Northwestern women beat Iowa

EVANSTON, Ill. -- Jennifer Baumann (Waukesha, Wis./Catholic Memorial) scored in the fourth minute and the Northwestern offense registered a season-best 23 shots as the Wildcats routed Iowa, 3-0, Thursday night at Lakeside Field.

Baumann’s goal was set up by a corner kick just minutes into the game. Emily Langston (Los Altos, Calif./Los Altos) served the ball to the far corner of the six-yard box, where Baumann headed it back across the goal mouth and in for her third goal of the season.

Northwestern struck again in the 12th minute when Iowa goalkeeper Emily Moran miscleared a ball right to Wildcat freshman Kate Allen (Whitehouse, Ohio/Anthony Wayne). Allen spun around and fired a shot to the left side of the goal, past a diving Moran and in for her team-leading sixth goal of the season. The Wildcats are now a perfect 5-0-0 when Allen scores a goal.

Fellow freshman Natalie Lagunas (Canyon Country, Calif./Golden Valley) got in on the act just before halftime, scoring NU’s second goal off a set piece in the match. Langston once again served a corner into the six-yard box to Baumann, who had her shot cleared off the line by a Hawkeye defender. Julie Sierks (Edina, Minn./Edina) kept the play alive for the ’Cats and fed the ball to Lagunas who punched it in for her first collegiate goal.

“I thought we played some really good soccer tonight,” said head coach Stephanie Foster. “We’ve been waiting to see that. A lot of people got on the field, a lot of people did great. I thought that finally we played a complete game and it felt really good.”

Carolyn Edwards (Lincolnshire, Ill./Stevenson) and Grace Weitz (Golden Valley, Minn./The Breck School) combined on the shutout for Northwestern, with Weitz coming in as a substitute for the final 16:16 of the match. With her 15th career clean sheet, Edwards moves into a tie for second all-time in the Northwestern record book.

The margin of victory is the largest for Northwestern since a 3-0 win over Wisconsin in 2007. The Wildcats are now 10-3-1 all-time against the Hawkeyes, including five consecutive victories in the series.

Northwestern returns to action on Friday, Oct. 29 when they host Minnesota. The 7 p.m. match is senior night and the Wildcats will honor their six seniors. Admission and parking are free for all women’s soccer matches at Lakeside Field.