Continuing their long homestand to begin the 2022 season, the UNI women’s soccer team played host to the Iowa Hawkeyes on Sunday afternoon. The Panthers entered the matchup with a 3-1-1 record, having fallen to St. Thomas in their last match. Iowa was coming off a 2-1 defeat at the hands of rival Iowa State last Thursday and came into the match with a 2-3-2 record as well. This match was all Iowa from start to finish as the Hawkeyes came away with a 6-0 victory over UNI. 

The scoring started off early as Iowa’s Caroline Halonen knocked one past UNI goalkeeper Caitlin Richards, assisted by Kyndal Anderson, in the ninth minute to get out to an early 1-0 lead. Iowa’s Elle Otto put one through in the 15th minute as the visitors extended the lead. Samantha Cary found the back of the net in the 18th minute for the Hawkeyes and Halonen again scored one in the 23rd minute of action, as Iowa put the rout on at 4-0 about halfway through the first half. Hailey Rydberg and Morgan Lietz also scored for the Hawkeyes in the 26th and 33rd minutes, respectively, giving Iowa a 6-0 lead going into halftime.

The second half of play saw no scoring from either side as the game was mostly out of hand. UNI made a change in goal as senior Brittney Bentheimer played all 45 minutes of the second half, making three saves. Olivia Knoepfle and Sophia Balistreri both recorded two shots for the Panthers, with both each having one on goal. Hadberg led the Hawkeyes with four shots and two shots on goal.

UNI falls to 3-3-1 on the season following the loss, while Iowa moves to 3-3-2. The Panthers will play host to Valparaiso on Saturday, Sept. 17 to open up the Missouri Valley Conference portion of the schedule, while Iowa returns home on Friday, Sept. 16 to host Wisconsin. Saturday’s game for UNI is scheduled to begin at noon at the UNI Soccer Field.