Indiana women’s soccer played two home matches in four days, and they played out in completely different fashions. The Hoosiers hosted Washington and played to a scoreless draw on Thursday. Indiana and Oregon combined for six goals, including five in the second half, in a 3-3 draw on Sunday at Bill Armstrong Stadium.
Both teams entered Sunday’s game without a Big Ten win, hungry to earn three points for the first time in league play. Indiana head coach Josh Rife felt his team failed to take advantage of that opportunity against the Ducks.
“I think there’s a moment in there that we could’ve handled a little bit better, but that’s also part of this game,” Rife said postgame. “Hopefully it’s (a) learning experience that we don’t have to go through again.”
In the first half, Indiana saw two chances ricochet off of the left post and several other chances go by the wayside before it broke through in the 39th minute. Senior defender Natasha Kim found sophomore midfielder Maggie Ledwith, who netted her third goal of the season and gave the Hoosiers a 1-0 lead just before halftime.
Following the break, things were relatively quiet until the 55th minute, as junior forward Lauren Kenny capitalized on an opportunity for Oregon, tying the game at one goal apiece. Then, in the 60th minute, redshirt senior defender Jayde Holley gave the Ducks their first lead of the afternoon. Three minutes after Holley’s goal, redshirt senior defender Cailin Bloom Cailin Bloom scored to cap off a 3-0 Oregon run that spanned eight minutes of game time.
The Hoosiers were faced with the daunting task of rallying from a multi-goal deficit to salvage a point at home. They answered with a goal in the 68th minute by graduate student midfielder Jenna Chatterton. Her first goal of the season cut the Indiana deficit in half as Oregon looked to cling to a 3-2 lead over the Hoosiers.
Then, with less than ten minutes to play, senior midfielder Olivia Rush delivered for Indiana, netting a beautiful ball for her first goal of the season to pull back even with the Ducks. It was the final goal scored in Sunday’s shootout, and Rush said postgame that she was proud of how Indiana responded to the two-goal deficit it faced in the second half.
“Coming down from 3-1 to get both goals back was just really nice,” Rush said. “I have so much belief in this group, so I knew we would get a point out of this one today.”
Following Sunday’s result, the Hoosiers are still looking for their first Big Ten win of the season. Now sitting at 3-4-4 overall and 0-2-3 in conference play, Indiana has the week to prepare for a trip to Purdue. It will face the Boilermakers at 7 p.m. Friday at Folk Field in West Lafayette.
