IU upsets of No. 6 Florida, wins comeback against Mercer

The IU women’s soccer team upset No. 6 Florida on Friday in a double-overtime thriller.

They then traveled to Macon, Ga., on Sunday, where they overcame a 1-0 deficit at halftime against Mercer to defeat the Bears 2-1. The team is now 5-0 on the season.

“After this game, we feel pretty good heading into Big Ten play,” IU women’s soccer coach Mick Lyon said Friday. “Florida threw everything they had at us, and we handled it very well.”

When No. 6 Florida came into Bloomington, IU had an opportunity to prove that its previous victories weren’t all a fluke.

IU did that by continuing its strong defensive play through halftime, with the score tied 0-0.

In the 57th minute, a free kick from junior Chloe McKay led to a header from sophomore Devon Beach for a 1-0 lead. The ball sailed from 35 yards out to the middle of the box, where she headed it into the net.

It was the second goal of the season for Beach, who is tied with sophomore forward Carly Samp for the team lead in points.

“The fact that we’re scoring goals in every game with different players is huge,” Lyon said. “It’s something we struggled with last year. We’re a much better team than last year.”

But an unfortunate turn of events would stop the Hoosiers from getting too comfortable.
A clearing attempt by IU was popped in front of the goal in the 61st minute. The ball’s spin was underplayed by sophomore goalkeeper Lindsay Campbell as the ball slipped through her hands for an own goal score to tie the game at 1-1.

Both teams would continue to battle it out into the second overtime, and into the 114th tiresome minute.

Beach capitalized on freshman defender Hannah Davidson’s misfooting and dribbled down the right sideline where she sent a perfect cross to junior forward Leigh Anne Cummings. She held off a Florida defender and stuck one in the far post for a gamewinner that gave IU a 2-1 victory.

It was the fifth game-winning goal of Cummings’ career. It was also the highest-ranked opponent IU has defeated since becoming a varsity sport in 1993.

On Sunday, the Hoosiers traveled down to Macon, Ga., to play the Mercer Bears.
In its first road trip, IU came out a little flat in the first 45 minutes and trailed 1-0 at halftime.

“We just played average the first half,” Lyon said. “I knew that if we played our best, we were going to come back and win this game.”

After making adjustments, the Hoosiers picked up their intensity thanks to a couple assists from senior defender Kelly Lawrence.

Lawrence sent a free kick to Samp in the 63rd minute for her second goal of the year. Less than  10 minutes later, Lawrence sent a forward pass to senior defender Christie Kotynski for her first goal of the year.

Her goal was all the Hoosier defense needed as junior goalkeeper Lauren Hollandsworth’s three saves ensured the  2-1 victory.

IU travels to New York next weekend, where they’ll play Hofstra and St. John’s on Friday and Sunday, respectively.