IU travels to face Penn State

The IU women’s soccer team will travel to State College, Pa., this weekend for a Sunday afternoon match against No. 4 Penn State, a team currently undefeated in Big Ten play.

“I think it’ll be pretty tough, but as long as we play how we know how to play, it’ll be good,” sophomore midfielder Abby Smith said. “We’re definitely confident going into this weekend, and we just want to get a win.”

After splitting a pair of games this past weekend against Illinois and Northwestern, the players said they are feeling confident with their current level of play and encouraged to have a victory on their Big Ten record.

“It definitely helps to have a win right behind us,” junior defender Lara Ross said. “Just beating Northwestern, I think, gave us enough of a confidence boost to put us in a good spot going into Penn State.”

The Nittany Lions’ style will be different than what the Hoosiers have been up against thus far in conference matches, Ross said, making them a tough opponent. A 5-0 conference record and 11-2 overall record also contribute to the challenge.

“They have a lot of really good players that we need to keep our eye on,” she said. “But overall, I think they’re going to be a little bit more composed on the ball, and it’ll definitely give us a challenge.”

IU Coach Mick Lyon said only having one game on the road, rather than two like the Hoosiers did when facing Iowa and Nebraska, makes the preparation and the task itself a bit easier.

Still, it is a mental obstacle that will prove to be the greatest challenge for the team, he said, and preparing the team mentally for the match has, therefore, been the focal point in the team’s training this past week.

“Our biggest battle will be psychologically, how do we come out to address the game,” Lyon said. “If we don’t come out psychologically strong and committed to wanting to compete with them, then it’s going to be a tough, uphill battle.”

He said it is important for his players to accept that the opponent will have chances on goal, as any good team will.

It is making those chances uncomfortable for Penn State by applying pressure and not giving away free opportunities on goal, though, that will make the difference, he said.

Going into the matches against Illinois and Northwestern this past weekend, Lyon said he encouraged his team to simply enjoy the game and the opportunity they have been given to play here at IU.

This attitude was a contributing factor to the results that came out of the weekend, he said.

Lyon said he plans to maintain the same attitude going into the game against Penn State this weekend.

“I think we really took that into the Illinois game and again into the Northwestern (game) and got results from it,” he said. “We will certainly look to do that this weekend. When we do that, good things happen for us.”