In IU women’s soccer’s first match after a six-day break, the team lost to Illinois 1-0 Saturday at Bill Armstrong Stadium, falling to 3-3-0 on the season.
In the first half, neither team got into an offensive rhythm due to tough, physical defense on both sides. The physicality, coupled with strong goalkeeping from IU senior Bethany Kopel and Illinois senior Sami Sample, kept shots and attempts limited and the score tied at 0-0 after 45 minutes.
“We had to defend because we kept losing the ball. We just kept giving the ball away for no reason,” head coach Erwin van Bennekom said. “I think that made us defend for long periods of time.”
Just under five minutes into the second half, Illinois broke the tie with a goal from sophomore midfielder Eileen Murphy, emerging from a mess in front of the goal to give the Illini a 1-0 lead that IU never overcame.
Despite giving up a goal early in the second half, IU outshot Illinois 11-5 in the final 45 minutes and 15-10 overall. Even though IU won the shots margin handily, van Bennekom said she was not happy with the shots they took.
“We obviously had some chances, mostly from set pieces, I thought we were poor in and around the box,” van Bennekom said. “I thought we never really tested their goalkeeper that much.”
The Hoosiers nearly tied the game on headers from senior forward Melanie Forbes and sophomore midfielder Avery Lockwood. Lockwood’s shot, in the 68th minute, looked to come close to crossing the goal line. But with no replay review this season, the call stood at no goal.
“I never felt it was even close to the line, I think it was in and around the box, I think anybody on the field didn’t even think about that,” van Bennekom said. “That was probably the closest we’d gotten.”
Next for IU is a match against Michigan State at 1 p.m. Wednesday at Bill Armstrong Stadium.
