Hoosiers control game but fall to Hawkeyes

Despite dominating most of the game and the entire second half, the women's soccer team fell, 3-2, to Iowa at Bill Armstrong Stadium, extending its losing streak to four games.\nDown 2-1 at the half, IU came out and controlled the entire second half, keeping the ball around Iowa's third of the field. Freshman forward Kim Grodek tied the contest at the 56:12 mark, when she buried a shot past freshman Iowa keeper Britta Vogele off a perfect pass from sophomore forward Shelly Gruszka. \nBut the goal was the only damage the Hoosiers could manage, despite many second half opportunities. After the game, coach Joe Kelley said he was disappointed the team could not take advantage of its play and score more.\n"In the second half, the only thing Iowa didn't do was give us the money for the clinic we gave them," coach Joe Kelley said. "It's hard to say this when you lose, but there was only one team out there."\nOne key to the Hoosiers' second half domination was an adjustment made by Kelley at the half. Iowa All-Big Ten junior forward Sarah Lynch scored a goal and assisted on another in the first half, forcing Kelley to try to take away the Hawkeye's key offensive weapon. In the second half, the Hoosiers silenced Lynch, until the 78:39 mark when Lynch drilled a direct kick past replacement goalkeeper sophomore Kristen Pimlott for her second goal, giving Iowa the win.\n"They put five people in the mid (field) and three in the back and they took control of the mid (field)," Lynch said. "So it was harder for me to get the ball in the second half."\nThe win was important for Iowa, with both teams entering the match even in the Big Ten standings. Iowa (6-8-1, 4-4-1) moved ahead of IU (6-6-1, 3-5-1).\n"This is huge. We're on the road; we're 4-4-1 in the conference now," Lynch said. "We had the same record as they did so just winning on their home turf means a lot."\nFor its part, IU did win a spot in the Big Ten tournament by default, as its 10 points in the standings ensures the team will achieve one of its goals and compete in the Big Ten tournament, Nov. 8-11 at Purdue. Still, IU was left searching for answers after it dominated the game but was unable to come away with the win.\n"It was a big game. We needed a boost in confidence," Gurska said. "We just got unlucky again. We had some tough breaks on goals."\nIU did not help its own cause in the first half, either. An Iowa foul gave IU a set kick from just outside the box. Sophomore defender Carly Everett sent a misguided kick off Gruszka, who had her back turned. The ball bounced outside the box to the right of the goal, before Lynch found the ball and drilled a shot from 20 yards past sophomore goalkeeper Shaunna Daugherty for Iowa's first goal of the game. Kelley said the goal was a devastating one for the Hoosiers to allow, because the mistake put IU down early at the beginning of a key Big Ten battle.\n"We allowed a really bad, embarrassing first goal. That can't happen," Kelley said. "It put us behind the eight ball right away."\n"No one really saw that girl (Lynch) there and it just came off for a breakaway," she said. "It was no one's fault -- just an accident."\nThe key mistake helped send the Hoosiers to their fourth loss in a row. Frustrating even more for IU was that the team felt it deserved the game.\n"That's how all of our (recent) losses have been," Grodek said. "We totally dominate the game and it's hard. We need to start finishing or else we're not going to get to where we want to be"