IU outshoots opponents, still falls short during weekend

The Hoosiers outshot their opponents 38-19 over the weekend. The problem was that only one of those shots found the back of the net. \nThis led to two losses against teams coming off NCAA Tournament appearances last season. The IU women's soccer team lost 1-0 against No. 10 University of California on Friday and fell to Creighton University 2-1 Sunday. The games were part of the Wisconsin Tournament held in Madison, Wis.\n"Soccer can be a cruel sport," IU coach Mick Lyon said. "You can dominate ... but if you don't put it in the back of the net, you don't get the win."\nThe Hoosiers began the season Friday night against the 10th-ranked Golden Bears. California scored the game's lone goal in the 40th minute -- which came after a flurry of shots launched at IU junior goalkeeper Stacey Van Boxmeer. She deflected the first shot for one of her three saves of the game, but after the Golden Bears took two more shots that were blocked by Hoosier defenders, California forward Valerie Barnes put the third rebound into the IU net.\nThe opening game saw the Hoosiers start three freshmen, defenders Jessica Boots and Taylor Fallon, as well as midfielder Christie Kotynski. Fallon led IU with three of the Hoosiers' 11 shots. Two other freshmen, forward Liz Holby and midfielder/forward Kristin Arnold also appeared in the game for the Hoosiers.\nIn Sunday's match against defending Missouri Valley Conference champion Creighton, the Hoosiers got 27 shots off, with Arnold leading the way with five shots. The team's goal came from junior forward Kristin Radcliffe in the 72nd minute, when she headed a cross from senior defender Lauren Lamping following a corner kick. Radcliffe's goal cut the Creighton lead to 2-1 following Bluejay goals in the 22nd and 53rd minute.\n"Even in the loss to Cal, we had them under pressure the second half," Lyon said. "... And obviously the stats show we took the game to Creighton."\nLyon said he was pleased with the way his team played against two great teams, despite the losses.\n"I'm disappointed not to get a point on the weekend," the coach said. "But I'm very happy with how we handled ourselves playing against a top 10 team and another team that's been in the NCAA Tournament the last three out of four years."\nThe Hoosiers continue their season this weekend against two teams from the Big 12 in the Big Ten-Big 12 Challenge. Friday night IU travels to Lawrence Park in Indianapolis to take on Baylor before returning to Bloomington Saturday night to take on Texas Tech for its first game of the season at Bill Armstrong Stadium.