Women's soccer gains first conference win after four game losing streak

Although the IU women’s soccer team grabbed the team’s first conference victory this weekend, going 1-1 in two games against Illinois and Northwestern, it wasn’t without a little heartbreak.

The Hoosiers’ match against Illinois on Friday night at Bill Armstrong Stadium came down to the last 10 minutes.

Two goals by the Fighting Illini at the end of the match brought them into the lead, resulting in a 2-1 loss for the Hoosiers, their fourth loss in conference play.

“It’s bittersweet,” IU Coach Mick Lyon said. “I’m thrilled at how awesome the team played, but I’m gutted for them because we couldn’t finish it and make it a full 90 minutes.”

Play remained fairly even throughout the first half, with each team leaving the other scoreless as the first 45 minutes of play came to a close.

The Hoosiers returned to the pitch strong for the second 45 minutes. Senior forward Orianica Velasquez drilled a ball into net from 15 yards out just more than 10 minutes into the second half, bringing IU into a 1-0 lead.

The possibility of the team’s first Big Ten victory seemed to be within IU’s grasp until Illinois’ Amy Feher chipped a ball over junior goalkeeper Shannon Flower with just more than 10 minutes left to play.

The Fighting Illini responded yet again with another goal 84 minutes into the match. The Hoosiers could not regain their footing from that point, leading to the 2-1 loss.  

“At halftime I said, ‘You know we played a fantastic first 45 minutes,’” Lyon said. “‘Now let’s play a magnificent 90 minutes’, and we played a magnificent 80 minutes. But, you know, the game is 90 minutes long, and they took the two chances, and we didn’t.”

Lyon said finishing and optimizing on created chances were the main issues for his team.

“Illinois is a very good team, and we dominated them in every category except putting the ball in the back of the net,” Lyon said.

Velasquez said she agreed, and the final score didn’t reflect the team’s performance overall.

“I think we deserved to win on Friday, and we didn’t,” she said. “We couldn’t keep the score in our favor.”

Lyon told his team he understood how hard the loss was.

“It’s hard, and as I told them in the huddle, nobody more than I wants to cry, but you can’t,” Lyon said. “You have to have just self belief that you’re doing things right, even though you didn’t get the result.”

Northwestern faced a similar plight as the IU women’s soccer team Friday evening, losing to Purdue in the final 10 minutes of the match.

Going into Sunday’s game at Bill Armstrong Stadium, the Hoosiers and the Wildcats maintained identical 0-4 conference records.

Yet it was the Hoosiers who pulled off their first Big Ten win of the season with a 1-0 victory.

“There were great performances all over the park,” Lyon said. “I was very excited about it because we certainly have grown since Friday, and that’s what you ask for all the time.”

The first half of the match ended scoreless on both ends, but the Hoosiers broke the 0-0 tie midway through the second half when junior forward Rebecca Candler broke away from the Wildcat defense and headed the ball past Northwestern’s goalkeeper.

From there, IU kept off Northwestern’s attack, taking time off the clock to secure the win.

“That kind of stuff is what you need to finish off a game,” Lyon said. “That last 10 minutes was terrific from our side.”

Redshirt freshman goalkeeper Sarah Stone made the first start of her career, executing save after save to maintain the Hoosier shutout.

“It was exciting, a little nerve-wracking,” Stone said. “But I think once the whistle blew, the team helped out, which always keeps you calm and focused. It was great to have a win.”

Lyon said Stone’s performance in training has improved immensely in regard to effort and ability levels, which contributed to his decision to start her Sunday afternoon.

The team will now move forward in Big Ten play with a win on its record after a four-game losing streak, and both Lyon and the players said they are not worried at this point.

“I think this win is going to give us more confidence,” Velasquez said. “The team has played pretty well against Iowa, against Illinois. They are great teams, and we play at the same level as them, but if we just change that, if we get the result, I think we’ll be fine.”