"One moment is all it takes," said Indiana women's soccer head coach Josh Rife after his team's match against Bellarmine University on Friday.
In the 45th minute, Rife's squad was awarded a penalty kick off a handball call against Bellarmine. Senior defender Piper Coffield took her preparation steps as she looked down Bellarmine redshirt sophomore goalkeeper Anna Jenkins. In the blink of an eye, Coffield buried the ball in the back of the net, and the team thought they found their moment of reprieve.
Unfortunately, this would be the only moment his team's offense would have.
Throughout the match, Indiana attempted 17 shots, only five of which were on goal. In Indiana's short season so far, it has been common for the Hoosiers to be aggressive and let shots fly toward the net. The issue was that Bellarmine was pressing Indiana defensively in a way the Hoosiers had not yet experienced this season.
"I think it was different," Rife said in a postgame interview postgame. "We need to try to just be more efficient with chances that we're given, and I think we missed a lot of those chances today."
Bellarmine's defensive effort in front of their goal also made it more difficult for Indiana to get good offensive opportunities. Bellarmine's backline, anchored by Jenkins, stopped all of Indiana's shots toward their goal and prevented Indiana's players from getting into advantageous positions to attempt shots on goal.
In the 10th minute, Indiana freshman forward Emily Graham made her way into the box for a shot that was punched away by Jenkins in Bellarmine's goal. A similar thing happened soon after in the 12th minute, when Graham pushed into the box and attempted a shot that was saved by Jenkins.
Jenkins ended the match having saved four of the five shots Indiana attempted on goal. However, her impact on the game goes beyond the numbers on the stat sheet. Jenkins was able to catch many corners that came her way and helped clear the ball when Indiana got into her box.
Following Coffield's penalty kick goal at the end of the first half, Indiana was looking for another goal to put themselves comfortably in front.
In the 65th minute, the Hoosiers thought they found their second moment. A corner kick from the left side sailed into the box, and Indiana got the ball into Bellarmine's net. As the Hoosiers began celebrating, the sideline referee raised his flag, signaling a handball violation by Indiana and waving off the goal. The score was reset to 1-0, and the energy from Indiana was taken away with the blow of a whistle.
After this, Indiana's offense could not generate opportunities that would give them clear shots at Bellarmine's goal. As aggressive as Indiana's forwards played up the field, Bellarmine's backline was there to disrupt their rhythm and put enough pressure on Indiana to force poorly placed shots.
As the clock neared the final seconds of the match, Bellarmine got an opportunity inside Indiana's box. Amid the mess of players, the ball came out as Indiana looked to press in transition. However, many Bellarmine players exclaimed in shock that they had seen a handball violation that the referees hadn't and wanted the play to be reviewed. After deliberating over VAR, Bellarmine was given a penalty kick.
In the blink of an eye, Bellarmine freshman midfielder Ella Flynn took her team’s only shot of the match, sending the ball past senior goalkeeper Dani Jacobson to tie the game 1-1 with 45 seconds remaining in the 90 minutes.
After a game where Indiana had held Bellarmine to zero shots and three corners, Bellarmine had broken through Indiana's defense in the final moments of the match.
"As good as [the defense] was, it was not good enough," Rife said. "They were pretty organized and dialed in, but one moment is all it takes."
Excluding the final penalty, Indiana's defense was organized and solid as they have in their recent matches. Flynn's penalty kick was Bellarmine's only shot on goal, marking the second game in a row where Indiana's opponents have taken one shot. The Hoosiers also held Bellarmine to just three corner kicks.
Indiana continues to look for their first shutout victory of the season as the Hoosiers travel to Cincinnati, Ohio, for their match against Xavier University on Aug. 26. Kickoff is scheduled for 6:30 p.m., with coverage available on XAVIER+.
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.
