Hoosiers defeat Bulldogs

INDIANAPOLIS -- Practice can pay off. Just ask the women's soccer team. \nThe Hoosiers spent the last half hour of practice Monday preparing for a scoring situation identical to the one that presented itself in the second half of yesterday's game against Butler at Kuntz Field in Indianapolis. \nThe end result was sophomore Carly Everett hitting a set kick toward the goal on the right side to junior midfielder, and Butler transfer, Kara Bryan. Bryan deflected the ball to sophomore Emily Hotz, who scored the game's only goal as Indiana downed the Bulldogs 1-0.\n"It was tough. We fought hard. I knew it wasn't going to be a blowout by any means," Bryan said. "I'm really proud of the girls tonight. All it takes is one goal.\n"We've been working a lot on our set pieces. Carly played a perfect ball in, Hotz came on, she was right there for a perfect ball on the net. \n"When you spend that much time on something in practice, you hope it pays off."\nHotz echoed Bryan's sentiment that working on the play payed dividends for the Hoosiers. \n"It was a perfect pass from Carly," Hotz said. "We've been practicing restarts and she's been practicing hitting them and everything. The ball could not have been more perfectly placed to my feet."\nAs a whole, the team played well, keeping the ball in Butler territory for most of the game and virtually the entire second half. The play was a noticeable turnaround from last game, against Cincinnati, where the Hoosiers said they played somewhat sloppily.\n"This game was 100 percent better than the last game. We were so much more controlled," Hotz said. "I would definitely say we had control the whole game."\nWith its first two wins out of the way, IU is building up momentum heading into the heart of its schedule, before conference play begins.\n"If we can get these first few wins out of the way and go in with some confidence, then we can make some noise in the Big Ten," sophomore goalkeeper Shaunna Daugherty said.\nDespite its 2-0 record, the team came into this game looking for noticeable improvement from its first outing. In terms of doing so, it was mission accomplished.\n"It was like night and day. We were much better organized. We were much more relaxed with the ball and we created a lot of opportunities," coach Joe Kelley said. "We're still just one touch and one pass away from making things happen in the final third, but I thought we did really well tonight"