IU splits in weekend contests against Illinois, Northwestern

Matches decided by 1-0 scores had not gone the Hoosiers’ way in Big Ten play. But on Sunday, sophomore midfielder Lisa Nouanesengsy’s fifth goal of the season helped the Hoosiers earn a 1-0 victory against Northwestern and gave IU its first win in its fourth true road match.

“I will probably sleep better,” IU Coach Mick Lyon said. “I feel so happy for this group of girls because the last couple of years, we’ve had some terrific young women who had played some great soccer and come out on the losing end of some 1-0 battles. I’m very proud of this group by doing what’s needed to win these games.”

Nouanesengsy said it was a “great win.”

Senior forward Carly Samp, a Barrington, Ill., native, had not defeated Northwestern in her IU career. Sunday changed that.

“It’s always great to get a win when I’m playing close to my home town,” she said. “I had a lot of people at the game watching who go to Northwestern who are from Barrington. It’s always special to have that.”

It wasn’t easy. In the first half, Northwestern out shot IU, 8-1. Senior goalkeeper Lindsay Campbell denied the Wildcats’ shots on goal, recording three saves.

“The eight shots they did have were from far away,” junior defender Molly Buynak said. “We gave them shots, but the shots they did have, Lindsay was able to save. We handled the pressure well. We were determined to pull out a win.”

Neither Northwestern nor IU took a corner kick in the first half. For the first three halves of the Hoosiers’ Illinois road trip weekend, IU did not take one. They earned four in the second half Sunday.

“It’s really important that we create corner kicks,” Nouanesengsy said. “The last two games we haven’t as much. We need to get back on track, get corner kicks so we can have better opportunities to score more goals.”

Prior to the match Friday, the Hoosiers had scored 11 of their 19 goals in the first half.
They were not able to do so in the first half against Illinois. The Fighting Illini took a 1-0 lead into the half. IU scored to tie the game in the 48th minute when redshirt freshman Kate McCusker recovered a loose ball in the box and converted. With her goal, McCusker became the eighth different Hoosier to score her first collegiate point this season.

The tie lasted 5:22, as Illinois scored the game-winning goal in the 53rd minute. Illinois added two more goals in the match to win 4-1.

Lyon said after the match that his team, the youngest in the Big Ten, cannot afford to stop competing, but dwelling on past mistakes serves no purpose.

“We didn’t spend much time after the game rehashing things,” he said. “Sports — it’s a wonderful thing. Sometimes, you can show up, be prepared and things don’t go your way. We were certainly not happy whatsoever in how we competed. We had 20 minutes of dreadful soccer. That cost them any chance.”