Indiana women’s soccer headed into Sunday’s matchup looking to bounce back after losing its first game of the season Thursday to Ohio State. The Hoosiers were unable to get a victory but avoided losing and drew 0-0 to Minnesota
A lack of offensive opportunities in the first half led to Indiana tallying three shots while Minnesota tallied one. Neither team was able to record a shot on goal in the first half leaving both goalkeepers with little to no work between the goalposts.
The first half was sloppy with a total of eight fouls between the two squads. Both teams started the game aggressively but were unable to create any threatening opportunities.
The first scoring opportunity and shot on goal of the game came in the 50th minute when Minnesota sophomore midfielder Sophia Barjesteh struck a shot on frame and Indiana junior goalkeeper Jamie Gerstenberg was able to record her first save of the afternoon. Nine minutes later Golden Gopher senior forward Christa VanLoon fired a shot on goal that was saved by Gerstenberg.
The Hoosiers showed their aggressiveness in the match, totaling 17 fouls compared to Minnesota’s five. The Cream and Crimson have had multiple games this season of recording 15 or more fouls and continued that type of play against Minnesota.
Indiana’s best scoring opportunity of the game came in the 72nd minute of the game as freshman midfielder Elle Britt fired a shot towards the bottom right corner of the goal, but senior goalkeeper Megan Plaschko was able to make the save for the Golden Gophers.
Gerstenberg recorded another shutout for the Hoosiers and now has 22 shutouts in her career —one away from tying the program record of 23 that was set by Bethany Kopel.
“We are disappointed in the result as it wasn’t our best day nor our best performance,” Indiana assistant coach Tim Verschuren said.
Verschuren went on to describe how the Hoosiers were able to improve the quality of play in the second half but were disappointed to not get on the scoreboard and get a victory.
Indiana now stands at 9-1-3 and 3-1-1 — second in the conference, trailing only Penn State. The Hoosiers will be back on the road Oct. 8 when they take on in-state rival Purdue in West Lafayette. Kickoff will be at 1 p.m. with the game being broadcast on Big Ten Plus.
