Following their 3-1 win against Youngstown State University, Indiana women's soccer hosts Bellarmine University at home for its senior night celebrations. The Hoosiers will honor nine seniors. Friday’s match marks Indiana’s third straight match at Bill Armstrong Stadium.
Bellarmine comes into Bloomington following a 1-0 loss against Lindenwood University. In that game, redshirt sophomore goalkeeper Anna Jenkins saved eight of Lindenwood's nine shots on goal. Additionally, Steve Bornhoffer returns for his second year with Bellarmine after a successful 11-6-3 record in his first year with the team.
One of Bellarmine's 11 wins last season was a 2-1 victory against Indiana in Bloomington. After the match against Youngstown State, Indiana head coach Josh Rife commented on his team's desire to fix what happened last year.
"I have not forgot about that, I don't think our players have forgotten about that," Rife said in a postgame interview. "There's a little bit of a sour taste in our mouth ... let's make sure we go and show up and put together a complete performance."
The complete performance can be helped by improvement in the backline. In all the games the Hoosiers have played in exhibition and regular season matches, Indiana has allowed one goal in each.
Indiana nearly completed a shutout against Youngstown State. Early in the game, redshirt senior midfielder Kennedy Neighbors netted a goal on an assist by junior midfielder Maggie Ledwith. Neighbors went on to assist junior forward Aleyna Quinn’s goal, while Ledwith produced goals in the 48th and 73rd minutes. The offense looked like it was clicking, and the defense was pressuring Youngstown State players to keep the ball moving.
While Indiana held Youngstown State to only one shot, Youngstown State sophomore forward Ghita Haouzi made it count, scoring a well-placed shot inside the box. Rife commented on the added pressure his back line faces once the ball comes to them but also praised his whole team for stepping up to the challenge.
"You're in an unforgiving position because mistakes are felt very strongly as a goalkeeper or defenders," Rife said. "It was great to see some of the pressure come off our back line with our forwards finding the back net a few times."
Indiana kicks off the last game of its early season homestand against Bellarmine on Aug. 21 at home. Kickoff is scheduled for 8 p.m., with coverage available on B1G+.
Follow reporters Will Kwiatkowski (@WKwiatkowski_15 and wdkwiatk@iu.edu) and Leonardo Vesperini (@leovmedia and lvesperi@iu.edu) for updates throughout the Indiana women’s soccer season.
