Iowa City, Iowa. - The Pacific Women's soccer team opened the season in the Midwest on Friday, falling 1-0 to the Iowa Hawkeyes of the Big Ten Conference despite a career-high six saves from goalkeeper Lena Perry.

Perry saw her first shot in the seventh minute, corralling an attempt from Bri Toelle. Iowa would see two more shots miss target before Toelle connected on her first goal of the season, taking a through ball from Rachele Armand and connecting in the lower third to give the host Hawkeyes a 1-0 advantage in the 20th minute of action at the Iowa Soccer Complex.

In the 40th minute, Perry made an outstanding grab on a Karly Stuenkel shot to keep the Hawkeye lead to just 1-0. At the halftime break, Pacific trailed by just the one goal margin with Perry recording three saves. 

The second half saw a flurry of opportunities for the Tigers as Iowa goalkeeper Hannah Clark was tested by three Tiger set pieces and five shots on goal, including a header off a corner by Alex Hussar that was saved, a Mati Long rocket that Clark punched out of danger and a Shayda Ansari attempt that went denied. Hussar finished the contest with a team-high three shots while Long added a pair. 

 

Perry did well to keep the Tigers in the contest, adding three saves to her first half total. As in last Saturday's exhibition, the Orange and Black back-line provided heroics, making two team saves. 

Pacific will return to game action on Sunday in Des Moines, Iowa against Drake. Kickoff is slated for 9:00 am Pacific time and live stats are available via PacificTigers.com. For the latest on the Pacific Women's Soccer program, be sure to follow @PacificSoccer on Twitter and Instagram.