makes us match that level of intensity.”