WOODBURY, Minn. - The Minnesota Machine defeated the Iowa Thunder 20-0 in women’s professional football action Saturday night at the Woodbury (Minn.) High School football field.

Minnesota Machine strong safety Kim Miller gets tackled by Iowa Thunder quarterback Andrea Eilertson after a fumble during Machine's 20-0 victory Saturday night. - Photo by Jeffrey S. Williams.

Neither team could gain momentum in the first half as each squad’s defensive unit held the opposing offense to limited production. In an attempt to break the scoreless tie Iowa Thunder kicker Kendra Paul attempted a 47-yard field goal that fell short by eight yards and was returned by Kim Miller to the Minnesota 27-yard line and the end of the half. Paul’s longest field goal on the season was 36-yards.

After two consecutive 22-yard runs by the Machine’s halfback Maggie Alt, and two runs by quarterback Kim Miller for 12-yards, Alt took a 9-yard hand off into the end zone with 8:32 left in the third quarter for a touchdown. After the Danielle Thompson extra point, it was Minnesota 7, Iowa 0.

Iowa drove deep into Minnesota territory at the end of the third quarter until Machine tackle Heather Baker sacked Thunder quarterback Courtney Axeline forcing a fumble that was recovered by center Kerri Gray for an 11-yard loss. The play forced a 4th down and 21 situation. Iowa elected to attempt a fourth down conversion but turned it over on downs.

On the Machine’s next possession, halfback Alt made runs of 14 and 11 yards, which set up a Miller 35-yard run to make it 1st and goal at the Iowa 3. After a two consecutive Iowa stops, Miller ran a quarterback sneak for the 3-yard touchdown with 10:17 left in regulation. A bobbled snap on the extra point made the score 13-0 Minnesota.

With just under three minutes left in the game, Alt and Miller struck again. Alt took a handoff 20 yards to set up 1st and goal at the Iowa 5. Two plays later, Miller ran a bootleg 4-yards to the corner of the end zone for the game’s final score. It was 20-0 Minnesota after the Thompson extra point.

“It felt good. It’s my first year playing too so it was fun,” Alt said. “The offensive line opened up a lot of holes and I just went in through them. We just did really well tonight.”

“We’re a rookie team,” said Thunder head coach William Grimes. “We came into this season with one goal – to win five games. In the seven year history of women’s football in Iowa there has never been a team with a winning record. This was a setback but we still have two more opportunities to achieve that.”

“It’s a building block and it’s one of those things where you have to lose to learn how to win. It’s very positive. This is a team and we’ll rebound from this and come back strong,” he added.

“Maggie [Alt] just had an incredible game tonight,” said Machine head coach Dann Lickness. “We put them through a hard program and they do everything that we ask of them. 5-3 season would be pretty good for a first year team.”

The Minnesota Machine (3-3) travel to the Missouri Phoenix (0-5) while the Iowa Thunder (4-2) visit the Kansas City Storm (2-4). Both games are on Saturday June 20th at 7 CT.