The Hoosiers came up with their third straight loss, falling short at home on Thursday night against the Minnesota Golden Gophers 2-1. This comes off the tail of two shutout losses for Indiana, as a late goal from Maggie Ledwith broke the scoring drought for the Hoosiers. Following the loss, head coach Josh Rife claimed the losing streak is in large part due to key moments in the games.
“Still when it mattered, and in critical moments, we’re coming up short on both sides of the field,” Rife said.
The game started out with senior Emily Graham on the attack, as the Hoosier forward had a couple of opportunities in the first eight minutes, but wasn’t able to cash in on either of them. The Hoosiers controlled the game early in the first half, as they had four corner kicks in the first 25 minutes, but did not finish any of them. However, despite four shot attempts in the first half, Indiana couldn’t get the ball in the net. This would be the fifth straight half of soccer without a goal for the Hoosiers.
The backline stood strong in the first half for Indiana. Despite controlling the first part of the half, Minnesota got some momentum late, and an attempt from sophomore Tenley Senden in the 37th minute would’ve given Minnesota a lead at halftime if not for a great save by Dani Jacobson. Because of this save, the game remained scoreless at halftime.
The second half started with some fireworks for the Golden Gophers, as in the 53rd minute, senior Ava Westlund was able to score the first goal of the game, and the fourth of the season for the Minnesota forward.
Not long after, Minnesota had an opportunity to extend their lead, as they were awarded a corner kick in the 57th minute. This was their fifth corner kick of the game, but this time the Golden Gophers were able to pay it off, extending the league to 2-0. The goal came on a beautiful pass from Taylor Hemirel, and a nice header from senior Caroline Birdsell.
The Indiana offense had opportunities throughout the second half to get on the board. In the 61st minute, the Hoosiers got a chance to cash in after a corner kick, but the Minnesota backline was able to block the attempt. Three minutes later Graham found herself with another breakaway look at the goal, but once again couldn’t cash in. Following that, Ledwith had a pair of chances inside the box to break the Hoosiers’ scoreless streak, but two saves from Minnesota goalkeeper Sarah Martin maintained the Gophers’ two-goal advantage.
Minnesota had chances of their own to extend their lead, as in the 72nd minute, Westlund missed just wide right. Then, seven minutes later, following a shot attempt from inside the box, the Gophers were nearly rewarded with a penalty kick after a review, but the call stood, and the score remained 2-0.
Finally, after 265 scoreless minutes for the Hoosier offense, Ledwith was able to break the seal, on a magnificent left footed goal from the left side of the box. This gave Ledwith a team-high four goals on the season, and more importantly gave the Hoosiers a chance to push for a tie late in the game.
Indiana was almost able to capitalize on this opportunity, as Paige Droner found herself with a chance from outside of the box to score the equalizer with under 10 seconds remaining. However, the attempt sailed just wide left, and the Golden Gophers held on to win 2-1.
It doesn’t get easier for the Hoosiers, as they will be back on the road this weekend to face the Northwestern Wildcats on Sunday, who are 2-1-1 thus far in conference play.
