Column: IU must make adjustments before Big Ten Tournament

The women’s soccer team is approaching the Big Ten Tournament, trying to shake off its mid-season slump.

The Hoosiers are 9-8-1 on the season, but they haven’t quite hit their stride.

The offense has been provided this season through the likes of senior forward Orianica Velasquez and junior midfielder Lisa Nouanesengsy with seven goals each. Junior goaltender Shannon Flower has improved this year, lowering her goals against average by more than half a goal.

But something is still missing.

Perhaps a major issue is the difference between playing at home and playing on the road.

The Hoosiers are 7-3-0 at home while they’re just 2-5-1 in games played away from Bloomington.

Usually in sports, the formula to winning on the road involves your superstars. At home, it’s easy to feed off the energy from your fans, and secondary players usually up their game, too.

But on the road, Velasquez and Nouanesengsy have not been able to find success.

During their eight road games, the two leading goal scorers have tallied just two goals, one for each in a losing effort to No. 4 Penn State.

In fact, the Hoosiers have been shut out four times on the road this year and only once at home.

Because Velasquez’s statistics haven’t improved much from year to year, the Hoosiers need to look toward another striker.

Sophomore Abby Smith could be that person. During seven shots on goal this year, four have reached the back of the net. Three were game-winning goals.

That shows the late-game ability of Smith, who is likely going to challenge Nouanesengsy for the scoring title next year.

But it is conceivable that the Hoosiers will end up winning the Big Ten tournament next week.

Why? The Big Ten tournament is taking place in Bloomington.

That’s right, the Hoosier faithful will have a chance to cheer their team on without having to leave town.

While the Hoosiers do just have a 4-6-0 record in the Big Ten, they’ve won three of their last four games and have been getting production from everyone on their home field.

But as of right now, this Hoosier team is too average.

Almost all of their statistics corroborate that. During the season, Indiana has scored just four more goals than it has allowed, and has tallied 19 shots less than its opponents.

Even saves, corner kicks and fouls tallied by the Hoosiers and their opponents are basically the same.

So as IU comes closer to the Big Ten tournament, which starts next week, there will need to be a few changes.

It helps that the tournament will take place in their home stadium, but the fact is that each player will need to step up. Velasquez is playing the last games of her IU career, and she and her teammates will all need to be on top of their games in order to take home a Big Ten title.

­— zstavis@indiana.edu