IU womens soccer team beats Toledo; will play Purdue in next round Sunday

WEST LAFAYETTE – The IU women’s soccer team will advance to the second round of the NCAA Tournament after a 3-2 double-overtime victory over Toledo on Friday.\nOn Sunday, the Hoosiers will play rival and No. 2 seed Purdue.\nThe Hoosiers’ first goal came in the 10th minute when sophomore defender Jessica Boots crossed a pass into senior midfielder Katy Stewart who headed it past Rocket goalkeeper sophomore Andrea Plewes for her first score of the season.\n“It’s fitting for me (scoring first goal of season in the tournament) because I have put in a lot of hard work all season,” Stewart said. “But I knew it wasn’t going to be enough today, so I am happy we had so many people step up.”\nIU struck again right before the end of the half when freshman forward Jocelyn Moses redirected a centering pass from sophomore forward Kristin Arnold in the 40th minute.\n“It was exciting, I wasn’t really expecting (scoring in the NCAA Tournament),” Moses said. “It was great to just help the team get to the second round.”\nMoses had just come into the game four minutes earlier, and the score was her second of the year.\nThe Rockets showed signs of life late in the match, as Toledo sophomore forward Ali Leak centered a pass to teammate forward Molly Cornwell, who blasted a strike into the upper left corner of the goal.\nThe Hoosiers had controlled the flow of the game until the goal, which seemed to deflate any momentum IU had.\n“It’s hard to stay mentally in it when you know you are up, and I think we got a little mentally complacent and thought we could hold them,” Stewart said. “This has been a long season, and I think that if we can keep our heads in the game for all 90 minutes on Sunday, we are going to be great.”\nToledo scored again to send the match into overtime with less than five minutes left in the game when defender Suzi Siwinksi blasted a shot past Hoosier goalkeeper freshman Lauren Hollandsworth.\nThe game remained scoreless through the first overtime and both teams had opportunities in the second, but it was Arnold who won the game with a header over Plewes with two minutes left before penalty kicks, which Toledo has won their last two games on.\n“There were only a few minutes left before PKs, so we were really pushing and it was big for us to get the goal and win,” Arnold said. “You never want to go into a game and finish on penalty kicks after playing 110 minutes of soccer. I’m confident in our shooters and goalie, but if you can avoid it, you want to.”\nThe Hoosiers will face Purdue on Sunday in West Lafayette. The Boilermakers defeated Oakland 4-0 on four second-half goals Friday.