Women’s soccer starts season undefeated

Senior forward Rebecca Candler said the IU women’s soccer team would be more “offensive-minded” and that it would “put our focus on scoring more goals.”

After opening the season with a pair of wins, it seems to be a mission accomplished. 

IU scored a combined six goals during the opening weekend without allowing a goal en route to beating Ohio 1-0 Friday before opening at home Sunday with a 5-0 win against Georgia Southern.

“Scoring early was key for us,” IU Coach Amy Berbary said Sunday. “We played some great possession soccer, which is something we have been trying to do since February.”

Senior goalkeeper Shannon Flower shut out Ohio in the opening match of the year Friday in Athens, Ohio. The Hoosier defense limited shot opportunities and Flower’s three saves combined for a complete defensive effort.

“I’m feeling great,” Flower said. “Friday was huge for us confidence-wise. We have been working really hard this preseason to come out strong.”

On the offensive side Friday, it was senior midfielder Lisa Nouanesengsy who netted the first and only goal of the night off the foot of IU defender Lara Ross. Ross’ first career assist came when she sent a long-lofted pass into the box to find Nouanesengsy for the goal.

“Coming out strong was good for us,” Flower said. “It let us show people that we’ve changed a lot from last year.”

That same strength was in full force in IU’s home opener Sunday against Georgia Southern. It was an offensive frenzy for the Hoosiers who recorded 22 shots on goal and scored five times, including three times within the first 20 minutes of the game, while holding the Eagles to only two shots.

“We really wanted to change the field on them early and attack,” junior midfielder Monica Melink said. “The defense really set us up well and opened a lot of options out wide. We emphasized attacking the width and attacking the end lines, and that is exactly what we did.”

Melink scored the first goal of the game in the ninth minute and added two assists later in the game. Despite having an early 3-0 lead, the Hoosiers continued to play a physical game.

“We told each other to keep going strong into the second half,” Melink said. “We locked it down by staying tough and aggressive. We really wanted to keep the shutout going.”

Flower said she maintained focus on the game throughout the second half, not worrying about the shutout.

“You can’t think about it or you will get stressed out,” she said. “I just need to focus on keeping the ball out of the net.”

Berbary credited the entire team for the back-to-back shutouts.

“Our team defending has been fantastic so far,” she said. “We talk about how we attack with 11. We defend with 11. Shannon was a great anchor for us, but they all did a fantastic job.”

Flower said the key to the team’s early success is to continue to follow first-year coach Berbary’s ideology as the season progresses.

“We just need to play the way we play,” Flower said. “We just need to have trust in our system and trust Amy so that we can keep it up.”

Berbary was pleased with the team’s performance early, but stressed it was only the beginning of a long season.

“Any time you complete a weekend with two wins, you’ve done a great job,” she said. “We can enjoy this today, and then we get to work tomorrow. We have some tough games on the road next week, so we need to stay focused.”