Hoosiers declaw Bearcats

"Kim (Grodek) will help us immediately," women's soccer coach Joe Kelley said about his freshman midfielder.\n Friday night, those words came true as Grodek scored the only goal in the 1-0 season opening victory against the Cincinnati Bearcats at Kuntz Stadium in Indianapolis.\n Grodek scored the goal at the 43rd minute, right before the end of the first half. She split the defense, took a pass from sophomore midfielder Emily Hotz and blasted a shot from the right side to the far post, as the sun was setting in the background. \n"I actually thought I was offside, but I was able to split the defense," Grodek said. "I saw that the goalie came off her line, so I just chipped it in over her. \n"I think we really needed that goal to get us off. We are looking for wins right now, and I am glad we were able to get one."\nKelley said he thought the goal was huge from a momentum standpoint. He would not have been content going into the locker room with a 0-0 score, as the Hoosiers did last season in a game they eventually lost to the Bearcats. \n"Goals were hard to come by today, but Kim did a great job keeping her composure," Kelley said. "The first win is always big as far as attitude and momentum go."\nIn a game marred with 35 fouls, in which both teams played stifling strategic defense. The Hoosiers appeared to control much of the action, as they improved to 7-2 all time against Cincinnati. \nThe Bearcats had 11 shots, keeping sophomore goalkeeper Shaunna Daugherty on her toes. Daugherty said that while sometimes the defense was unorganized, she was satisfied with the overall effort of her teammates. \nOnce her team got the lead though, she knew she couldn't give it up, Daugherty said.\n"I couldn't let us give up that lead we worked so hard for," she said. "The defense did most of the dirty work, and to permit only two shots (on goal) is phenomenal."\nHotz, who assisted on the game's lone goal, was noticed more for her defense, shutting out the Bearcat's top strikers. \nIn this game, she was looking to generate some offense, she said. But once the team scored, she focused on the defensive side of the game. \n"Before we got that goal, I was looking for a mixture of offensive attacking and defensive markings," she said. "I tried to play the ball to the forwards and get it back. After that goal, I didn't want to get caught out of place though, so I focused on defense more." \nGrodek, playing in her first collegiate game, said her good feelings about the goal didn't sink in until after the fact. \n"At the time, I wasn't thinking that was my first goal. But looking back at it, it's special," she said. "I had a lot of fun out there. I didn't know how I would fit in and get used, but it was fun. My teammates made it easy for me to fit in." \nNew transfer and junior Kara Bryan, senior Kelly Kram, junior Dana Philp and sophomore Carly Everett were key in shutting down a team that played in last year's Conference USA championship game.\nThe Hoosiers improved to 8-1 all time in season openers, dating back to their inaugural season of 1993. This was the third time the team has played in Kuntz Stadium, a 5,000-seat backdrop for Butler University's team, as the team improved to 3-0 all-time there. \nKelley said the Hoosiers worked to present a unified front during the game.\n"(We focused on) being solid defensively and creating opportunities," Kelley said.