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Indiana and Kent State
Battle to 1-1 Draw
Orianica Velasquez scored less than two minutes
to provide the IU offense
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. Sophomore forward Orianica
Velasquez scored less than two minutes in for Indiana
but Kent State found the equalizer in the second half to
force a 1-1 tie at Armstrong Stadium on Friday night.
Indiana outshot Kent State, 17-6 in the game but could
not break through with the go-ahead goal.
It was great to get off to a fast start, head coach
Mick Lyon said. We talked about it before the game
that a fast start would really help our cause and Ori
made a tremendous strike to put us out in front early.
Just over a minute into the game, Kent State (1-2-3)
cleared a ball into the Indiana (3-4-1) defensive third
of the field to Kerri Krawczak. The junior defender
played the ball ahead to Velasquez in the IU attacking
third, where she stopped on a dime and moved the ball
back to her right foot. As she started back towards the
middle of the field just inside the top left corner of
the box, she fired a rocket towards the far post, just
out of the reach of KSU goalkeeper Kelly Sherwood for
her fourth goal of the year at the 1:45 mark in the
first half.
It was the second time this season that Indiana has
scored within the first two minutes of the game, as
Carly Samp did so against Evansville in the season
opener. The assist for Krawczak was just the second of
her career with the first coming in her freshman season.
Indiana continued to control play in the first half and
the defense was up to any challenge that Kent State
mounted. When the first half ended, Indiana had a 8-1
advantage in shots and Sherwood was forced to make three
saves.
In the second half, Kent State tied the game at 1-1 at
the 56:00 mark when Kelly Heaton got behind the IU
defense on a pass from Vanessa Salerno and scored her
second goal of the season.
The Hoosiers went right back on the attack and kept
putting shots towards the Kent State goal, however none
were able to find the back of the net. Perhaps the best
chance to regain the lead came when Rebecca Candler beat
the KSU defender along the endline and rolled a pass to
the right foot of Chloe McKay waiting in the box, but
the ball rolled over her foot before it was cleared by
the Golden Flashes defense.
As similar play happened later in the contest when Leigh
Anne Cummings entered the left side of the box and put a
nice pass to the feet of Velasquez, but the ball bounced
over her foot and she was not able to corral it in time
to get a solid shot on goal.
Both teams put together solid chances in the overtime
sessions but Sherwood was up to the task in goal for KSU
and the IU defenders clamped down as well to keep the
Flashes out of the goal.
Lauren Hollandsworth went the distance in goal for IU
and did not have to make a save, meanwhile Sherwood made
seven saves in goal for Kent State.
Indiana will conclude non-conference play on Sunday at
Armstrong Stadium against Central Michigan at 1:00 p.m.
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