Women's soccer team to face challenges at nonconference game

The women's soccer team is hoping to end the season strong as it heads into its second-to-last match Thursday against nonconference foe Cincinnati.\nDespite winning only one of its 10 Big Ten match-ups, IU hasn't lost a nonconference contest this season. To continue their nonconference winning streak, the Hoosiers will have to defeat a Cincinnati squad that has won six consecutive games and nine of their last 10. \nOne difficulty the Hoosiers will face is the new surface -- Fieldturf -- recently installed on Meyers Field. Fieldturf is an artificial surface with all the properties of grass, but lacking the durability of artificial turf. It is the same turf used by Major League Baseball's Tampa Bay Devil Rays in the domed Tropicana Field.\n"The biggest challenge in Cincinnati is playing on the new surface they have," coach Joe Kelley said. "We're going over early Wednesday (to) practice on it Wednesday and then again Thursday morning and get used to it. That is a big advantage (for Cincinnati). It may play like grass but it's still going to be an advantage."\nKelley said the Bearcats would be tough on their home field regardless of the surface. Thursday is also senior night, and Cincinnati is graduating six seniors from the team. Freshman forward/midfielder Kim Jedlo, who has been injured, could also hurt the Hoosiers, Kelley said.\n"She's very fast," Kelley said. "She's been hurt, but I'm sure she'll play against us. She hasn't played the last four games, so I'm sure she's coming back."\nAs a freshman, Jedlo leads Cincinnati with 18 points, collecting eight goals and two assists in 14 games.\n"She scores well over half their goals," Kelley said. "We'll have to watch her."\nComplementing the Bearcat offense is a defense that has allowed an average of 1.5 goals per game with junior goalie Christy Hoffman racking up 78 saves and four shutouts this season.\nAlthough Cincinnati has the homefield advantage and the motivation of senior night, the Hoosiers have found a little motivation of their own from senior goalkeeper Chrissy Heubi.\n"The Cincinnati game is huge for me since I played with or against most of their players in high school," said Heubi, a Cincinnati native. "We want to prove to others and ourselves that we are a good team."\nHeubi's rivalry with the Bearcats has rubbed off onto her IU teammates who want to capture a victory for the senior goalie.\n"Cincinnati has always been an important game for us," senior back Jena Kluska said. "It's especially crucial since Chrissy is from Cincinnati, so we really want to win for her. It's a great feeling to win a game for one of your teammates when you know she especially feels such an intense rivalry and a desire to win." \nIU has controlled the series between the two schools since 1993. The Hoosiers have won six of the last seven contests with the Bearcats' last win in 1995. IU has won the last four with the most recent meeting a 4-1 win at Bill Armstrong Stadium last year.\nA win against Cincinnati would also break the Hoosiers' four-game scoreless streak.\n"We (have) got to play the same way we've been playing," Kelley said. "And I don't like to belabor the point, because it does get old, but we have to score. That's what we have to learn from these last two games is find a way to put the ball away. We have to find a way to win"