The potent Iowa offense, spearheaded by junior forward Maddy Murphy’s hat trick, was too much for the IU defense, as the team lost 6-1.
IU returned to Bloomington to close out its home schedule against No. 6 Iowa on Friday. The Hawkeyes came into the match ranked second in the Big Ten with a 4-1 record in the conference. Their only loss came at the hands of No. 2 Maryland, the top team in the Big Ten.
Murphy was the leading scorer for Iowa coming into the match, and she now has nine goals on the season for the Hawkeyes, good for third in the Big Ten.
Freshman Sofie Stribos, sophomore Anthe Nijziel and senior Katie Birch also scored goals for Iowa in its largest conference win of the season. Iowa moves to 5-1 in the conference with Northwestern and Michigan left on the schedule.
Sophomore goalkeeper Shelby Querry made her third straight start for IU and the first home start of her career. This was despite the usual starter, junior Sachi Ananias, returning from a head injury that had kept her out for the Hoosiers’ two-game East Coast trip last weekend.
Ananias dressed for the game against Iowa, but Querry got the nod.
“We trust Shelby to do her thing,” IU head coach Kayla Bashore said. “We plan on evaluating both of them during the last few weeks and going with the one that gives us the best chance to compete and win.”
Despite the scoreline, Querry made her presence known early and often, taking multiple Hawkeyes down throughout the game with athletic, sliding saves to prevent the Iowa offense from getting off more shots than it already did.
“I thought she did well given the circumstances,” Bashore said.
In the midst of the blowout, freshman forward Victoria Hill found the back of the net for her first career goal as a Hoosier.
“Tori is a big part of the vision for the team going forward,” Bashore said. “I’m happy for her. She’s been hunting that first one for a while now. It’s definitely a moment to build off of for her.”
This was the Hoosiers seventh straight loss. The team’s last win dates back to a meeting in East Lansing, Michigan, on Sept. 20 where it took down Michigan State 4-2, thanks in large part to Hailey Couch’s own hat trick.
IU travels to Athens, Ohio, to take on Ohio University to begin its final road trip of the season. The Hoosiers have three regular season games left and one more opportunity for a conference win when they travel to Evanston, Illinois, on Nov. 1 to take on Northwestern.
The Wildcats sit at third in the Big Ten, and the Hoosiers are slotted eighth. As of right now, IU is set for a rematch with Michigan State in the first round of the Big Ten tournament Nov. 7.
Bashore said she isn’t looking too far ahead.
“Obviously we are looking forward at the tournament, but the team’s focus has to be Ohio,” Bashore said. “Let’s get it going and talk about the tournament when we get there.”
