Young women's soccer team aim for higher goals

Preparation for the 2010 season, the IU women’s soccer team started doing work even before training camp kicked off.

Last season, IU finished with a 10-7-2 record and did not appear in the NCAA Tournament. The Hoosiers highlighted the season with a 6-0-0 start, during which they upset No. 6 Florida.

Ninth-year IU coach Mick Lyon said he was satisfied with last season.

“We did well,” Lyon said. “We started the season with a tremendous run, though we lost plays against some other Big Ten teams that we could have won.”

IU had injuries that hurt the team’s performance, and Lyon said that is the reason why this year he brought in a big freshman class: to provide more depth on the bench.

This season, 15 players have returned, and the team also has 12 fresh faces — 11 freshmen and one transfer from Florida State.

Seniors said they were ready to be role models to the young team.

“I think it’s definitely important to live by example and show the freshmen what to do and what to expect,” senior forward Leigh Anne Cummings said. “Just keep pushing them and help them reach their highest potential.”

So far in 2010, the Hoosiers have endured a tough stretch, allowing opponents to find loopholes on the backline early in games and not being able to overcome deficits. That happened most notably in a 5-2 loss against Texas A&M on Sept. 10.

Lyon said the early games were necessary for the young Hoosiers to learn lessons, but he mentioned more than once that he was happy to see the efforts his players made.

IU has its first two Big Ten games at home and will not leave Bloomington until Oct. 1, when they will have a conference contest at Michigan State.