Hoosiers finish with win

The women's soccer team ended its season this weekend with two dramatic games, including a farewell to three seniors who have been heavy contributors to the Hoosiers program during the last four seasons.\nFriday night in Lexington, freshman Kim Grodek helped to stun the Kentucky Wildcats by scoring a goal with 33 seconds remaining in the game to give the Hoosiers a 1-1 tie. The goal was the third time this season Grodek has netted such an important tally, as she also scored the game tying goal against Notre Dame and a golden goal against Xavier earlier this season. \nSophomore goalkeeper Shaunna Daugherty helped the Hoosiers keep the Wildcats to their lone goal with a career high 14 saves -- the fourth highest save total in Indiana women's soccer history. \nSunday, the Hoosiers completed their season with a dominating 5-1 victory against the Ohio Bobcats at Bill Armstrong Stadium. The victory over the MAC champions put the Hoosiers over .500 with an 8-7-2 record (3-6-1 conference). IU began the year 5-1-1 for the best start in team history, finishing with a winning record for the first time in three seasons.\nSunday's game was senior day, as the Hoosiers said goodbye to three senior players -- midfielder Kelly Kram, midfielder/back Stacey Peterson and back Whitney Butler were all honored before the game, and were all starters for coach Joe Kelley\n"It doesn't matter if you get the start or not, what is exciting is being out there and playing," Butler said. "When you do get the start though, it is wonderful. You have to go out there and try to do everything possible."\nButler, who is known as a tenacious defender, played a physical game. The Hoosiers allowed only one goal to the Bobcats while thoroughly suffocating their high power offense. \n"I think I gave everything I had out there," Butler said. "It was my last game, so I tried my hardest."\nButler was called for a yellow card with only several minutes remaining in the game. \n"It was my first yellow card ever, but it was all ball," Butler said smiling. It was the first yellow card issued to a Hoosier all season.\nKelley, who thought that this game was the most dominating his team played all season, was happy with the effort his seniors gave him. He rewarded them by removing all three of them with 1:47 left in the game so that they could leave to a standing ovation.\n"It was the perfect way to end our careers with that ovation. It wasn't too emotional, just a great way to end things," Butler said.\nKram, who took a more defensive oriented role this season, agreed with Butler. \n"Getting taken out of the game like that was a very bittersweet ending," Kram said.\nThe Hoosiers five goals were their highest output of the season. But the game was an exclamation point to a season where the team has been able to contain high-powered offensive opponents with their defense.\nSophomore Emily Hotz lead the Hoosiers attack with two goals and two assists, as the team pummeled the Bobcats with 15 shots on goal. But all Hotz could think of after the game was the senior teammates that she would be playing with for the last time.\n"This game was huge for us. It sets the pace for the spring. However, this game was all for the seniors," Hotz said.\nHotz said she knew the team would come out and play a great game. She said she was happy with her offensive effort, but she truly worked hard for the seniors.\n"The game we just played was amazing," Hotz said. "It wasn't necessarily the best game we played all year, but it was played with the most heart."\nKelley was happy to see his team finish with a winning record after suffering an untimely five game losing streak in conference play.\n"It's good to end the season on a win," Kelley said. "It shows that this team is capable, and they're a good team. We had a run of bad play for two weeks, which is too bad for them, but we showed what we're made of at the end of the season."\n"We played with a lot of confidence today," Kelley said. "Some of the goals we put in were just textbook execution."\nThe Hoosiers offense, which struggled for much of the season, had little problems against the Bobcats. IU netted three goals in the first half and continued their onslaught with two highlight quality goals in the second half. Seven Hoosiers netted points in the season finale, led by Hotz and junior Kara Bryan, who added a goal and an assist. Peterson had an assist in her final game. Grodek and junior Jenny Mann also had goals.\nKelley used every player available to him to play except for two of his goalies. \n"I wanted to win today, but it was nice to get everyone out there today, because seeing them play in game situations and not just practice is always a great opportunity," he said.\n"It's so sad now," Hotz said. "I can't believe it's all over for them. They are incredible on the field and off of it."\nButler was excited for the convincing win, but had more enthusiasm for her younger teammates.\n"The win was excellent, but I'm glad that we got it, so that they can take this win and focus on the spring season," Butler said.\n"It was great to win this game, because we all played so hard," Kram said. "We went through a rough few weeks, but today was truly amazing. I'm going to miss playing with this team"