When freshman forward Layla Sirdah was asked about this year’s senior class during senior day at Bill Armstrong Stadium, a big smile came across her face.
“They’re one of the best leaders that I’ve ever played with, and I look up to them a lot,” Sirdah said.
Though seniors shined in Indiana women’s soccer’s 9-0 win against Lawrence University on Sunday, it was Sirdah who would finish the game tying the program record for goals in a single match.
From the first minute of the game, Indiana was in full attack mode —so much so that the ball did not cross onto their territory of the pitch for the first twenty minutes. The only time that it did was when the Hoosier defensive line was passing it back to senior goalkeeper Jamie Gerstenberg to put the ball back in play.
Indiana maintained possession for the entirety of the game along with keeping great spacing. It was almost every minute that it seemed the Hoosiers were taking shots. But it wasn’t until the 30th minute when they finally got themselves on the score board.
It was none other than sophomore defender Piper Coffield who stepped up to take the penalty kick after a handball from a Lawrence defender. Earlier in the season, Van Bennekom expressed how Coffield will be taking all penalty kicks if she is on the field —Coffield hasn’t missed one in her career. She continued that streak with a goal in the bottom left to begin the Hoosiers’ onslaught.
The next goal came from a free kick just a yard outside of the 18-yard box after Sirdah was tripped up. She then smashed the kick into the back of the net to double the Hoosiers lead in the 37th minute.
Just when it could have seemed as if Indiana was over stressing the game with constant shots on goal, junior midfielder Olivia Rush scored in the 39th minute from a cross by junior forward Marisa Grzesiak.
At the end of the first half, Indiana was in complete control with 30 shots and Lawrence with zero.
In the 54th minute, junior defender Arianna Rose skipped around her defender and struck the ball into the top right off an assist by senior defender Camille Hamm. It was Rose’s first goal of the season. Then sophomore forward Ellie Johannes took a shot off a cross, hitting the back of the net and putting her hands on her head in shock.
In the 70th minute the first and only two shots from Lawrence came: one shot blocked by an Indiana defender and the other shot off target. One minute afterwards, Indiana sophomore midfielder Kennedy Neighbors finished off a chance from a long ball.
With already one goal on the game, Sirdah scored yet again in the 71st minute with a rocket finish in the top left corner of the goal off an assist by senior defender Lauren Costello. Five minutes later she scored another goal to reach a hat trick. Sirdah was meaning to run one of the set pieces that Indiana normally runs for a corner kick. However, her corner kick ended up curving into the goal. Her hand went over her mouth, stunned that the corner kick went in.
With her fourth goal, Sirdah tied the record for goals in a game by a Hoosier. While the goal was initially marked as an own goal as it hit a Vikings defender before going in, it was awarded to Sirdah in the 78th minute. The last Hoosier to record four goals in a game was Paige Webber. She recorded her final three goals of the game in seven minutes of gameplay.
The 9-0 victory over Lawrence wraps up the Hoosiers’ non-conference schedule before they begin a challenging Big Ten conference stretch.
“I think they all understand that Ohio State will be very different from what we saw today,” Van Bennekom said.” “I think the last couple of weeks has given us the confidence.”
Indiana (5-0-1) will host No. 17 Ohio State University (4-1-1) on Thursday, Sept. 12 to kick off Big Ten conference play at Bill Armstrong Stadium.
Follow reporters Sam Elster (@samelster1) and Matt Rudella (@mattrudellaIDS) for updates throughout the Indiana women’s soccer season.
