A look at the 2025 Iowa Women's Soccer Schedule

A rising program in the Big Ten under head coach Dave Dilanni, the Iowa women’s soccer team had a historic season a year ago, making the program’s first ever Round of 16 appearance at the NCAA Tournament. Now, the Hawkeyes next step, in one of the toughest conferences in the country, is to make NCAA trips a regularity and assert themselves as a true top program in the Big Ten.

Mark your calendars 🤩#Hawkeyes pic.twitter.com/pwgpCfwzl7

— Hawkeye Soccer (@HawkeyeSoccer) June 6, 2025

HawkeyeReport breaks down the 2025 slate of games for the Hawkeyes, looking at the highlights from the non-conference and Big Ten portions of the schedule.

Exhibition Matches

August 2: at South Dakota, August 8: vs Kansas

A pair of exhibition games will kick off the 2025 campaign, starting with a road trip to Vermillion for a match against South Dakota. The Hawkeyes defeated the Coyotes 7-0 in the last season’s preseason match in Iowa City. Although just an exhibition, their preseason finale against Kansas in Iowa City will have a different feel to it and should be a good test for both sides going into the regular season. The Jayhawks finished last season with 13-6-4 record, including an NCAA Tournament appearance.

Non-Conference Matches

August 14: at Arkansas, August 21: vs TCU, August 24: vs Western Michigan, August 28: at Loyola-Chicago, August 31: vs St Louis, Sept 4: vs Iowa State, Sept 7: at Missouri State

It’s an impressive non-conference schedule that Dave Dilanni put together, including five games against NCAA Tournament teams and three games against teams that finished last season ranked in the top 25. Iowa was 2-3-2 against ranked teams last season, headlined by a win over NCAA runner-up Wake Forest.

There’s no easing into the season, as the Hawkeyes will kick the season off, with three consecutive matchups against teams that made the NCAA Tournament last season. They open the season in Fayetteville against an Arkansas team that finished last season ranked 9th, while they return to Iowa City a week later to face a TCU team that returns four All-Big 12 performers from last year’s team that finished ranked 16th in the country. The third game in the tough opening stretch comes against Western Michigan, who the Hawkeyes faced, and drew against, in Kalamazoo last year. WMU went on to make their first NCAA Tournament since 2015.

Hidden in the middle of the non-conference slate is a sneaky game on the road in the Windy City against a Loyola-Chicago team that went 9-5-5 last season, but ranked 17th in goals allowed per game. They wrap up week three, with a home match against a St Louis team that went 15-2-6 last season and pushed top-seeded USC to overtime in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.

The final weekend of the non-conference season has a couple of familiar foes, starting with the Cy-Hawk match in Iowa City against Iowa State. ISU finished last season with a 3-9-6 record, including a 3-0 loss to the Hawkeyes in Ames. Their non-conference finale comes on the road, as Iowa will travel to Springfield for a match against Missouri State. The Bears went 13-5-3 last season and made the NCAA Tournament, where they faced the Hawkeyes in the opening round. Iowa won that match 2-1.

Big Ten Matches

Sept 12: vs Northwestern, Sept 18: at Purdue, Sept 21: vs Minnesota, Sept 25: at Wisconsin, Sept 28: at Nebraska, Oct 4: vs Michigan, Oct 9: vs Maryland, Oct 12: vs Michigan State, Oct 16: at UCLA, Oct 19: at USC, Oct 26: at Indiana

The Hawkeyes went 8-2-1 in Big Ten play last season, finishing third in the standings. This season, on paper, the schedule gets tougher, including five games against NCAA Tournament teams. Last year, Iowa managed to avoid USC, UCLA and Michigan State, who combined to go 25-2-6 in Big Ten play, but they all three are on the schedule this year.

Getting off to a good start will be important, as Northwestern and Purdue combined for a 4-15-3 record in Big Ten play last season. Iowa defeated Northwestern 2-1 in Evanston last season and beat Purdue 4-0 in ’23 when they last visited West Lafayette. Neither team returns an All-Big Ten player.

After the ‘Cats and ‘Boilers, the Hawkeyes will play three consecutive rivalry games, including two where revenge will be on their mind. Iowa hosts Minnesota, who went on a tear late last season, finishing with a 14-5-3 record, including a win over the Hawkeyes and a trip to the Round of 16 in the NCAA Tournament. Then, it’s back-to-back road games against Wisconsin and Nebraska. The Badgers handed Iowa their first loss last season and went 10-6-5, also finishing their season with a Round of 16 appearance at the NCAA Tournament. As for the Huskers, they had a down season a year ago finishing 6-10-1, but the Hawkeyes are just 5-12-1 all-time in the series, although, they did win 2-0 in Iowa City last season.

After the three-game stretch of rivalry matches, the Hawkeyes will face five consecutive teams that they did not face during the 2024 season. Much like the beginning of the Big Ten schedule, getting the first two during this stretch will be important. Iowa is set to host both Michigan and Maryland, who combined for a 3-16-3 Big Ten record and a -42 goal differential last season. Neither team returns an All-Big Ten selection.

There’s no doubt the toughest stretch of the season comes in mid-October, with matchups against Michigan State (home), UCLA (away) and USC (away). Those three won or drew 31 of their 33 Big Ten games and combined for a 49-8-12 record last season. The Hawkeyes are 0-2 all-time against UCLA and have never faced USC.

The Hawkeyes wrap up the regular season in Bloomington against an Indiana Hoosiers team that dramatically fell off after an NCAA Tournament appearance in 2023. They were 1-9-1 in Big Ten play, including a 1-0 loss in Iowa City.