After facing offensive struggles for the better part of the last two seasons, the IU women’s soccer team found a breakthrough over the weekend.
IU scored four goals on Sunday for the first time since Sept. 5, 2014, in a 4-2 victory over James Madison to close out play in the Virginia Tech Invitational. The match featured a three-minute stretch in which a combined four goals were scored between the two teams.
“It was great,” IU Coach Amy Berbary said. “We played really well, and I think we found ourselves this weekend.”
The Hoosiers got off to a positive start against the Dukes by taking the lead in the fourth minute. Junior midfielder Kayla Smith received a low cross in the penalty box from freshman defender Meghan Scott and fired a shot past junior goalkeeper Maggie Buxton to put the Hoosiers in front.
Twenty minutes later two quick goals from the Dukes flipped the match completely. Sophomore midfielder Stephanie Hendrie scored in the 24th minute before sophomore forward Steffi Page scored in the 25th minute to give James Madison the lead.
Despite allowing two first half goals, freshman goalkeeper Sarah L’Hommedieu played well for the Hoosiers. L’Hommedieu recorded three saves in the first half before finishing with five saves for the match, increasing her total number of saves this season to 38.
The response from IU came swiftly though in the form of two goals in two minutes to regain the lead. Sophomore defender Caroline Dreher scored her second goal of the season on a deflected shot in the 26th minute to level the match, and sophomore forward Mykayla Brown netted her second goal of the season just one minute later to make the score 3-2 in favor of IU.
“It was a very chaotic period,” Berbary said. “I felt our midfield became disorganized, but I’m very proud of our response to be able to come back and take the lead.”
Buxton was replaced in net by freshman goalkeeper Hannah McShea to begin the second half for James Madison, although McShea failed to make a save in her 45 minutes of game time.
Brown scored her second goal of the game in the 66th minute past McShea to wrap-up the win for IU. The goal also marked the first multi-goal game of Brown’s career.
“It feels really great to be able to get two goals and get a win on top of it as well,” Brown said. “We played really well. We just need to keep pushing and to keep fighting like this.”
The win improved IU’s record to 3-4-1 and gave them a 1-1 mark in the Virginia Tech Invitational after losing to No. 18 Virginia Tech 3-0 in the tournament opener on Friday. L’Hommedieu made eight saves in the defeat, the most saves she had made since IU’s win at Butler on Aug. 26.
Sunday’s match marked the end of non-conference play for the Hoosiers this season. IU will open Big Ten play on the road on Thursday night at Northwestern.
“Both performances this weekend were a total team effort,” Berbary said. “It gives us a real confidence boost heading into conference play.”
