Around 20 brass instruments, from trumpets to tubas, brought energy to a hot Sunday afternoon at Bill Armstrong Stadium as Indiana women’s soccer prepared for its biggest test of the season.
The IU Crabb Band opened the game with a familiar sound from the stands — the Indiana fight song. No. 6 Ohio State took away that energy in less than nine minutes.
The Buckeyes scored twice before the match reached the 10-minute mark and added another goal in the second half, defeating Indiana 3-0 Sunday and snapping the Hoosiers’ two-match winning streak.
Ohio State senior forward Amanda Schlueter opened the scoring in the eighth minute, sending a perfectly placed right-footed shot into the top-left corner where no goalkeeper could reach.
Less than two minutes later, a familiar face doubled Ohio State’s lead. Senior forward Elle Britt, who played for Indiana before transferring to Ohio State two seasons ago, sent a left-footed shot into the bottom-right corner to make it 2-0 just 8 minutes, 58 seconds into the match.
The two goals quickly changed the atmosphere at Bill Armstrong Stadium. The Indiana band continued playing from the stands, and the Hoosiers kept grinding on the field, but they were forced to chase the match almost from the start.
Indiana entered Sunday following consecutive road victories over Ohio University and Nebraska. The Hoosiers opened Big Ten play Thursday with a 1-0 victory over the Cornhuskers, their first shutout of the season.
Undefeated Ohio State presented a different level of competition.
“They’re a very good team,” head coach Josh Rife said after the loss Sunday. “They came out and showed us why they’re ranked where they’re at.”
Indiana prevented the deficit from growing before halftime, but Schlueter showed why Rife considers her one of the nation’s elite players shortly after the break.
In the 60th minute, Schlueter received the ball roughly 20 yards from the goal. She dribbled forward before taking a step away from her defender, creating enough space to send a left-footed strike into the bottom-right corner past fifth-year goalkeeper Dani Jacobson.
“You give her that kind of time and space, like she’s going to punish you,” Rife said. “And that’s what happened.”
The goal was Schlueter’s second of the match and sixth of the season, giving her the second-most scores in the Big Ten before the remainder of Sunday’s matches concluded.
Rife said containing a player of Schlueter’s caliber couldn't fall on one defender. Indiana attempted to provide help defensively and limit her one-on-one opportunities. Yet, Schlueter still found the space needed to score twice.
“Arguably (Schlueter) is a kid who’s going to be up for National Player of the Year,” Rife said.
Indiana was unable to answer Ohio State’s third goal, dropping to 1-1-0 in Big Ten play and missing an opportunity for its first 2-0 conference start since 2023.
But Rife wants the Hoosiers to use the loss as an early look at the level required to compete with the Big Ten’s best.
“I’d rather have this game now than later,” Rife said. “We see what it looks like.”
Rife said Indiana can take confidence from stretches where it challenged Ohio State while recognizing the areas where the Buckeyes punished mistakes.
“What can we learn from these moments that we can take from it?” Rife said. “There are going to be other good teams in conference.”
Indiana now has a week before traveling to Madison, Wisconsin, for its next Big Ten match against the Badgers on Sept. 20.
The Hoosiers have seven days to learn from their first conference loss. For Rife, however, the first step was simply moving past Sunday.
“The best thing about today,” Rife said, “is it’s over.”
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.
