Individual brilliance punishes Indiana women’s soccer in 2-0 defeat to USC

The expanded Big Ten Conference schedule has not been friendly to Indiana women’s soccer, as the Hoosiers went 0-2 on the weekend following Thursday’s 1-0 loss to UCLA, along with Sunday’s 2-0 loss to USC. The defeat has pushed Indiana down to 5-3-1 overall and 0-3 in conference play. 

Indiana has hit a wall in the offense department, as it has yet to score a goal in its first three Big Ten games after 14 goals against the previous two inferior nonconference opponents.  

Shots were not a problem for the Hoosiers, staying on pace with eight attempts to the Trojans’ nine. However, most of the shots were low percentage from outside the box, leading to the ball either sailing over the net or creating a routine save for graduate senior goalkeeper Laurence Gladu.  

Filling in for suspended head coach Erwin van Bennekom following a red card in Thursday’s match, associate head coach Tim Verschuren emphasized the importance of finishing on shots to get its offense back on track. 

“We are getting the ball in good spots with our wingers and attacking midfielders, and then it’s just the final shot, the final pass or the final dribble,” Verschuren said postgame. “We want to put the defender on their back heel, so they are forced to make fouls or just spin them.” 

The Hoosier defense has also fell victim to some difficult shots from outside the box that have found a way to the back of the net. A key point mentioned from van Bennekom following Thursday’s loss was to pressure offensive players in shooting positions to limit their open opportunities, which was not executed in Sunday’s match. 

Early in the second half, USC senior midfielder Helena Sampaio possessed the ball on the edge of the 18-yard box and flicked it up to herself to avoid the defensive pressure before stinging the ball into the bottom of the net. 

Sampaio earned second team All-Pac 12 honors as a junior and is proving to build on that campaign in 2024.  Like Sampaio, UCLA junior midfielder Sofia Cook executed a world class finish from outside the box to give the Bruins a 1-0 lead over the Hoosiers in Thursday’s game. 

Verschuren emphasized that the defense needs to have a stronger sense of urgency to close down on talented shooters like Sampaio and Cook. 

“We did a good job of dealing with the first ball,” Verschuren said. “But our midfielders need to anticipate and then read where it’s going to be so that we can get there first to clean it up.” 

Sampaio’s goal firmly put USC into the driver’s seat. The Trojans were then able to possess and defend throughout the second half. Senior forward Kayla Colbert added an insurance goal shortly after Sampaio to put the Hoosiers in a hole that they couldn’t climb out of. 

Indiana will look to generate more offense and create better opportunities in its next match against Oregon at 10 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 26 at Papé Field in Eugene, Oregon, to kick off the west coast road trip portion of the schedule.