The IU women’s soccer team has changed substantially from last season to this season.
A new starting goalkeeper, leading scorer and 11 first-year players have been the most obvious changes to IU Coach Amy Berbary’s team.
As a result of these changes, the Hoosiers are finding themselves playing in different tactical situations in games compared to last season.
Because they scored only 11 goals last season, the Hoosiers played in several matches in which it was kept off the scoreboard.
All three of IU’s wins last season also came with a defensive shutout. This gave the Hoosiers little experience in high-scoring matches.
This has changed dramatically through 12 games this season, though. Sunday’s 3-2 win against Wisconsin marked the second time this season both IU and its opponent scored at least twice each in a game, which didn’t happen in any of the 19 matches IU played last season.
“I walked into halftime on Sunday and told the players that this is a situation that we are normally not in,” Berbary said. “We were up 2-1 at that point, I was pretty certain the score wasn’t going to end 2-1 and I told them they could either play not to lose or play to win.”
Sunday afternoon wasn’t the first time this season the Hoosiers took that mentality to heart. On Sept. 11, IU played its highest scoring match of the season. IU won 4-2 against James Madison in the Virginia Tech Invitational.
The match against the Dukes featured what was by far the most chaotic sequence of the season for the Hoosiers as well.
Four goals were scored in a three-minute span during the first half of the match.
During those three minutes, there was a 59-second span during which IU scored twice.
Freshman midfielder Allison Jorden said it’s exciting to play in these types of unpredictable matches.
“The players here are so good that any goal scoring opportunity is likely to go in the back of the net,” Jorden said. “It just makes the game so much more fun to play and the environment so much more intense.”
While IU has gained experience playing in competitive matches, it still struggles at times with how to preserve a late lead. Wisconsin had two corner kicks and two shots in the final eight minutes of Sunday’s match. Those were chances that could have tied the match and forced extra time.
“We need to be able to manage the game better,” Berbary said. “We tend to go a little more direct and hold the ball more. It’s just an in-game situation, and with so many young kids, you never really think about that.”
For all the scoring associated with some of the team’s games this season, IU has still played a number of gritty, one-nil matches. IU’s first two Big Ten games against Northwestern and Illinois each finished 1-0, although IU went 1-1 in those games.
Regardless if scoring is at a premium or if it comes in bunches during a match, Berbary said she trusts her team’s approach to being able to have a lead when the final whistle sounds.
“You just have to take what the game gives you,” Berbary said. “We need to get ourselves in a position to close out games. If we’re up, we just need to end the game.”
