Indiana women’s soccer kept Northwestern from putting a shot on goal for more than 61 minutes Sunday.
When the Wildcats finally did, they scored.
Northwestern freshman midfielder Camryn Freeman scored twice off the bench as Indiana fell 2-0 in Evanston, Illinois, and extended its losing streak to four matches. The Hoosiers limited Northwestern to two shots on goal while putting six of their own on target, but only the Wildcats capitalized.
Indiana entered Sunday with seven goals allowed during its three-match losing streak. Against Northwestern, the Hoosiers took an aggressive defensive approach.
Indiana maintained a high defensive line throughout the afternoon, frequently pushing its backline toward the top of the 18-yard box. The positioning compressed the field and aimed to catch Northwestern’s attackers making runs behind the defense.
For more than an hour, it worked.
Northwestern freshman defender Gwen Zimmerman sent the Wildcats’ first attempt off target in the fifth minute. Senior forward Megan Norkett followed with another shot missed wide four minutes later.
The Wildcats went more than 24 minutes without another attempt and finished the opening half without forcing fifth-year goalkeeper Dani Jacobson into a save.
Indiana generated chances at the other end.
Sophomore defender Grace Hamm forced Northwestern sophomore goalkeeper Nyamma Nelson into a save in the 22nd minute. Junior midfielder Maggie Ledwith tested Nelson more than six minutes later.
Senior defender Piper Coffield and freshman midfielder Emma Ehret also put shots on target before halftime, but Nelson stopped both. Indiana entered the break creating the better opportunities without a goal to show for them.
The high defensive line continued frustrating Northwestern after halftime.
The Wildcats were caught offside in the 54th and 60th minutes, and Indiana blocked their first two attempts of the half.
Then Freeman checked into the match at 61:27.
Three seconds later, senior forward Keira Wagner fired a shot that Indiana blocked. The deflection fell directly to Freeman, who scored with her first touch into the top-right corner.
It was Freeman’s first collegiate goal and Northwestern’s first shot on target. Video assistant referee reviewed the play before confirming the goal.
Indiana tried to respond. Sophomore forward Emily Graham forced another save from Nelson in the 74th minute.
Three minutes later, Northwestern capitalized again.
Junior midfielder Alex Fallon found Freeman, who sent a left-footed shot into the bottom-left corner for her second goal in less than 16 minutes.
Senior midfielder Paige Droner forced Nelson into Indiana’s sixth shot on goal in the 82nd minute, but the Hoosiers never found the net.
Both teams finished with 11 shots. Indiana put six on target, while Northwestern managed only two. Northwestern scored on both while Nelson saved all six Indiana attempts.
The result continued a difficult opening to conference play for Indiana. The Hoosiers have lost four straight games since beating Nebraska 1-0 in their Big Ten opener, scoring just twice across five conference matches.
Sunday was different from some of those losses. Indiana limited Northwestern’s clean looks, avoided the early defensive breakdowns that hurt it against Ohio State and Wisconsin and created opportunities of its own.
It still ended the same way.
Indiana now returns to Bloomington looking to end its four-match skid against No. 20 Michigan. The Hoosiers and Wolverines kick off at noon Oct. 4 at Bill Armstrong Stadium.
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.
