IU kicks off Big Ten play this weekend

Two weeks ago, it was senior Carrie DeFreece netting all the goals for the IU women's soccer team.\nLast weekend, freshmen Christie Kotynski and Liz Holby scored both goals for the Hoosiers.\n"I think it's the weekend for juniors to step up and score some goals," IU head coach Mick Lyon said. "I'll be happy with that."\nThe Hoosiers (3-2-3) kick off their Big Ten season with a 7 p.m. game Friday against Minnesota (6-1-1) and a noon matchup Sunday against Ohio State (4-2-1). Both games will be at Bill Armstrong Stadium.\n"We can't wait. We've been waiting for this the whole season," Kotynski said about her first Big Ten experience. "It's been what we've been building up to. ... We're ready to play."\nLast season IU dropped games against both the Buckeyes and Golden Gophers. In the game against Minnesota, the Hoosiers lost 2-1 on a Gopher goal 9:22 into overtime. \nWhen the Gophers media guide came out this season, it featured a picture of the Gophers celebrating their win over IU.\n"We'll make sure everybody gets plenty of pictures of that right before the game," Lyon said. "We know -- as all the returning players know -- that we had that game in hand, and through just a little bit of fatigue, we gave it away."\nIn the game against Ohio State last season in Columbus, the Hoosiers were able to tie up the game twice after the Buckeyes went ahead 1-0 and 2-1. The game-winning goal came in the 81st minute by Buckeye midfielder Lara Dickenmann, "one of the best players in the country," Lyon said.\nDickenmann's goal put Ohio State up 3-2, the final score.\n"We had a lot of those close losses last year, and it was just so many what could have been, what should have been (moments), and I think this year we just are committed to giving that extra effort in the game," senior midfielder Ali Brown said . "A lot of those game were decided off of a set piece where we didn't follow our mark in or some silly little mistake we made, so we've been committed to really doing the little things right this year and not settling for ties or losses."\nLyon said that the key in the Ohio State game will be to contain Dickenmann -- now a junior -- who in addition to scoring the game winning goal recorded the first assist for the Buckeyes in last year's matchup.\n"She's a super player to play against because she's so creative," Lyon said. "We may adjust our lineup personnel-wise a little bit to adjust for her because she's such a difficult player coming out of midfield."\nEven though this is the first weekend of conference play for the Hoosiers, IU shared some common non-conference opponents with the Buckeyes and the Gophers. Ohio State beat the University of California 1-0, a team IU lost to 1-0 in its season opener. Minnesota lost to Creighton 2-1 in an exhibition match, the identical score Creighton beat IU by in the Wisconsin Tournament Aug. 27.\n"I try not to really compare too much against common opponents," Lyon said. "You look for one or two things. Maybe I just keep that in the back of my mind."\nIU brings a six-game unbeaten streak into the weekend, the second longest in the history of the program behind a 14-game winning streak which spanned the 1993 and 1994 seasons.