Bill Armstrong Stadium in Bloomington has been very kind to Indiana women’s soccer in recent years. The Hoosiers entered Thursday night’s contest against Northwestern with a 15-5-7 home record spanning the past three seasons.
Indiana continued the trend of protecting home turf, defeating Northwestern 2-1 on Thursday and securing its first Big Ten win of the season.
After three consecutive draws against Washington, Oregon and Purdue, the Hoosiers sat in 16th place in the conference. Their spot in the conference table left them four points out of 10th place — the threshold to make the Big Ten Tournament from Nov. 6-9 in St. Louis.
Indiana fell behind in the 31st minute when sophomore defender Haden Vlcek was called for a foul in the box on Northwestern graduate midfielder Kelsey Kwon, which forced a Northwestern penalty kick. Northwestern senior midfielder Caterina Regazzoni stepped up and drilled the kick into the bottom right corner of the net, giving the Wildcats a 1-0 lead.
Coming into the match, the Hoosiers were 0-11-1 in the last two seasons when giving up the first goal in a match. Indiana hoped to overcome that historic trend on Thursday night.
It wasn’t until the 81st minute that Indiana found its spark. Freshman defender Grace Hamm won the ball and fired a shot from well outside the 18-yard box that found the net and equalized the game at one.
In the winding moments of the contest,sophomore midfielder Maggie Ledwith picked off an errant pass by Northwestern freshman keeper Nyamma Nelson. Only the keeper stood in front of Ledwith, who then delivered the game winner.
“After Grace’s goal, we knew we were still in it,” Ledwith said postgame. “I think it shows that this team can come back from anything, it shows that if we are down a goal we can still come back.”
Ledwith’s goal was her fourth of the season, which helped put her back atop the Hoosiers in goals scored, along with her scoring counterpart Hamm. Throughout the season, Indiana head coach Josh Rife has talked about the expectation he puts on his underclassmen to step up in big moments. On Thursday, he saw the results of his expectations with Ledwith’s late go-ahead shot.
“I’m really happy for her because, again, I think that she's someone we ask a lot of, and I think it is great to see her rewarded for her hard work,” Rife said.
Hoosier fans have become accustomed to seeing home wins when watching women’s soccer, and it’s something the team preaches every day.
“’Protect the Bill’ — that is what we say before every single game, and we want to keep that streak as long as we can,” Ledwith said."
The win over Northwestern proved to be a big one for the team’s momentum and a historic come-from-behind win for Rife, and the Hoosiers’ program as a whole.
Momentum is huge in soccer. One bounce or one whistle can shift the entire outcome of each contest. Winning is an even bigger momentum boost for a program, especially one fighting for its postseason life.
“Three points moves us back closer into contention of conversations of what postseason play looks like for us,” Rife said. “Now I look and say if we find a way to get another three points on the road this weekend, and now you’re really building some momentum at the right time of year.”
With just four matches left in the season, the Hoosiers find themselves in a good position to compete for a Big Ten Tournament berth.
The Hoosiers will now head on the road for a pair of matches against teams from the Great Lake State.
Indiana kicks off that road trip against Michigan at 1 p.m. Sunday at U-M Soccer Stadium in Ann Arbor, Michigan. The game will be streamed on the Big Ten Network.
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.
