Indiana women's soccer travels to Northwestern for its Sunday match, looking for solutions on both sides of the ball.
The Hoosiers travel to face the Wildcats during a three-game losing streak — the Hoosiers longest of the season — nearly going the duration of all those games without scoring.
Recently, the Hoosiers have had more success away from Bill Armstrong Stadium. Indiana’s most recent victory came in a last-second 1-0 win over Nebraska on Sept. 10, its second road win against the Cornhuskers ever.
Since that victory, Indiana has struggled to find goals and stop opponents. The Hoosiers have been outscored 7-1 across this three-game stretch. Indiana's last win at home was on Aug. 16 when the Cream and Crimson defeated Youngstown State University 3-1.
Head coach Josh Rife acknowledged his team’s struggles but believes they can step up to the challenge presented.
"You gotta give teams credit," Rife said following the 2-1 loss to Minnesota on Sept. 24. "You can keep it in proper perspective that you're playing against good teams, but ... you can't use that as a cop out."
Rife and his team go into their match on Sunday, scoring 1.3 goals per match, the 12th most in the conference.
The Hoosiers also allow 1.7 goals per match, the second most allowed in the Big Ten. The Hoosiers take 11.9 shots per game, with 42.9% of those shots being on goal, ranking 12th and 11th in the conference, respectively. Indiana sits at 12th in the Big Ten with a 4-5-1 overall record and 1-3-0 in conference play.
Meet the Wildcats
Northwestern hosts the Hoosiers following a streak of success. The Wildcats have a 4-4-3 record and are 2-1-1 in conference play. They played Minnesota to a 2-2 draw on Sept. 20 before defeating Oregon 1-0 on Sept. 24.
Northwestern averages 11 shots per game while allowing their opponents 9.8 shots per game. The team averages 0.88 goals per game while allowing their opponents 1.11 goals per game.
The Wildcat defense is anchored in goal by sophomore goalkeeper Nyamma Nelson, who has a save percentage of 0.720 across her nine games started.
On the offensive side of the ball, junior midfielder Alex Fallon leads her team with two goals scored. She returns to the Wildcats following a sophomore season cut short due to an injury. In eight games played last season, she recorded two goals and three assists.
Northwestern is led by 15th-year head coach Michael Moynihan. During his time with the team, Moynihan has led the Wildcats to a 129-103-43 record and six NCAA tournament appearances. He also won the Big Ten Regular Season Championships with the team in 2016.
Indiana and Northwestern share a 14-14-3 record all time, with Indiana winning its last match in Bloomington 2-1. However, the Hoosiers trail 6-8-1 when playing in Evanston, Illinois. They hope to change that record to 7-8-1 Sunday when the Hoosiers kick off against the Wildcats at 2 p.m. EDT, 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.
