Young team looks to change fortunes

A team’s youth could be characterized as a positive or a negative, depending upon one’s point of view.

IU Women’s Soccer Coach Mick Lyon said he will think positively and use the opportunity provided by his team’s youth to make some tactical changes to help the team win more close, low-scoring matches. Over the past three seasons in 1-0 matches, the Hoosiers are 7-7, including five consecutive matches in 2008 when IU lost 1-0 to open the Big Ten schedule.

“Eight freshmen, five redshirt freshmen and (six) sophomores (are) a lot of young players,” Lyon said. “It gives us that opportunity with this group. We’ve changed some things, we’ve added some things. Everything they’re doing is focusing on winning games. Having this youth is like, ‘Can you change some things?’ We’ve been the 1-0 team. We’ve been on the wrong end of 1-0. Just imagine if we could reverse that.”

One of the team’s six seniors is forward Carly Samp, the team’s leading scorer and one of three captains for this year’s team. She said that the seniors’ jobs will include making the young players feel comfortable.

“We have to make sure that all the freshmen feel integrated with the team,” Samp said. “They’re going to (have) a significant role on the team.”

The Hoosiers return nine of eleven starters from last year’s team, which posted a 7-12-1 record, including 2-8 in Big Ten play.

Among those returning starters is sophomore goalkeeper Shannon Flower, who played 15 games last season. Senior Lindsay Campbell provides additional depth in goal for IU.

“Flower and Campbell have had quite a bit of playing time,” Lyon said. “They both played very well against DePaul (in the preseason). We’re looking for consistency. That’s one of the things you want from your goalkeepers. We need you to be solid all the time.”

A 1-0 defeat in an exhibition match against DePaul on Aug. 7 gave the team an idea of what to work on in training prior to the season.

“Learning from the mistakes we made and gaining confidence from the things we did well (helped),” senior defender and captain Kerri Krawczak said. “We have some work to do, but there are some things we did really well. That’s going to come with time, playing as a unit and building those relationships in the back.”

Krawczak added that the match helped introduce some of the freshmen to the college game. Lyon agreed.

“Their chalkboard is completely clear,” Lyon said. “We’re going to start filling in all the details.”