She was in the right place at the right time.
Sunday, in the 38th minute, trailing by a goal to Bellarmine University, Indiana women’s soccer was in need of a momentum shift.
Senior forward Sarah Sirdah took a corner kick that sailed toward the opposing box. Senior midfielder Olivia Rush leaped and headed a shot towards the goal, but it was deflected by Bellarmine redshirt freshman keeper Anna Jenkins. The deflection went right to the awaiting senior defender Abbey Iler who finished the opportunity for the Hoosiers and tied the contest at 1.
However, that one score was not enough to defeat Bellarmine. Indiana fell 2-1 at Owsley B. Frazier Stadium in Louisville, Kentucky, and saw its record drop to 2-2 on the season.
The scoring started in the 29th minute, when Bellarmine sophomore forward McKenzie Carle stole a pass, headed towards the Indiana goal and had a clear breakaway opportunity. Carle beat senior keeper Dani Jacobson and converted the takeaway into an early Bellarmine lead.
After Iler’s equalizer, all momentum seemed to be on Indiana’s side. From halftime until the 77th minute, the Hoosiers took 10 shots, but ultimately went scoreless for the rest of the game.
It was not until the 80th minute when senior defender Olivia Albert made a sliding stop to prevent a goal, but the ball ricocheted right to the awaiting freshman forward Katie Paulakonis who delivered the go-ahead goal for the Knights. That goal proved to be the difference for Bellarmine, as it held on for a 2-1 win.
The goal for Iler not only made a mark in the match, but it also marked the first career goal for the senior. Because of her primary defending role, Iler had only attempted 14 shots in her career and only eight of those had been on goal prior to Sunday’s game.
Her first ever goal was a bright moment in an otherwise tough match for the Hoosiers.
While her impact hasn’t been seen in the box score throughout her four years at Indiana, she has provided a stable backbone in the Hoosiers’ defense. This season, Indiana has only allowed four goals through four matches thus far. The impact of the Hoosiers’ defense was on full display Sunday as well. The Knights were held to just eight shots, with only five of those coming on goal.
The difference Sunday was the decisive separation in offensive efficiency between the two teams. Sunday, Indiana outshot and out-attacked the Knights throughout the match but never quite capitalized. Indiana took 14 more shots than the Knights, who recorded two goals in eight shots, but the Hoosiers could only connect on one in the 90 minutes of play.
Sunday’s match was drastically different from the Hoosiers’ loss to Saint Louis University on Thursday. In the loss to the Billikens, the Hoosiers only tallied six shots and did not score.
Indiana now has two more matches before heading into the thick of Big Ten play. These two remaining non-conference matchups — against Xavier University and Ohio University — provide great chances to improve the finishing and find a rhythm before conference action.
Indiana will now return to Bloomington to take on Xavier at 8 p.m. Thursday at Bill Armstrong Stadium. The game will be streamed on Big Ten+.
Follow reporters Noah Gerkey (@Noah_Gerk and ngerkey@iu.edu) and Will Kwiatkowski (@WKwiatkowski_15 and wdkwiatk@iu.edu) for updates throughout the Indiana women's soccer season.
