Jordan Jackson already had one goal, but that wasn’t going to cut it.
On a cold, wet Sunday afternoon at Nebraska Soccer Field, the Cornhuskers were locked in a 1-1 game with the Iowa Hawkeyes. After birthday-girl Jackson’s first goal and – scored as the P.A. announcer was declaring one minute left in the half and – Nebraska had the advantage, as Iowa could muster no offense in the first half due to the stifling and and physically imposing and Husker defense.
But Iowa scored early in the second half, leveling the game. Unfortunately for the Hawkeyes, they allowed a through ball that led to a corner kick not a minute later.
As the referee got set to blow the whistle and Blair Slapper ran up to put the ball in play, Jackson was ready. The ball went up by the post and the 5-foot-7 forward jumped up and blasted the ball with her head.
‘Oh, my gosh, we won on my birthday, ” Jackson laughed. ‘I got to score two goals. It’s 10 times better than a normal win.
The second goal was even worth the pain.
‘When you put it in, it doesn’t hurt at all,” Jackson said. ‘You only think about the goal, not the pain. But, really, it hurts a little bit.”
But most of the pain Sunday went to the Hawkeyes, whom Nebraska beat 3-1 off of Jackson’s two goals and a Morgan Marlborough penalty kick late in the game.
The result, along with NU’s 3-1 victory over Cal State Fullerton on Friday, brought the Huskers to 7-2 on the season, with Big 12 Conference play beginning Friday against Texas.
Against Fullerton, redshirt freshman Stacy Bartels had not just the first goal of her Husker career, but the first two, leading the Huskers to victory.
As this weekend was Omaha Hometown Husker Day, Bartels was able to do it in front of her parents, something she’d been hoping for.
‘My parents wanted to be here for my first goal, and rdquo; Bartels said. ‘I wish I’d been able to do it before now, but it’s nice to do it at home, in front of them.”
Bartels and Jackson’s goals were welcome to coach John Walker, who had been hoping to diversify the team’s scoring output besides just Marlborough and Molly Thomas.
‘We have some talented attacking players,” Walker said. ‘It’s good to see more people get involved. We need that moving forward.”
Moving forward means the start of Big 12 play for the Huskers. While they gained some impressive nonconference victories, most notably 3-1 wins over future Big Ten rivals Iowa and Indiana, they were unimpressive in their losses to New Mexico and Arizona State at a combined 8-0.
While “hard work” seems to be the team mantra heading into Friday’s tilt with Texas, Husker players have more specific goals in mind.
‘Coach Walker has been stressing defense in strikers recently,” Marlborough said. ‘I’d like us to stay aggressive and, if we do, we have a great chance of winning.”
But some of the Husker players were looking way forward, past Big 12 play, past even being members of the Big 12, with their smiles after the game.
‘We’ve been establishing a pattern for the Big Ten,” Jackson said. ‘We beat (Iowa), and we beat Indiana. We’re already (setting) a mark for the Big Ten next year.”