Coming into Sunday’s match against Michigan, Indiana women’s soccer sat 11th in the Big Ten, just one spot behind the Wolverines. The Big Ten tournament features the top 10 teams in the conference, so the Hoosiers had a real opportunity to jump into the top 10 with a win. However, Indiana squandered a 2-0 second-half lead, drawing Michigan 2-2 to remain at 11th in the conference standings.
The Hoosiers (4-4-6, 1-2-5 Big Ten) opened the scoring in the 14th minute as sophomore midfielder Maggie Ledwith found junior midfielder Paige Droner, who poked the ball into the bottom right corner to give Indiana a 1-0 lead. It was Droner’s first career goal in her first-ever start for the Hoosiers, who took a 1-0 lead into halftime.
Just six minutes into the second half, Indiana added to its lead as Ledwith broke away from the Michigan defense and fired a shot past senior goalkeeper Sophie Homan for her team-high fifth goal of the season. Ledwith has now recorded goals in back-to-back games for the Hoosiers after scoring the game-winning goal against Northwestern last Thursday.
With a 2-0 second-half lead, Indiana was on its way to picking up their second-straight victory in conference play. However, Michigan (5-7-3, 2-3-3 Big Ten) stormed back to earn a home draw against the Hoosiers, as senior forward Kali Burrell scored in the 62nd minute to cut the deficit in half, and again in the 83rd minute to tie things up at two. The Wolverines had a shot at taking the lead in the 89th minute, but graduate student goalkeeper Sally Rainey made a save at the center of the net to keep the match tied and prevent further damage.
Following Sunday’s draw with Michigan, Indiana will head to East Lansing to close out road conference play against the Michigan State Spartans Thursday at 7 p.m.
