Hoosiers lose 5-0 to Buckeyes, miss out on Big Ten tournament

The IU women’s soccer team’s hopes to make the Big Ten Tournament were broken this weekend after a 5-0 loss to No. 25 Ohio State on Friday night at Bill Armstrong Stadium.

The Hoosiers finished their season with a 4-7 conference record and a 9-9-1 record overall.

After losing to the Buckeyes, IU needed Iowa to lose or tie in its Saturday match. When Iowa defeated Wisconsin 2-1, the Hoosiers surrendered their position in the tournament.  

“I wish we would have taken our fate in our own hands tonight and gotten that point to ensure our spot in the tournament,” senior defender Ciersten Burks said.

The Buckeyes came out strong from the beginning, successfully netting two balls within the first five minutes of the match.

“I think those first couple goals really took the wind out of our sails,” Burks said.
From there, Ohio State continued to attack, tallying 10 total shots in the half and putting two more in the back of the net by the time the half came to a close.  

IU Coach Mick Lyon said at halftime he stressed the importance of competing for results.

“Second half, much better,” Lyon said. “They competed and had some good chances. It was a totally different game in the second half.”

The Hoosiers narrowed the shot gap between the two teams as Ohio State took only three shots to the Hoosiers’ four. They kept the Buckeyes at a single goal in the entire 45 minutes.

“I’m glad we responded in the second half and came out and competed, but we just have to do that for a full 90 minutes, and unfortunately we didn’t do that,” Burks said.

Despite the Hoosiers’ response, they were unable to find the back of the net and pull off a comeback.

Lyon acknowledged the fact that Ohio State is a top-notch team, ranked in the top 25 in the nation, but he said it was the level of competitiveness for the Hoosiers that most contributed to the loss that night and their lack of a spot in the tournament.  

“It just comes down to one thing, and that is, in sports, if you don’t compete, you don’t get anything,” Lyon said. “I haven’t seen us that noncompetitive all year, and unfortunately they left it to this game to be that noncompetitive.”