Huskers Shut Out Hawkeyes, 1-0

Lincoln - The Nebraska soccer team remained unbeaten by picking up its first win in a 1-0 shutout of Iowa on a beautiful Sunday afternoon at the Nebraska Soccer Field.

 

With the win, the Huskers improved to 1-0-2 on the season after tying Wright State and Wisconsin in their first two games. Iowa fell to 1-2-0 with the loss.

 

Sophomore Aysha Jamani scored the lone goal of the contest, marking her second goal of the weekend. In the 62nd minute, senior Brittany Timko played a beautiful cross to Jamani, who found herself one-versus-one with a Hawkeye defender. Jamani dribbled past the defender to create space and fired a shot inside the far post to lift the Huskers to victory.

 

Jamani's shot beat Iowa goalkeeper Lindsey Boldt, who had entered the match just minutes earlier after starting keeper Ali Becker was forced to leave with an injury.

 

In goal for the Huskers, sophomore Jamie Klages picked up her first shutout of the season. Due to great work from the midfield and the defense, Klages needed to make only one save as the Hawkeyes managed to place just one of their eight shots on goal.

 

For the game, NU outshot Iowa, 17-8, and the Huskers placed a season-high eight shots on goal. Timko netted her second assist in as many games and now has 37 assists in her career, moving her into third place on the NU career chart.

 

In a scoreless first half, <?xml:namespace prefix="st1" ns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags"?>Nebraska generated nine shots to Iowa’s four and the Huskers placed the only three shots on goal of the opening period.

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Despite the scoreless half, each team had one near miss. In the 11th minute, Iowa's Melisa Kaetterhenry got behind the NU defense and beat Klages to a ball near the top of the box, but Kaetterhenry's shot curved just wide of the target.

 

Nearly seven minutes later, freshman Savannah Allen nearly found the back of the net for the Huskers. Junior Jessie Bruch sent a ball into the box that cleared all of the Hawkeye defenders and Allen, making a far-post run, one-timed a shot that had the keeper beat but sailed just wide.

 

In the second half, Jamani nearly added a second goal just minutes after her first. After winning a corner, Timko's kick found Bruch, whose header was cleared off the backline by the Iowa defense. The ball found Jamani, whose quick shot caught the near post.

 

With their first win of the season under their belts, the Huskers will look to continue their three-game unbeaten streak when they take on North Texas next Friday, Sept. 8, at the Nebraska Soccer Field. Kickoff for that match is set for 5 p.m. with live audio and live stats available on Huskers.com.