Indiana women's soccer head coach Josh Rife views soccer as a game of moments. And lately, the Hoosiers struggle to be on the right side of those.
Indiana hosted Minnesota at Bill Armstrong Stadium in Bloomington on Thursday and lost 2-1, marking the Hoosiers’ third straight defeat.
Rife believes the critical moments in a game are the deciding factors in his team's play.
"I think we're in a position to (make plays)," Rife said postgame. "It's a little bit extra effort... today it was another half step to get in front of a kid."
The loss against the Gophers exemplified Rife's feelings about the little moments. The 53rd minute saw Indiana a half step behind Minnesota senior forward Ava Westlund, who placed a shot past fifth-year goalkeeper Dani Jacobson to put Minnesota up 1-0.
Soon after, in the 58th minute, the Gophers struck again. Off a corner kick from senior midfielder Taylor Heimerl, senior forward Caroline Birdsell scored on a header that made its way through a crowded Indiana box, doubling Minnesota’s lead to 2-0.
On both plays, Indiana was in the position to defend, but small cracks in the gameplan gave Minnesota the opportunity to open the game. For Rife, these mistakes will become an emphasis in the film room as he hopes to reverse the Hoosiers current slide.
"It's a lot of little details that we’ve got to continue to just look at and be honest with ourselves and say again, ‘What do we need to do to get better in those moments?’" Rife said.
Apart from the goals, Minnesota constantly applied pressure to Indiana's backline. Minnesota attempted eight shots during the game, with three of them on goal. The Gophers also attempted three corners, one of which led to their second goal.
Indiana's defense still fought despite giving up two goals in the second half. In the first half, the Hoosiers held the Gophers to just four shots while recording a save. Their back line also consistently cleared balls away from the Hoosier box when the Gophers tried to push up as a unit.
Indiana offense found a spark late in the second half, when junior midfielder Maggie Ledwith maneuvered her way to the left side of the box and took a shot, which landed in the back of the net, allowing the team to finish the loss 2-1.
The defensive challenge becomes greater with a road match against Northwestern and a home date with Michigan next on the Indiana’s schedule. Rife looks forward to testing his team against strong conference opponents and embracing the challenge. He believes that these strong teams present him and his team with an opportunity to improve.
"You can keep in proper perspective that you're playing against good teams, but I think it's also you can't use it as a cop out," Rife said.
Indiana now faces a quick turnaround with a game against Northwestern at 1 p.m. Sunday in Evanston, Illinois. Coverage will be 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.
