IU womens soccer defeats Boilermakers in 2nd round of NCAAs on penalty kicks

WEST LAFAYETTE – The IU women’s soccer team will be heading to the round of 16 in the NCAA Tournament after advancing past rival and sectional host Purdue 4-3 on penalty kicks Nov. 18.\nThrough 110 minutes of play, neither IU nor Purdue could manage a goal in what became a physical and dramatic match with fans and coaches yelling at each other and crunching tackles on the pitch. The contest was so heated that IU gathered five yellow cards by game’s end.\n“It was an awesome atmosphere, very loud and entertaining,” IU coach Mick Lyon said. “But it’s disappointing when players are getting hurt and fans are yelling negative things at them. People should be applauding both teams for what they are doing; they are doing something amazing.”\nIU only managed four shots on goal, significantly less than Purdue’s eight, which were all turned away by freshman goalkeeper Lauren Hollandsworth.\nHollandsworth ended the day with those eight stops and a shutout while having to ignore a loud Boilermaker student section no more than 10 \nyards away.\n“I just realized that, even though their energy was negative, that I needed to use it and feed off it and turn it into something positive,” Hollandsworth said.\nThe Hoosiers’ best opportunity came in the 73rd minute, when sophomore forward Kristin Arnold blasted a shot to the upper right corner of the goal that Purdue sophomore keeper Jenny Bradfisch deflected away at the last second to keep the match scoreless. It would remain there until it had to be decided with penalty kicks. \nDown 1-0 after the first round of shots, Hollandsworth came up with a tremendous deflection off of Purdue senior midfielder Jordyn Schaffer’s blast to the right side of the goal.\nThen, with three consecutive conversions from sophomore midfielders Kelly Lawrence and Christie Kotynski, as well as freshman defender Susan Swepston, the Hoosiers found themselves tied at three with an opportunity to win the game, and their leading scorer, Arnold, at the stripe. \n“I looked at Kelly Lawrence before I took it and told her that I had no idea what side I was going to,” Arnold said. “Right away, I saw Jenny (Bradfisch) – who was my teammate over the summer on our club team – had guessed the right direction, but luckily I struck it high. If it wasn’t high, then she would have gotten it.”\nThe goal advanced IU to the round of sixteen for the first time in program history.\n“It’s amazing, especially after losing to them 7-0, and just to get to go to the (round of 16) for the first time ever is amazing,” Arnold said.\nMaking the advancement all the more sweet was that it was coach Mick \nLyon’s birthday.\n“I don’t know what’s better,” Lyon said.\nHe went on to say it has always been his goal as a coach and a player in the NCAA to have his season go beyond his birthday, because that would mean his team would do well in to the postseason.\n“It’s huge for the program,” Lyon said. “Everyone knows about the men’s team battling for championships, but I’ve had people tell me they didn’t know we had a women’s team. So it’s a huge statement.”\nIU will play Duke in the next round of the tournament, which will take place at 2 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 25 at Bill Armstrong Stadium.