IU women’s soccer continued a trend on Sunday afternoon that has lasted since 2008.
IU lost to Michigan on the road, 2-1, extending the Hoosiers' losing streak against the Wolverines to seven games.
IU had a few self-inflicting wounds early on that allowed Michigan to jump out to a 2-0 lead in the first half after goals from junior forward Reilly Martin in the 21st minute and freshman midfielder Nicki Hernandez in the 24th minute.
“The first goal, we tried to jam that kid, and she just spun us, and the second goal, we had a defensive error," IU Coach Amy Berbary said. "We just tried to pass out, and it got ripped off. We knew that they were very dangerous up top, and we were going to have to be near perfect in the back.”
It seemed to be the beginning of a long game for the Hoosiers, until sophomore midfielder Chandra Davidson scored a header in the 39th minute in between four Michigan defenders to spark life into the IU team. The goal was Davidson's fifth of the season.
The second half was a defensive grind between both teams. Michigan held IU in check until the 73rd minute, when Davidson missed just wide after a corner kick. IU was then able to earn a free kick in Wolverine territory, but it was headed into the box before the ball was pushed wide.
“They pressed us a bit more in the second half, and I thought that we got out of our rhythm a little bit," Berbary said. "We started to be quite defensive. We dropped in and weren’t stringing together as many passes to the first 15 to 20 minutes. We just couldn’t get ahold of the ball. We made a couple changes after that, and I thought a better part of the second half we were dangerous around the goal, and we couldn’t put it together.”
IU posted a 4-2-1 record during its seven-game road trip, during which the Hoosiers defeated then-No. 23 Southern Methodist University, Vanderbilt and Michigan State.
The next game for the Hoosiers will be on Saturday at Bill Armstrong Stadium on Saturday against Purdue.
“I think we just needed to capitalize on more of our chances offensively and clean up a couple mistakes defensively," junior forward Maya Piper said. “We are just going to try to think about our mistakes and focus on Purdue.”
