Nouanesengsy’s hat trick highlights opening weekend

IU Women’s Soccer Coach Mick Lyon said his team failed to create shots in their Aug. 7 exhibition loss against DePaul.

Sunday’s match against Butler proved to be a much different story, as Indiana tallied six goals on 19 shots, scoring three goals on eight shots in the first half.

IU built 2-0 leads in both of its weekend games against Evansville  and Butler.
Lyon said he addressed what happened in Friday’s 2-2 tie against Evansville at halftime of their match versus Butler.

“This is the situation we’re in on Friday,” Lyon said of his Sunday halftime speech. “The best form of defense is attacking. Converting chances is so important. That’s what they did.”

The Hoosiers doubled their score in the second half, as three of 11 shots found the back of the net.

Sophomore midfielder Lisa Nouanesengsy recorded a hat trick, becoming the seventh Hoosier in IU women’s soccer to accomplish the feat.

“If it wasn’t for my teammates, I wouldn’t have those goals,” she said. “Big credit to my teammates. They gave me the confidence to score those goals.”

The Hoosiers won 6-1.

In the first half Friday night against Evansville, the Hoosiers created 10 shots. The first came in the fourth minute on a free kick taken by junior midfielder Orianica Velasquez 20 yards away from goal on the right side of the box. Her shot sailed into the upper corner on the left side of the goal.

“That was one of the best free kicks I’ve ever seen in college soccer,” Lyon said. “It was tremendous.”

In the 40th minute, redshirt freshman midfielder Rebecca Dreher scored, her shot rolling into the lower right side of the goal. Freshman midfielder Jordan Woolums earned the assist, as her pass deflected off an Evansville defender.

In addition to the two goals, the Purple Aces’ goalkeeper recorded three saves on IU’s 10 first-half shots. The Hoosiers held Evansville without a shot in the first half.

As for the second half, Evansville tallied seven shots, two finding the back of the net.
IU senior goalkeeper Lindsay Campbell recorded one save in the second half before a substition in goal in the 54th minute allowed sophomore Shannon Flower to make a save.

IU also created four shots in the two overtime periods but were unable to
capitalize, tying the Purple Aces at 2-all.

“They were very disappointed,” Lyon said. “Our number one goal was to win the game. They knew they had let themselves down because they played well on Friday.”
Velasquez took it a step further.

“We were so mad because we made the chances to score more goals,” Velasquez said. “Then we just tied. We were winning. Then they tied the game. Coach talked about that at halftime: ‘Make sure we finish the chances we have.’”