Women's Soccer: IU's roller coaster season continues

The IU women's soccer team's roller coaster season continued this weekend -- hitting the low early, losing to Northwestern Friday, but peaking with a win against Wisconsin yesterday. \nThe split over the weekend moved IU to 6-8-1 overall. With three games left, the Hoosiers are looking for a spot in the top eight in the Big Ten to make the conference tournament. Before Friday's game, the Hoosiers sat in eighth place.\nThe coaster started off on the low for the Hoosiers against Northwestern, losing 1-0. IU surrendered a goal in the 22nd minute and the defense played well for the rest of the day. The offense had several scoring opportunities, however it could not finish its chances. Its best chance came in the second period when senior Robin Barker broke through two defenders but shot wide of the goal.\nThe Hoosiers got back on track Sunday when they beat Wisconsin 2-1. In a game IU coach Mick Lyon described as the best game of Hoosier soccer all season, IU came out focused and hungry for a victory.\nThe Hoosiers trailed on the stat sheet, 17-9 on shots and 7-3 on corners, but only needed two shots on goal to win the game. The goals, by freshman Molly Kruger and senior captain Kristen Zmijewski, came in the first and second half respectively. Zmijewski's goal came just two minutes after Wisconsin tied the game at 1-1.\nZmijewski, the team's captain, has truly been backing her leadership this year. She leads the team with five goals and has been an emotional leader all year.\nDefensively, IU goalkeeper Lauren Fabbro had her best game of the season in terms of saves against Wisconsin. The senior had seven saves in the victory and helped lead the defense while only giving up one goal.\nThe Hoosiers finished their regular season road schedule and will stay in Bloomington for their final three games. IU will take on Illinois and Iowa next weekend, before closing its season against Purdue the following weekend.