Sofia Bush couldn’t wait to be a Hawkeye, and is now helping Iowa soccer to an unbeaten start

IOWA CITY — Sofia Bush considers it one of the best decisions she has ever made.

Two years ago, the University of Iowa sophomore midfielder academically worked her way into a position to graduate high school a year early.

She couldn’t wait to be a Hawkeye.

“I have grown up around Hawkeye soccer,” Bush said after she scored her third goal this season in No. 18 Iowa’s 2-1 win over No. 15 Penn State in a Big Ten women’s soccer match Thursday night at the UI Soccer Complex. “Getting here, getting to meet the girls early is just one of the greatest things ever. Glad to be a Hawkeye.”

In Iowa’s first ranked-vs.-ranked home conference match in program history, Penn State (8-3-1, 2-2) opened the scoring with a goal just 61 seconds into the match.

“This team fights for each other,” Bush said of her team’s reaction to the quick deficit. “We’re relentless and we never give up.”

Penn State did not possess the lead for long. It took Bush just four minutes to provide her team with the equalizer.

“I wasn’t really thinking,” Bush said. “I got a great cross from one of my teammates and I was running up to the ball and I was like … ‘I need to score this. We’re already down one goal.’ I wasn’t really thinking at all.”

South Dakota State transfer Maya Hansen — a former summer league teammate of Bush — gave Iowa the lead for good with a goal in the 31st minute.

“OK, we’re going to win this game,” Bush said, recalling what she was thinking after Hansen’s tally.

With the victory, Iowa (8-0-3, 3-0-1 Big Ten) remains undefeated and vanquished traditional power Penn State for the third time in their last four meetings.

“Penn State is an incredible team,” 11th-year Iowa Coach Dave Dilanni said. “We’ve had some success to be able to match up with them these last four games. We just ask them to believe in who they are.

“For the longest time in this program, we talked about being an underdog. I certainly want them to have that mentality, but I want them to believe in the fruits of their labor. If they can believe that they’re good, then good results happen.”

In two prep seasons at Linn-Mar (2021-22), Bush piled up 47 goals and 36 assists and was a Mississippi Valley Conference Player of the Year and a Class 3A first team all-state honoree in 2022. In what could have been a “senior year” at Linn-Mar, Bush proved she was well-prepared for college soccer by earning a spot on the 2023 Big Ten All-Freshman team and playing in all 22 matches — including 15 starts — for an Iowa bunch that reached the NCAA tournament for the third time in five years.

“Sofia can play anywhere,” Dilanni said. “She’s super versatile, she loves the game, she wants to get better and I think sometimes that is not always the case. She will do the little things and the X-factors all the time. She’s only getting better.”

Iowa visits Northwestern (5-5-2, 0-3-1) at 1 p.m. Sunday (B1G+).

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