Saint Louis University capitalized on two second-half goals and a commanding performance from sophomore goalkeeper Pepper Escher to defeat Indiana women’s soccer 2-0 Sunday at Bill Armstrong Stadium in Bloomington.
Over 90 minutes, Indiana matched Saint Louis defensively for long stretches. But a handful of costly seconds separated the Hoosiers from the Billikens, while Escher made sure Indiana couldn’t capitalize on its own opportunities.
Escher’s impact was felt early in the match. Despite seeing little action in net, her command of the box proved crucial in protecting Saint Louis’ lead and limiting Indiana’s quality chances.
Indiana’s first dangerous opportunity came in the 12th minute when senior midfielder Paige Droner sent a corner kick curling toward the center of the box.
The ball hung above a crowd of players, giving the Hoosiers an opportunity to break open what had been a quiet start.
But an unfamiliar teal goalkeeper jersey rose above the traffic.
Escher came off her line, reached above the crowd and pulled the ball out of the air before an Indiana player could get a touch on it.
It wasn’t the last time.
Later in the match, another Indiana corner floated into a dangerous area inside the 18-yard box. Once again, Escher took control, coming through the bunch of players and shutting down the opportunity before it could develop into a shot.
Escher’s ability to command her penalty area all night prevented Indiana from turning promising situations into legitimate scoring chances, helping Saint Louis preserve its clean sheet.
Indiana head coach Josh Rife saw those moments as part of what separated the two sides.
“Good goalkeepers make the saves they’re supposed to, and great ones kind of keep you in games,” Rife said postgame Sunday.
Escher wasn’t bombarded with shots throughout the afternoon. Indiana officially put just one attempt on target. But when the Hoosiers threatened, the Saint Louis goalkeeper consistently made the play required of her.
Her biggest moment came shortly after Saint Louis took the lead.
The Billikens needed just three minutes and six seconds after halftime to break a scoreless tie. Freshman forward Leah Simpson finished the attack into the top-left corner, putting Indiana behind 1-0.
Two minutes later, Indiana freshman forward Amaya Falzarano, making her first career start, had an opportunity to erase the deficit.
Falzarano broke through the Saint Louis defense and sent an attempt toward the bottom-left corner. Escher denied her one-on-one, preventing Indiana from immediately answering. Senior midfielder Kennedy Neighbors followed with a blocked attempt less than a minute later.
For Rife, Escher’s ability to make those plays showed the influence a goalkeeper can have beyond the number of saves recorded.
“We were able to create another opportunity pretty quick after Amaya’s in our breakaway and keeper makes a big save in that moment, the one-on-one moment,” Rife said. “Credit to them.”
That difference appeared again in the 80th minute. Simpson had an attempt blocked inside the box, but Indiana was unable to completely clear the danger. Saint Louis junior forward Audrey Smith capitalized on the ensuing opportunity to double Billiken’s advantage to 2-0.
Those moments showed how little room for error exists over the course of a 90-minute match, Rife said.
A full match consists of 5,400 seconds, but it only takes a handful of them to change the result.
“It’s not 10 minutes worth of play,” Rife said. “It was eight seconds worth of plays that can hurt you.”
Indiana held Saint Louis scoreless for the entire first half, which Rife called one of the Hoosiers’ better halves of the season. But maintaining that level for long stretches wasn’t enough when a few brief mistakes proved costly.
“As defenders, goalkeepers…your margin for error is really zero,” Rife said. “A few seconds here, a few seconds there, is really what becomes a difference in games.”
For Indiana, it wasn’t all 5,400 seconds that made the difference Sunday. It was the few the Hoosiers couldn’t get back.
Indiana takes its two-game losing streak on the road to face Ohio University in its final nonconference match Sept. 6. The Hoosiers will look to get back in the win column when they face the Bobcats at 1 p.m. in Athens, Ohio.
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.
