It was a tough week for Indiana, as the Hoosiers dropped two one-score games on the road to Saint Louis (1-0), and Bellarmine (2-1), respectively. In 2024, goals were hard to come by for IU, and it was much of the same to start 2025 outside of a 6-1 opening-night victory over Youngstown State.
However, with Indiana returning home to Bill Armstrong Stadium Thursday night, a place in which they have yet to lose this season, the Hoosiers got the offensive spark they needed from freshman defender Grace Hamm. Thanks to Hamm’s pair of goals, IU remained undefeated at home with a 2-2 draw against No. 24 Xavier.
Early on, Xavier controlled the ball offensively on Indiana’s end of the pitch but was only able to fire off a single shot. Then, in the 20th minute, sophomore midfielder Maggie Ledwith found Hamm in the box, who converted her first of the season with her right foot into the back corner of the net to give the Hoosiers a 1-0 lead.
The Musketeers quickly responded, as Elin Hansson scored in the 24th minute to tie things up at one goal apiece. It ended up being two unanswered goals as Xavier took a 2-1 lead in the 62nd minute on an own goal following a corner kick.
But in the 63rd minute, Xavier was whistled for a handball, which meant a penalty kick would give Indiana an opportunity to tie things up again. And it was none other than Hamm who stepped up to the plate for the Hoosiers, taking advantage of a wide-open left side of the net to make it a 2-2 game.
First-year head coach Josh Rife, who came from Ball State and is now coaching for the university he played for in college, had high praise for the freshman out of San Marcos, California.
“It was a great, great showing for her,” Rife said of Hamm. “Just a glimpse of hopefully her future moving forward is that she’s only a freshman and can contribute in that way. It’s exciting to know what her future could look like.”
In terms of the stat sheet, the Musketeers dominated the game. Xavier tallied 21 shots over 90 minutes, compared to just three for Indiana, and totaled six corner kicks while the Hoosiers finished with one. This made it even more impressive that IU was able to come away with a draw against a team who had outscored its opponents 15-2 in the previous three contests.
“There were some tactical things that we asked them to do which have just been a little bit different from past games,” Rife said. “They’re a real coachable group. We went and earned that point today. I’m really proud of the group.”
The 2-2 draw with Xavier moves Indiana to 2-2-1 on the season, and the Hoosiers will close out non-conference play as they host their second MAC opponent of the season in the Ohio Bobcats this Sunday. Kickoff is scheduled for 1 p.m. and IU will be celebrating its senior class as it will be Senior Day at Bill Armstrong Stadium.
Indiana travels to Champaign next Friday to open Big Ten conference play against the Illinois Fighting Illini.
