An eventful afternoon came to its peak as Indiana celebrated its first home victory of the season. Indiana defeated Ball State University 2-0 in Friday’s match dominating the second half in the victory.
Indiana’s offense came alive in Friday’s match with 15 shots on goal, a season high record. The Hoosiers dominated the Cardinals’ defensive zone, consistently applying pressure and finding the net twice in an early season victory.
Indiana’s dominance in the match was led by graduate student back Sydney Keld and senior midfielder Maggie Carter, each scoring a goal in Friday's exhibition.
Both defenses came out strong to start the game, and the trend of a quiet offensive first quarter continued for Indiana, with the score remaining 0-0 at the end of the period.
The second quarter was filled with missed opportunities as Ball State’s first offensive threat came up empty, with the Hoosiers standing strong and successfully defending the corner penalty.
In the same quarter, Indiana launched an offensive attack and found the back of the net, but the cheers were abruptly halted when the referee waved off the goal due to the ball bouncing off Indiana’s players foot for a penalty.
The first half ended with the scoreboard still reading 0-0. However, Indiana produced a dominant offensive and defensive performance, leading 9-0 in shots at halftime.
Opening the half, Indiana found itself almost instantly lining up for a penalty corner attempt. The first attempt was unsuccessful, but led to another penalty corner as Ball State committed another penalty. The second attempt, like the last, bounced off Ball State for another penalty. Although this time the Hoosiers capitalized on it. A deflected shot from senior back Yip van Wonderen found the stick of Keld, as she smoked a shot into the back of the net, giving the Hoosiers a 1-0 advantage.
Indiana’s offense marched right back up field threatening to score again, but it came up short as time ran out in the third quarter.
In control of the lead entering the fourth, the Hoosiers were just fifteen minutes from closing out their first home win of the season.
With eleven minutes left on the clock, Carter scored an unassisted goal, putting the game out of reach for the Cardinals and igniting both her teammates and the Hoosier fans in attendance.
As the clock wound down, Indiana continued to dominate, maintaining possession and threatening offensively. When the final horn blared, the Hoosiers erupted in celebration.
Indiana will have a long break before a crucial conference matchup against Northwestern at 11 a.m. on Sunday, Sept. 22 at the Deborah Tobias Field.
