Indiana women’s soccer suffered its first loss of the season against Ohio State on Thursday. The Hoosiers could not get on the scoreboard first, which is a rarity as they had scored first in ten of the eleven games this season.
Senior defender Lauren Costello nearly put the Hoosiers on the board first as she struck a shot off the right crossbar six minutes into the game. Ohio State recovered and cleared the ball from its box.
About halfway through the first half, Costello was involved in another key play — this time, one that resulted in an Ohio State goal. Ohio State senior forward Emma Sears crossed a ball just outside of the 18-yard box. Costello misread the cross and deflected it right in front of the net, leaving junior goalkeeper Jamie Gerstenberg stranded. Ohio State junior forward Kailyn Dudukovich capitalized, burying a shot into the net.
In the 36th minute, the Buckeyes again were on the attack as Sears played a through ball and dribbled past a Hoosier defender. She crossed the ball across the box to sophomore forward Ella Giannola. Giannola was waiting at the top of the six-yard box, and she found the back of the net, putting the Buckeyes up 2-0.
It was a sloppy first half for both teams, but the Buckeyes were able to capitalize on two mistakes from the Hoosiers’ defense that gave them the lead. Indiana had two shots on net and were unable to score, which put them behind --- something the Hoosiers have not faced all year.
Despite the two-goal deficit going into halftime, the Hoosiers entered the second half with renewed determination.
Indiana was awarded a free kick in the 55th minute of the match, and freshman midfielder Elle Britt put in a cross off the set piece and found freshman defender Piper Coffield, who headed the ball into the top corner of the goal. However, sophomore goalkeeper Molly Pritchard deflected the shot away.
With ten minutes remaining in the match, Indiana was still scoreless and trailed 2-0. The Hoosiers were awarded a corner kick and Britt crossed the ball into the crowded box, where senior defender Zoe Tiger headed the ball past the defenders and goalkeeper to cut the deficit to 2-1.
Indiana was unable to equalize and suffered its first loss of the season. The Hoosiers now sit at 9-1-2 overall and 3-1-0 in conference play. The sloppy first half and defensive miscues proved to be too much for Indiana to overcome.
Indiana will be back in action Sunday at home at 1 p.m. at Bill Armstrong Stadium against Minnesota (4-4-3).
