After three consecutive weekends on the road, the Northwestern field hockey team (7-8, 1-5 Big Ten) didn’t exactly celebrate an ideal homecoming Sunday.

The Wildcats, riding high on a two-game winning streak after beating Indiana and then-No. 18 California, were blanked, 2-0, by No. 10 Iowa (11-5, 2-3).

The game was NU’s final conference game of the regular season. It was also a failed opportunity to get back at the Hawkeyes, who handed the Cats a 1-0 loss earlier in the season.

But two second-half goals and another outstanding performance by Iowa goalkeeper Barb Weinberg carried Iowa to its 10th straight win against NU — a streak that dates back to 1998.

“We played really well in the first half, but in the second half they came out with a lot of pressure, and we just didn’t respond to it,” junior Candice Cooper said. “We never really got any momentum going in the second half.”

Both teams played stingy defense in the first half, with only three combined shot attempts between them. The scoring drought came to an end at the 42:40 mark when Iowa’s Margot McMahon broke free and beat NU goalkeeper Sherri-Anne Nyberg to make the score 1-0.

Iowa forward Pattie Gillern tacked on an insurance goal less than seven minutes after McMahon’s goal, stretching the lead to 2-0. Gillern was knocking on NU’s door all day long, racking up more shots on goal than NU had altogether.

“As a whole team, we didn’t play the way we were capable of,” Cooper said, “Some people had good individual games, but as a team we just weren’t all there.”

When presented with scoring opportunities, the NU offense struggled to get anything by Weinberg. Considered one of the best in the nation at her position, Weinberg proved to be too much for NU’s offense. She stoned all four of the Cats’ shot attempts and notched her league-leading sixth shutout of the season.

On the other side, Nyberg played well in the Cats’ net, making seven saves. But Iowa applied simply too much offensive pressure.

“I feel like we couldn’t break out with the ball on offense, and that led to them controlling the match more,” Cooper said. “Our individual defense all over the field wasn’t as strong as it has been.”

The Cats will close out the regular season with two non-conference home matches against Saint Louis and Syracuse before heading to the Big Ten tournament at University Park, Pa., on Nov. 7.