Throughout a difficult five-game losing streak, Indiana women’s soccer has been outscored 12-3. The Hoosiers entered Thursday's match against UCLA in Los Angeles looking to stop their opponent from scoring.
While Indiana continued its skid with a 5-0 loss, Indiana fifth-year goalkeeper Dani Jacobson proved that her goalkeeping ability is trending in the right direction.
Jacobson’s first shot faced was from senior forward Oruha Hayashi. In the 15th minute, the Bruins striker sent a shot to the top left corner of the Hoosiers’ net, which Jacobson swatted away.
Within the next three minutes, Jacobson stopped two more UCLA attempts, both sent toward the bottom right corner of the net. With her saves, Jacobson set up her teammates in the Indiana back line to start an offensive push.
Jacobson entered Thursday with 12 saves through 12 games played with a 0.364 save percentage. Her last performance against Michigan saw her save three shots while three more passed her.
Jacobson ended the first half with six saves, doubling her previous season high of three against Michigan in the previous match on Oct. 4 and Nebraska on Sept. 10.
In the 32nd minute, junior midfielder Asa Yamazaki received a cross into the Hoosiers’ box and was able to put a short shot past Jacobson, breaking through the Indiana defense and making the score 1-0.
While the first half saw Jacobson stop six shots, the second half would be much tougher.
Early in the second half, a cross came into Indiana’s box from the right side. While Jacobson reached out to try and punch the cross away, sophomore forward Leena Powell leaped into the air and headed the ball straight into the Hoosiers’ goal.
From here, Jacobson did all she could to stop the Bruins from adding more points.
In the 58th minute, Jacobson recorded her seventh save of the night against sophomore midfielder Grace Shank, tying her career high for goals saved by Jacobson. Following this save, Jacobson appeared frustrated with her backline, shaking her head and talking to defenders near her, directing them on where they should be when UCLA started nearing the goal.
From here, the struggles continued for Jacobson and the Hoosiers’ backline. Jacobson and her defense were under immense pressure as the Indiana offense was unable to generate many shots, finishing with four total and just two on goal.
UCLA junior forward Kara Croone presented issues for Indiana’s defense. She finished the match with two goals on three total shots and was one of four Bruins to score against the Hoosiers.
While the game came to a close with a final score of 5-0, Jacobson could do nothing more than shake her head. Out of the 14 shots she faced, Jacobson saved nine, marking a new career high for the Cream and Crimson keeper. Jacobson's performance Thursday night tied her for the fourth most single game saves in the Big Ten this season.
Indiana now holds a six-game losing streak and drops to a record of 4-8-1 overall. It stays in California to face USC at 4 p.m. on Sunday. USC presents an opportunity for the Hoosiers to right their course, as the Trojans are last in the Big Ten with no wins in conference play. The match will be available to watch 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.
