Indiana women’s soccer’s 15 game winning streak at home crumbles against No. 20 Ohio State

At the 30-minute mark of Indiana women’s soccer’s game against Ohio State on Thursday night, sophomore defender Mai Ly Marella went down on one knee calling for an injury break. Indiana women’s soccer was already down 1-0 after a Buckeye goal to take an early lead to what was a 3-0 victory.   

With the break, senior midfielder Sydney Masur took the opportunity to gather her team and get vocal in the group huddle. The entire Indiana team looked out of fuel, with head coach Erwin Van Bennekom shaking his head constantly on the sideline.  

It was a physical match between the conference rivals as bodies were constantly hitting the pitch and whistles being blown. At the end of the game, there was a total of 18 fouls combined, and a scoreline of 3-0 in favor of the Buckeyes. 

“They deserved to win,” Van Bennekom said. “I think over the course of the game they were the better team.  They created better chances, and we weren’t good enough today to beat them, so it’s on us.”  

Ohio State got on the board quickly from senior forward Kailyn Dudukovich’s goal at the 27-minute mark after sophomore forward/midfielder Amanda Schlueter got by three Hoosier defenders. It was then nine minutes later in the 36th minute that the Buckeyes found the back of the net once again. It came from a miscommunication between senior goalkeeper Jamie Gerstenberg and junior midfielder Olivia Rush. A corner kick to the middle of the 18-yard box was headed, then chested, by the Buckeyes to hit the back of the net and earn a 2-0 lead.  

The first half was ugly for Indiana as Ohio State dominated and put up eight shots compared to Indiana’s three. Despite the two goals allowed, Gerstenberg finished the first half with four saves.  

With a fresh 45 minutes on the clock, Van Bennekom was hoping that his team would start new and bring energy to the pitch.  

“We changed shape,” Van Bennekom said. “We went into a diamond in midfield, and I think we got a little more control on the ball and passing direction. That helped a lot in the second half.”  

Indiana had more scoring opportunities with the new shape in the midfield, but Buckeye junior goalkeeper Molly Pritchard was strong in between the pipes and maintained her presence while recording three saves on the night. The Ohio State defense was cutting off angles, blocking passes, winning 50-50 balls and overall had more energy for the entire 90 minutes.  

While it seemed that the Hoosiers had opportunity after opportunity to put one in the back of the net, they simply could not execute. They struggled mightily on corner kicks as they had six corner opportunities, and while they had great ball placement with precise set pieces, no one was able to control the ball for Indiana.  

Gerstenberg finished the game with nine saves on 19 shots. The last goal allowed came  when Ohio State was awarded a penalty kick in the 86th minute after freshman defender Haden Vlcek received a yellow card for holding in the keeper’s box after a fast break. Dudukovich’s kick hit Gerstenberg’s hands for nearly a great save but hit the back of the net on the corner.  

Overall, the Hoosiers were outplayed by the Buckeyes and could not execute, especially on offense. Going into the game, Indiana had a 15-game winning streak at Bill Armstrong Stadium that had lasted since the 2022 season, but it saw the streak come to an end Thursday night.  

Indiana looks to bounce back in the win column in Big Ten play as it will host No. 22 UCLA at 7 p.m. on Sept. 19 at Bill Armstrong Stadium.