“Our schedule is brutal,” IU Coach Amy Berbary said. “Notre Dame is one of the best teams I have seen in the last three or four years.”
No. 13 Notre Dame defeated IU 2-0 Friday in South Bend, Indiana. IU (3-3-1) stayed within a goal of the Irish for much of the night but did not threaten enough offensively to keep pace.
In the first half, Notre Dame (6-0-1) dictated the pace of the game by controlling possession.
“In a game like that where you’re the underdog, you’re going to get a couple of chances a half,” Berbary said. “We had a few looks, and then, of course, in the second half we’re chasing a little bit.”
The Hoosiers hit another obstacle when standout freshman forward Abby Allen’s night was ended early with an injury that forced her to avoid putting pressure on her foot.
“We’re going to have her checked out when we get home,” Berbary said. “She’s a great player so we’re keeping our fingers crossed and hope we didn’t lose another one.”
The Hoosiers have had two players go down to injuries this year — sophomore forwards Mykayla Brown and Nickie Zuckerman.
Allen’s injury was the first of several setbacks for IU. In the 22nd minute Notre Dame scored its first goal when freshman forward Natalie Jacobs lifted a powerful shot inside the box into the far left corner over IU redshirt senior goalkeeper Sarah Stone.
Despite surrendering two goals, Stone posted seven saves.
“I think that we just made a few mistakes,” Stone said. “I think that when you make mistakes against good teams, they’re going to capitalize on us. But we learned a lot tonight, and we can use this moving forward.”
The Fighting Irish outshot the Hoosiers 18-3, forcing Notre Dame junior goalkeeper Kaela Little to make three saves. When IU did control the ball and forced play into Notre Dame’s half, it could not string passes well enough to threaten.
In the second half, the Fighting Irish continued to control possession and attack, creating more chances for themselves. IU’s defense finally broke again in the 64th minute when the Notre Dame sophomore defender Monica Flores passed a ball through the box that junior forward Kaleigh Olmsted blasted a goal into the far left post.
“My team of course isn’t happy we lost,” Berbary said. “But I think we’re encouraged that we’re playing and trying to hang in there with one of the best teams in the country.”
