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107 T he University of Iowa soccer team went young in 2015. Head coach Dave DiIanni says the experience is valuable moving forward if used in a productive manner. e Hawkeyes have started at least five freshmen and sophomores in every game this season. Seven first or second-year players started in back-to-back games against Illinois and Northwestern. e youth movement is reminiscent of the 2010 and 2011 seasons. Iowa had eight underclassmen see significant action in 2010 in an eight-win season. e following year, six underclassmen catapulted Iowa to a 13-win campaign and by 2013, the Hawkeyes were playing in their first NCAA Tournament in program history. DiIanni hopes the current youth movement jumpstarts a similar script. "(Playing so many underclassmen) gives us a solid foundation from the ground up," said DiIanni. ""We have a good group in the freshman class and good sophomores that have proven they can play at the Big Ten level." Freshmen Kyrie Seying, Karsen Rauch, and Morgan Kemerling have combined to start 45 (of a possible 51) games in 2015, including every Big Ten contest. Sophomore Karly Stuenkel has been in the starting lineup all but one game; she is tied for the team lead with five goals. "It's good to get the experience under our feet," said Kemerling, a midfielder. "Being such a young team, we can build off this experience and keep improving." at's a key for DiIanni. How do the freshmen and sophomores use the experience to their benefit to continue moving forward? "(e underclassmen) got a lot of experience and now they know what to expect," said DiIanni. "ey need to use that experience to build into the offseason and make themselves better both physically and skill-wise. "ey need to use the experience to take another step in terms of leadership and use it as a springboard for them to be hungry for more. e key is for them to realize it's the beginning of their journey and not become complacent because they played so much as freshmen." Kemerling says the 2015 season will serve as all the motivation she needs. e Hawkeyes raced to a 6-1 start during the nonconference season before going 1-7-1 in Big Ten action leading up to the season finale against No. 9 Rutgers on Oct. 28. "Right now we know what the bottom feels like," said Kemerling. "We're going to keep this feeling inside and never forget it. We'll use that to motivate us to improve every day." e focus is on 2016 when the freshmen will be sophomores and the sophomores will be the upperclassmen. "Next year we'll be sophomores with so much experience," said Rauch. "As we start to become the leaders, we'll be able to pass along our experiences and that is going to be useful as we move toward the future."