IU hoping to secure NCAA Tournament bid despite loss

For the IU women's soccer team, history needs to be enough in the eyes of the NCAA.\nThe Hoosiers (9-7-4, 5-4-1 Big Ten), who compiled a 13-game unbeaten streak from Sept. 1 through Oct. 13, finished their season Thursday night with a 2-1 loss to Michigan in the first round of the Big Ten Tournament. The 13-game unbeaten streak was one short of the program record of 14, but after the streak, IU ended its season with a five-game losing streak.\n"I'd say the disappointment in one word would be 'massive,'" IU coach Mick Lyon said. "We had totally set ourselves up with a great season until the last five games. We just totally disappointed ourselves, and to finish the season with that kind of loss was nothing less than massive."\nThe Hoosiers now wait to see if their 9-7-4 record is good enough to be noticed by the NCAA, which announces which teams have earned the 64 spots in the NCAA Tournament today.\n"I'd be very surprised if we get a bid," Lyon said. "To get in the NCAA Tournament, you're talking about being in the top 20 percent of the country. I think we're probably in the top 30 percent, but there's a heck of a lot of competition in that last 10 percent. And I think that separates teams getting in and not getting -- how they've done in the last couple of weeks and not having any bad losses."\nIn Thursday's game against Michigan in State College, Penn., the Hoosiers got on the board first in the 16th minute when senior defender Lauren Lamping sent a shot that deflected off the head of a Wolverine defender attempting to clear and went into the right corner of the net. But the Michigan own goal was canceled out by an own goal against the Hoosiers four minutes later when Lamping tried to clear a ball out of the box that ended up in the Hoosiers net.\n"The two own goals were drastically different," Lyon said. "The goal Michigan gave up, if the kid hadn't headed it, I think (senior midfielder) Carrie DeFreece probably would have been in on goal and had a good chance of scoring. And then our goal was very disappointing because there was no pressure on Lamping, and there was no pressure on our goalkeeper, and it was a lack of communication."\nThe Wolverines scored the game-winner in the 29th minute off a Judy Coffman corner kick. Coffman's strike sent the ball in front of the Hoosiers' net, where it was headed away by freshman defender Jessica Boots. But Boots' header was sent to Wolverine Lindsey McDonald, who fired a shot past junior goalkeeper Stacey Van Boxmeer to give Michigan a 2-1 lead.\n"It was a just a great strike, one of those career kind of goals, and it was unfortunate," Lyon said.\nThe Hoosiers were unable to get the equalizer despite several chances, including two in the 75th minute by junior forward Lindsay McCarthy. Freshman forward Kristin Arnold took a free kick from freshman forward Liz Holby. Arnold attempted to cross the ball to McCarthy, but Michigan goalkeeper Megan Tuura made the stop. Holby tried to set up McCarthy again following the first attempt, but this time the ball went wide of the net.\n"We had more than enough chances to finish the game," Lyon said. "The ball hit the post, the cross bar, it rolled to the goalkeeper, it missed the far post. I would say we had five really legitimate chances to score a goal, and we didn't put it in."\nAfter 15 more minutes of play, time had run out on the Hoosiers.\n"The players are disappointed. I'm disappointed. everybody's disappointed because we set ourselves up for great things, and at the end of the day, we fizzled and died," Lyon said.