IU ties twice during weekend set in Carolina

Youth came up big for the Hoosiers this weekend.\nFreshmen accounted for two goals and an assist for the IU women's soccer team in a pair of 1-1 ties against teams from North Carolina over the weekend.\n"You're always disappointed with a tie," IU coach Mick Lyon said about his team's performance, "because in most instances there's going to be parts of the game where you felt like you should have won it. Sometimes though, within that time, there are moments where you could have lost it all. So I'm mostly disappointed because both games I never felt we were going to lose either game. It was always a case of any moment now we're going to score and be able to take home a win."\nThe Hoosiers began the weekend Friday playing at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. IU brought in a three-game shutout streak, but that was snapped with 20 seconds to go in the second half by a goal from 49ers Rachel Mees off a Charlotte corner kick. Mees' goal was the first goal allowed by the Hoosiers in 409 minutes and 57 seconds, the second longest in the history of the IU program.\nThe Hoosiers responded to Mees' goal with some late-half heroics of their own in the second half. With less than three minutes to go in regulation and the score still 1-0, freshman defender Kelly Lawrence placed a free kick in the right place for freshman midfielder Christie Kotynski, who headed the ball into the back of the net to tie the game at one. The goal was Kotynski's second of the season. \nIn Sunday's game against UNC at Greensboro, the Hoosiers were once again able to score a late-period goal when freshman forward Liz Holby scored with six seconds left in the first half off an assist by senior forward Megan Pipkens.\n"The game is 90 minutes long for a purpose," Lyon said about his team's late-period goals. "You got to play all 90 minutes. We get the goal with a few seconds left in the first period ... We haven't given up many goals close to the end of periods, but for us to score a few as we push and search for goals is pretty good."\nHolby's goal, the first of her Hoosier career, gave IU a 1-0 lead going into halftime. It was the second goal and third point of the weekend by an IU freshman.\n"There's some freshmen playing well amongst the upperclassmen," Lyon said. "I think easily four or five of them at the same time, so there's always going to be a chance that a freshman gets a point."\nIU was able to keep the lead until the 67th minute of the game when the Spartans' Karla Davis put the ball past IU junior goalkeeper Stacey Van Boxmeer to tie the game at 1-1, which held for the rest of the game.\nIU (3-2-3) is now undefeated in their last six games, the second longest streak in program history and the longest since the 1993-94 season when they went 14 games without a loss. The Hoosiers outshot both the 49ers and the Spartans, something they have done against each of the eight opponents they have faced this season. Against Charlotte, the Hoosiers had an 18-8 advantage in shots, including a 10-0 advantage in the second half. In the Greensboro game, IU had 17 shots, compared to the Spartans' 11. Van Boxmeer made eight saves in the two games.\nThe Hoosiers kick off their Big Ten season next week when they return to Bill Armstrong Stadium to take on Minnesota and Ohio State.