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Iowa Soccer: 'It was an Amazing Ride' By James Allan A school-record 15-win season, a Big Ten Tournament championship game appearance and the first-ever NCAA Tournament berth in program history. It was an unforgettable season for head coach Ron Rainey and the University of Iowa soccer program. "It was an amazing ride," said Rainey. "What was interesting is we got a lot of those results in a flurry of three weeks and there were emotions of maybe not qualifying for the Big Ten Tournament to going to the NCAA Tournament and playing for a Big Ten title. "This will be a special year (that we will draw upon), and one that we want to try to repeat as we go forward the next few years." The Hawkeyes entered the final weekend of Big Ten Conference play needing a victory over Purdue to be competing in the postseason. Iowa came away victorious over the Boilermakers, 2-0, to punch its ticket to Champaign, Ill., for the Big Ten Tournament. The Hawkeyes then got hot and came together at the right time. Iowa opened tournament play with victory over No. 7 Michigan (1-0) in the quarterfinals before knocking off No. 20 Penn State (1-0) for a second time in a two-week span (Iowa had never beaten the Nittany Lions in program history). The championship run ended on the wrong side of a 1-0 defeat to No. 18 Nebraska. "In those two games against Michigan and Penn State, we played our best defense of the year," said Rainey. "To go through a stretch of three games like that and only give up one goal is incredible." Iowa's season ended with a 4-1 loss at No. 23 Notre Dame in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, but the experience is one that the Hawkeyes can build on. "What was great is we had the lead in that game for 35 minutes and to have those feelings to have a lead in a first round is remarkable," he said. "We talked to our team about how good Notre Dame was, and they proved it getting all the way to the Sweet 16. "For us, it was awesome to be there. Now we have gotten that taste to be able to control our emotions a little more, play and think faster, and we can be successful in that setting as well." After eight years of program-building, Rainey doesn't want the Hawkeyes to be a one-hit wonder. He wants Iowa to be a perennial NCAA qualifier and be a team capable of advancing. "It will be an interesting next six months when we come back from break," he said. "Are we going to take this opportunity we had to work that much harder? "Moving forward, we want to host a first-round tournament game, advance, and get into the final 32, 16, but we have a lot of work to do. Will this team look at all that and say, 'Can we do more?' 'Can we get better?' "It starts on an individual basis and moves through the team. We have the personnel, character, and all the little things that will allow us to get better and take this opportunity and make it an even better one in the spring." 45