Last season, Western Michigan beat IU 2-0 at Bill Armstrong Stadium.
This season, junior forward Maya Piper and sophomore midfielder Chandra Davidson made sure the result was different.
The two Hoosiers contributed two goals apiece to lead IU, 2-2, to a 4-0 victory over the Broncos, 2-1, Sunday afternoon in Kalamazoo, Michigan.
The match was the first of a seven-game road stretch for IU.
In the first three games of the season, IU combined to score three goals and was shut out in its past two games against Clemson and Louisville.
This afternoon, IU flipped the switch. The Broncos couldn’t capitalize on any of their chances, as IU only allowed three shots on goal. Freshman goalkeeper Bethany Kopel recorded the first shutout of her career.
“They were organized," IU Coach Amy Berbary said. "They had some very good attackers. Our back four, we changed a couple times, but you know you can’t forget about Bethany Kopel — happy to see her get her first shutout of the year.”
The first half was more of the same as IU still couldn't get on the board. IU's offense, however, attacked the WMU net from the start, recording four shots in the game's first eight minutes. WMU senior goalkeeper Stephanie Heber, however, was able to match every shot.
“At halftime, we just talked about pushing and being a little bit tighter in the midfield,” Berbary said. “We had some chances in the first half but weren’t able to capitalize. We just did more of the same, but we had a couple players step up that were able to finish for us.”
Only eight minutes into the second half, Davidson scored her first goal of the season off an assist from junior forward Annelie Leitner. The next goal for the Hoosiers came roughly seven minutes later as Piper scored a header from a Davidson assist.
“Honestly, I think we just focused better and were a lot more composed in front of the net because we had our chances in the first half, but in the second half, we just really took advantage of them,” Piper said.
The win seemed just about certain after Piper scored her second header of the match in the 81st minute. Piper gave credit to both Davidson and junior forward Abby Allen after the match.
“I think all the credit goes to Abby and Chandra crossing me the ball honestly,” Piper said. “All I had to do was make sure it was on frame, and I just made sure to make the right run and get behind their defenders and put the ball in the net.”
Davidson scored the final goal of the game off an assist from freshman midfielder Kyndal McKinney with only two minutes left to ice the game.
IU’s defense was strong throughout the entire 90 minutes, making sure the Broncos could never come back into the game.
"It’s tough to win on the road,” Berbary said. “We got one under our belt and the only important thing now is getting ourselves healthy over the next four days."
IU will look to carry the momentum into its next game against Vanderbilt this Friday as part of the Music City Tournament.
