Little smiles dotted the stands at Bill Armstrong Stadium on Sunday, many accompanied by the IU trident painted across their cheeks.
Indiana women’s soccer welcomed young fans for Children’s Day with face painting before the match and player autographs after.
In between, the Hoosiers gave them one of their strongest performances of the season.
Indiana scored twice in the second half, turning a 1-0 halftime deficit into a back-and-forth battle, but the Hoosiers ultimately fell 3-2 to Michigan. While the loss extended Indiana’s losing streak to five matches, the Hoosiers produced their most productive offensive half of Big Ten play.
Michigan controlled much of the opening half, earning six corner kicks and forcing fifth-year goalkeeper Dani Jacobson into two saves.
Junior forward Ella Jablinskey broke through in the 24th minute, sending a right-footed shot into the bottom-left corner to give Michigan the lead.
Indiana entered halftime with four shots and only one on goal, but head coach Josh Rife saw areas the Hoosiers could exploit.
Rife and his staff used first half film to identify and show the players ways Indiana’s attackers could position themselves farther up the field and closer to dangerous areas.
“Get yourself a little higher to get yourself in a more advantageous spot,” Rife said postgame. “It was just not big things because I do think we still had good moments.”
The adjustments paid off less than eight minutes into the second half.
Indiana junior defender Haden Vlcek found sixth-year midfielder Jenna Chatterton in the 53rd minute. Chatterton sent a left-footed shot into the bottom-right corner to tie the match 1-1.
After the equalizer, an Indiana attack that had been relatively quiet throughout Big Ten play appeared to find belief again.
Still, Michigan regained the lead in the 64th minute after Vlcek committed a foul inside the penalty area. Junior midfielder Adi Walick converted the ensuing penalty kick into the bottom-left corner.
Nine minutes later, Michigan found another.
Senior defender Campbell Jewell sent an attempt off the post, which rebounded into the middle of the penalty area. Senior midfielder Lilley Bosley capitalized on the loose ball to extend Michigan’s lead to 3-1.
“If it hits the post and goes out the other way, maybe it’s not dangerous,” Rife said. “Of course, it hits the post, comes back right in the middle of goal.”
Even down two goals, Indiana continued committing numbers forward.
Michigan blocked junior forward Maggie Ledwith’s attempts in the 78th and 84th minutes before she finally broke through. Chatterton and sophomore forward Emily Graham combined to find Ledwith, who fired a right-footed shot into the top-left corner in the 85th minute.
Indiana was within one again.
“The hardest thing in the game to do is score goals,” Rife said. “For the ladies to see the ball hit the back of net twice, I think it’s got to be a level of confidence and a little bit of boost for them.”
The two goals matched Indiana’s entire offensive output from its first five Big Ten matches.
Indiana continued pushing until the final whistle. Senior midfielder Paige Droner’s 90th minute shot was blocked, which produced one final corner. But the equalizer never arrived.
Despite another loss, Rife saw a difference in how Indiana responded to adversity.
“I think there’s been moments in games where we’ve maybe conceded,” Rife said. “Heads dropped a little bit, or it took us a little bit to rally and kind of steady ourselves, and I didn’t feel that today.”
Amid a five-game losing streak, Indiana now heads west for matches against UCLA and USC.
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.
