Coming off a 2-0 victory over Northern Illinois on Sunday, Indiana will host the University of Louisville on Thursday.
Indiana is undefeated with a record of 4-0-2 while Louisville is coming off its first victory of the season, defeating Central Michigan University 3-0. The Cardinals currently stand at 1-3-2 as both teams will look to add another win to their record with conference play approaching next week.
The Hoosiers were dominant in their last performance led by senior forward Paige Webber’s pair of goals. Indiana’s possession and defensive pressure overwhelmed Northern Illinois University as the Huskies were unable to put a shot on goal.
Freshman forward Molly Cochran scored the first two goals of her career alongside sophomore midfielder Addie Chester’s first career goal. Sophomore goalie Erynn Floyd was able to tally her third clean sheet of the season and eighth of her career in the defeat of Central Michigan.
Louisville head coach Karen Ferguson-Dayes has been at the helm for the Cardinals since 2000, recently sitting on 200 career wins until Sunday’s victory. Ferguson-Dayes is the winningest coach in Louisville women’s soccer history. She inherited an unsuccessful program as the Cardinals had just one winning season in the 15 seasons. While the Cardinals haven’t had a great start to the year, Ferguson-Dayes will likely have her team ready come Thursday night.
Indiana has already surpassed its win total from a season ago with Sunday’s win. The Hoosiers finished last season 3-7-7 and were 13th overall in the Big Ten, only above winless Purdue. Conference play is just around the corner, and the Hoosiers have dramatically improved and will look to continue building confidence with another non-conference victory Thursday night.
The two schools faced off last season in Louisville and drew 0-0. The all-time series between the two programs is dead even as both teams are 2-2-2 against one another. Thursday night will serve as the tiebreaker between the two teams.
Kickoff from Bill Armstrong Stadium is set for 7 p.m. Thursday. The match will be streamed on Big Ten Plus.
