Hoosiers pound Aces, extend winning streak

With an offensive flurry in the second half of Sunday’s game against Evansville, the IU women’s soccer team extended its winning streak to seven games.\nGoing into the game, the Hoosiers had a goal to play intelligently and score off of set pieces, IU coach Mick Lyon said. A set piece refers to an opportunity in which a team has either a corner or a free kick toward its opponent’s goal, allowing to place players in certain spots they feel will give them the best chance to score. By the end of the match, IU had scored three goals off these plays.\n“It was one of our goals to get goals off of set pieces,” sophomore Christie Kotynski said. “And we were able to finish off of them, which was awesome. We reached one of our \ngoals today.” \nKotynski opened the scoring for the Hoosiers early in the second half with a goal off of a corner kick from forward Kristin Arnold. Kotynski would later add another goal off of a corner and an assist to advance the Hoosiers past the Aces 4-0.\nFreshman goalkeeper Lauren Hollandsworth picked up her second shutout of the year, the first coming in a draw against Loyola Marymount \non Sept. 7.\nHollandsworth said the shutout was a team effort.\n“(The back line) was definitely key,” Hollandsworth said. “There wasn’t too much for me to do in the game. I mean I was picking up balls here and there, but they were making the big tackles and shutting them down outside the 18 (yard box).”\nThe back line did come up big for the Hoosiers. Led by sophomore Jessica Boots and senior Katy Stewart, the line allowed only three shots the entire game, whereas the Hoosiers managed 21 shots – 11 of which were on goal.\n“Our confidence level goes up when we start scoring goals and we get stronger in the back,” Hollandsworth said. “We see that we are up and know that we have to keep the shutout. I think our confidence level was a lot higher this game.”\nLyon was pleased with how well his Hoosiers played. Scoring so many goals allowed him to play some of the less experienced members of the team and get a feel for how they would play in more strenuous game situations.\n“(Playing more players) is what you strive to do when you are two or three goals ahead and have complete control the game,” Lyon said. “It does two things: It rewards them for the effort they are putting in every day in training, but also gives me a little look that when the game is tight, are they going to be part of the squad playing.”\nThe Hoosiers’ winning streak is now up to seven games, all in September. Their overall record is 6-1-1, and the team hasn’t lost a game in the month of September since Sept. 25, 2005, a 2-1 overtime loss at Minnesota. Since that game, the Hoosiers are 13-0-4 in the month.\nIU will return to action 7 p.m. Friday as they host Northwestern in the conference opener for the Hoosiers.