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Hoosiers Fall 2-1
to Northwestern in Big Ten Opener
Leigh Anne Cummings scored
her first goal of the season in the 11th minute
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Indiana opened Big Ten play
on Friday night at Armstrong Stadium with a 2-1 loss at
the hands of Northwestern (5-3-2, 1-0-0 Big Ten).
Senior Leigh Anne Cummings scored the IU goal in the
11th minute to give the Hoosiers a lead, only to see the
Wildcats rally for the win.
“I thought we played some of our best soccer of the
season in the first half tonight,” Indiana head coach
Mick Lyon said after the game. “But we just did not
finish the opportunities we had tonight.”
Cummings continued the Hoosiers (4-5-1, 0-1-0 Big Ten)
recent trend of scoring early when she deposited a shot
from outside the box inside the near post following a
designed play out of a corner kick. Instead of sending
the ball into the six-yard box, Samp sent the corner
kick to a wide open Cummings and she took care of the
rest. The assist was the third of the year for Samp as
she moved into a tie for the team lead in points with
13.
Indiana had little time to celebrate the goal because NU
was on the attack and a ball sent in hard on goal by
Kate Allen just 16 seconds later evened the score at
1-1.
Indiana made one last push before halftime and the ball
found the dangerous right foot of Orianica Velasquez,
but NU goalkeeper Carolyn Edwards made a diving save to
her left and the rebound was cleared out as the halftime
horn sounded.
The Hoosiers had eight shots in the first half to four
for Northwestern while the Wildcats drew five corner
kicks in the opening stanza to just three for Indiana.
Northwestern then took advantage of a poor clearing
attempt by the IU defense and a centering pass from Bo
Podkopacz found Jill Dun 15 yards out on the right and
she beat IU freshman goalkeeper Shannon Flower to the
near post for her first goal of the year and the
eventual game-winner.
In the final third of the game, Indiana had their best
look at the equalizer when Kaylin Clow, Jocelyn Moses
and Darby Hannon each had chances inside the box but the
NU defense and goalkeeper Edwards were up to the task
and turned away all three chances.
Indiana wraps up its eight-game homestand on Sunday
against Wisconsin at 1:00 p.m. at Armstrong Stadium.
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