IU lost its fifth Big Ten match in six games in overtime Sunday 2-1 against Minnesota. The loss came two days after losing to No. 13 Wisconsin on Friday 1-0.
In what she admits must sound like a broken record, Berbary once again blamed a lack of effort for Sunday’s loss to the Golden Gophers.
Berbary said she could see her team starting to falter. She did all she could to try to change the pace by going eight players deep into her bench, but the Hoosiers once again lost a game they thought they could have won with crucial mistakes at critical ?moments.
“I made more subs today in the first half than I’ve ever had to do,” Berbary said. “We just couldn’t get the movement we were looking for ... They came out tearing us apart for the first 20 minutes of the second half.”
The final blow in the game came in the second overtime period.
With five minutes left in the game, the Hoosiers were called for a foul that gave Minnesota a free kick from about 35 yards out. On the kick, junior goalkeeper Sarah Stone came out to punch the ball away but collided with a teammate.
The ball bounced closer toward the goal, and Minnesota senior forward Olivia Schultz got her foot on it and sent it to the back of the net to hand IU its seventh one-goal loss of the season.
“We’ve just got to try and clear it out,” senior midfielder Abby Smith said. “(Stone) did everything she could ... We’ve just got to clear it out and stay tighter in the box.”
IU (5-7, 1-5) opened the game controlling both possession and pace and was able to create a number of early scoring opportunities against Minnesota (6-5, 3-2).
Freshman forward Kayla Smith got the Hoosiers on the board in the seventh minute off an assist from junior midfielder Jessie Bujouves.
Bujouves crossed the ball into the box and found Kayla Smith, who gathered the ball off her chest, turned and sent the ball to the back of the net.
IU maintained that 1-0 lead to halftime but, as the second half started, the Hoosiers could feel the game start to slip away as Minnesota began taking control of the game.
“I think they got pumped up at halftime,” Abby Smith said. “I think we eventually started to get it back and play the way we did in the first half but maybe a little too late.”
Minnesota sophomore defender Ashley Pafko tied the game in the 75th minute off a nearly unsaveable shot to the left upper-90 from 30 yards out.
Stone hardly moved as the shot went by, possibly thinking the ball was off target.
But the shot attempt connected with the bottom side of the crossbar and bounced straight down. The spin off the ricochet sent the ball over the line and to the back of the net to tie the game and eventually force overtime.
The loss came on a weekend that Berbary said the Hoosiers found their identity in their 1-0 loss to Wisconsin.
She said she liked the anger her team played with Friday. It was the best effort she had seen.
That effort couldn’t carry over. Berbary and Abby Smith both said the Hoosiers came out tired.
Despite what she called strong efforts from freshmen Mykayla Brown and Smith, she said she wants to see more effort from older players across the board.
“Those two freshmen up top on Mykayla Brown and Kayla Smith, that’s the kind of effort we need to see from everybody,” Berbary said. “We need to do a little soul-searching these next couple of days.”
