Hoosiers hope difficult non-conference schedule will pay off

The IU women’s soccer team is slotted to finish sixth in the Big Ten, according to the Big Ten coaches’ preseason poll, and out-performing that prediction may prove to be difficult. \nThe Hoosiers will have to face all five ranked Big Ten teams on the road. \nIn preparation for their tough schedule, IU coach Mick Lyon made sure to test his players before the conference season. For their lone preseason game, the Hoosiers traveled to Missouri, where they lost 5-0.\nLetting up so many goals against Missouri served as a wake-up call for a team comprised of players who last year set a school record for least amount of goals allowed in a single season. After the match, Lyon said defense would become his team’s focus for the season.\n“Games can be won on defense – certainly I know we have to score goals – but defending your own goal and stopping the other team from scoring is going to be our primary starting point,” he said. “I certainly expect us to be ever-dominant in the back as we have been. I don’t know that we will set a school record again, because it is difficult to set a record every year, but we will be extremely competitive in the defensive unit for sure.”\nSince that game, the Hoosiers have let in five goals in four games and have established a record of 6-1-1, including a 1-0 loss against then-No. 14 Florida and two overtime, come-from-behind wins against Jacksonville and then-No. 13 USC.\nAt Jacksonville, the Hoosiers were down twice after gaining an early lead. In overtime, sophomore midfielder Christie Kotynski scored the game-winning goal off of a pass from senior forward Suzie Teixeira.\nIU didn’t score until the 90th minute against USC when freshman forward Leigh Anne Cummings scored her first career goal and sent the game into overtime at a goal apiece. Sophomore forward Kristin Arnold then won the game 49 seconds into overtime with an opposite-foot shot.\nCummings said the win over the Trojans gives the team confidence heading into conference play. \n“It was definitely an important win for our program, because it got us pumped up and now we know we can beat ranked teams,” Cummings said. “We know that we are right up there with them, that we should be ranked up there, too, and that no matter what, even if we are down, we can pull together and get the win.”\nLyon said facing tough teams like Missouri, Florida and USC will help his team as they enter Big Ten play.\n“You’ve got to play a tough schedule if you want to get prepared for Big Ten games,” Lyon said. “All 10 of our Big Ten games are incredibly tough, whether we are playing Penn State, who ranks at the top, or Iowa, who is at the bottom.”\nLyon said there is a different style of play in the Big Ten, but it is not a style he likes to see his team play.\n“Everyone says that the Big Ten is physical and direct, which I don’t think that is the case with us,” Lyon said. “I think we are becoming physical in the sense that we match challenges. The way we have kind of changed is that we look for through balls and bumps and flicks that let us look for first and second chances.”