In her first career start, junior midfielder Paige Droner made an instant impact.
The junior missed the entirety of the 2024-25 season but appeared in 15 of 20 matches during the 2023-24 season. Despite playing in six matches so far this year, Droner’s minutes have come few and far between.
The lack of playing time hasn’t deterred her confidence to make an impact, which Indiana head coach Josh Rife complimented after Thursday’s win over Northwestern.
“She has continued to push and put herself in good situations and become responsible in the minutes she’s had,” Rife said. “She’s just kind of pushed herself more and more into the conversation.”
She did more than get herself into the conversation following the contest against the Wildcats. Droner earned her first career start in a pivotal Big Ten match late in the season.
The Hoosiers entered Sunday’s contest in 11th place, one point behind Michigan, the team they were scheduled to face. The top 10 teams in the conference compete in the Big Ten Tournament, making every match for the remainder of the season just a little bit more important.
Nearly 14 minutes into the match at Michigan, Droner netted her first career goal. Indiana had the ball deep in Michigan territory when sophomore midfielder Maggie Ledwith fired a cross into the box. Droner elevated her right leg and redirected the ball into the back of the net.
The goal gave Indiana an early 1-0 lead, which they would later add on to.
In the 51st minute, Ledwith beat senior keeper Sophie Homan to give the Hoosiers a 2-0 lead. Ledwith’s goal marked her second straight game with a goal and made her the team’s leading scorer this season with five goals. However, Indiana would only hold onto that lead for about 30 minutes. In the 62nd minute, Michigan’s senior forward Kali Burrell cut the Indiana lead in half with her second goal of the season.
Burrell wasn’t done. In the late moments of the contest, she captured a brace, netting her second goal of the afternoon to tie the match at two.
The 2-2 score would hold the rest of the way Sunday at U-M Soccer Stadium in Ann Arbor, Michigan, giving Indiana its fourth tie in the last five matches.
The tied matches have all been positive points for Indiana and have continued to prime it for a potential Big Ten Tournament berth. The Hoosiers haven’t lost a match since Sept. 21 on the road against Rutgers.
There is a continued push for the tournament as the middle of the Big Ten table is starting to tighten up. Outside of the top three teams, the next 11 teams are separated by just seven points.
Two of Indiana’s next three matches come against the third and fourth ranked teams in the conference, Michigan State and Iowa, respectively.
The Hoosiers have shown their ability to compete with the top of the table teams, with draws against Washington, currently ranked first, and Illinois, which is tied for fifth in the conference standings.
After extending their unbeaten streak to five matches, the Hoosiers will continue their road trip against Michigan State at 7 p.m. Thursday at DeMartin Stadium in East Lansing, Michigan. 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.
