Early deficit too much for women's soccer team

Junior forward Carly Samp did little celebrating after scoring the IU women’s soccer team’s only goal. The Hoosiers did not have the luxury to spare that moment of joy.

In the first-ever meeting with Nebraska on Saturday, IU lost to its future Big Ten rival 3-1 at Bill Armstrong Stadium.

Saturday’s win gave the Cornhuskers a 16-5-2 all-time advantage in matchups against their future conference foes.

In an attempt to build depth along the bench, IU coach Mick Lyon started freshman goalkeeper Shannon Flower.

It didn’t take long for the Cornhuskers’ upperclassmen to find the lack of experience in the Hoosiers’ backfield.

Just six minutes after the kickoff, Nebraska’s leading scorer, junior forward Molly Thomas, turned teammate Morgan Marlborough’s assist into a goal. Marlborough delivered a low pass inside the penalty area to Thomas, who made a little adjustment and went for a 12-yard shot on the left. The shot passed Flower’s fingertips and hit the net on the right side of IU’s goal.

The Hoosiers tried to retaliate and created some good opportunities that could have changed the score. The most threatening attack occurred when Samp found a teammate’s flank pass and went for a chest shot in the 10th minute. The attempt missed the left side of the goal and exited the endline.

An increase in offensive intensity did not cover the unorganized defense under Nebraska’s quick counterattacks.

In the 28th minute, Marlborough, who assisted with Thomas’ first goal, scored one of her own to give the Cornhuskers a 2-0 lead. Nebraska’s Jordan Jackson dribbled through the IU box and found Marlborough, who ambushed the eight yards for a close-range goal.

The Hoosiers took 10 shots to Nebraska’s five in the first half but did not see any product.

Just two minutes after the halftime break, the Cornhuskers drew a call for a penalty kick. Marlborough found her cool and gave Nebraska a 3-0 lead.

The Hoosiers’ intensifying offense finally went into effect when Samp took advantage of a Cornhuskers’ defensive mistake and beat the goalkeeper in a one-on-one meeting.

Indiana outshot Nebraska 9-5 in the second half.

Lyon said since the team played a soft first half, he used some motivational rallies during the halftime.

“It’s about competing,” he said, “Just inspire them to compete. And like I said, the second half was tremendous.”

Despite IU’s late efforts, the score remained 3-1 until the end of the contest.

Though not satisfied with the result, Lyon said he was happy to see how the Hoosiers tried to fill the gap after the early deficit.

“My final thoughts to them are that I’m very, very proud to go from 3-0 down to force a goal,” he said, “I can walk away happy with that.”