By Brian ReganThe Daily Northwestern

After managing just three shots on goal, frustration and disappointment filled the air on the bus ride back from Iowa City on Sunday.

That wasn’t supposed to happen.

Following its uplifting overtime win against Michigan State last week, Northwestern (6-7, 1-2 Big Ten) was trying to have its first Big Ten winning streak in more than three years.

But Iowa had other plans.

“We don’t make excuses,” McCollum said. “There is nothing that occurred that impacted our performance.”

The Hawkeyes (6-7, 1-3) bogged down the normally speedy and trigger-happy Wildcat offense and dismantled NU’s defense to control the ball throughout the match, en route to a 3-1 victory.

“We did not perform at the level we are capable of,” coach Kelly McCollum said. “There is no reason why it happened. We just didn’t execute our skills.”

With Iowa’s Caitlin McCurdy scoring barely three minutes into the game, the Cats had to play catch-up for most of the match.

Iowa’s defense allowed just three NU corners and kept the Cats from launching a shot on goal in the second half.

“We had a really hard time connecting with possession passes,” forward Alex Quinn said.