Indiana University Athletics
Hoosier Women Battle Illinois and Iowa at Home
10/19/2005 12:00:00 AM | Women's Soccer
Illinois and Iowa Game Notes in PDF Format
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Oct. 19, 2005
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - The Indiana women's soccer team begins its three-game homestand with Illinois on Friday, Oct. 14, followed by Iowa on Sunday, Oct. 16. The Hoosiers finish their regular season against Purdue on Thursday, Oct. 27.
"It is going to be another exciting weekend of Big Ten soccer," head coach Mick Lyon said. "Illinois and Iowa are a couple of good solid teams that will come out ready to play."
•HEAD COACH Mick Lyon's PREVIEW AGAINST ILLINOIS•
"We are still in a crunch situation and are looking for some wins this weekend," Lyon said. "Illinois is an attractive team to watch and they play the game well. Illinois will look to attack the ball and will make it a great battle on Friday."
•HEAD COACH Mick Lyon's PREVIEW AGAINST IOWA•
"Iowa has had some struggles all year and has not gotten the better of the results so far," Lyon said. "With that said, they are a Big Ten team and are a team that will play 90 minutes. Iowa pushes the ball until the final whistle and plays tough for the entire match."
•LAST TIME OUT•
The Indiana women's soccer team had what it took to top the Wisconsin Badgers, 2-1, as freshman forward Molly Kruger and senior midfielder Kristen Zmijewski tallied goals in the Hoosiers' last outing. IU rebounded from a heartbreaking loss to Northwestern two days prior to dominate the Badgers for a much-needed victory.
"This is perhaps the best game of Hoosier soccer I have seen all season," head coach Mick Lyon said. "It was a tremendous effort by the Hoosier women. In the first half, we did an outstanding job of attacking the ball and just destroyed Wisconsin. In the second, Wisconsin stepped up its offense and we had an outstanding effort from all of our defense to limit them to just one goal."
Kruger notched the game's first goal off a serve from sophomore forward Suzie Teixeira in the 29th minute of action. The goal, Kruger's second, and the assist, Teixeira's second, sent the Hoosiers into the locker room with a 1-0 lead.
On the statistics sheet, the Hoosiers trailed the Badgers, 17-9 in shots and 7-3 in corners, but needed only two shots on goal to defeat the Badgers.
The second half again saw the Hoosiers dominate their half of the field.
Zmijewski, who now owns five goals and leads IU in the category, sent in the game winner for the Hoosiers in the 77th minute.
Senior Lauren Fabbro had an outstanding day in goal for the Hoosiers with a game- and season-high seven saves in the victory.
•SCOUTING ILLINOIS•
The Hoosiers are 2-4-2 overall against the Fighting Illini, with their first meeting coming in 1997. Indiana has defeated UI once at home (1997, 2-0) and tied Illinois once (0-0, 2OT) in 1999 on its home field. The two teams fought to a 1-1 tie in Champaign, Ill., in their last outing, while IU lost four straight previous to last year's draw.
Illinois is coming off one of its best defensive efforts against Michigan State as it tied State, 0-0, at the Illinois Soccer Stadium. Lindsey Carstens collected a career-high six saves as the Illini registered their fifth shutout of the season and first since Sept. 16. It is only the fourth time all season MSU has been shut out.
•SCOUTING IOWA•
Indiana is 4-4-0 overall against the Hawkeyes. IU has won the last three meetings against Iowa, out-scoring the Hawkeyes 5-1 in the process. In the last two outings, Indiana has scored only one goal on U of I, winning both matches 1-0. This is the second straight year the two teams will face each other in Bloomington.
Iowa suffered a heartbreaking loss to Michigan in its last outing, 4-1. The Wolverines used two second-half goals to down the Hawkeyes. Stephanie Hyink tallied the goal for Iowa, while Jamie Maltman recorded the assist.
•IN THE CLUTCH•
The Hoosier women have won two or more of their last three regular-season matches seven times in program history. Indiana hopes to use its ability to play in crunch situations to earn its eighth overall trip to the Big Ten tournament.
•SENIOR STYLE•
Senior Kristen Zmijewski, who leads the team in goals and points with five and 12, respectively, tallied her first game winner in the Hoosiers' win against Wisconsin. The goal came late in the game to give the Hoosiers their second win in Big Ten play and first on the road.
Senior Courtney O'Bryan notched her first career goal against Ohio State (10/7/05) to equalize the match, 2-2, against the Buckeyes. Ohio State went on to win the affair 3-2 off a late goal in the Big Ten matchup. O'Bryan's goal marked the second time a back has tallied a goal this season as fellow senior Robin Barker netted one against Bowling Green (9/18/05).
•ILLINOIS' ROAD WOES•
Illinois is 2-4-2 on the road this season, with its last win away from home coming against Ohio State (9/30). Previous to that win, the Fighting Illini found success against San Francisco (9/11) in a 2-0 defeat. The Illini have lost on the road twice in the month of October (Penn State, Minnesota), while the Hoosiers hope to keep Illinois' losing ways on the road going as the teams meet this Friday in Bloomington.
•A LOOK AT IOWA'S SCHEDULE•
There are two non-conference teams in common between Indiana and Iowa. Iowa fell to both Iowa State, in its intra-state rivalry, and Missouri in the Big Ten/Big 12 Challenge. Indiana had the same fate against Missouri falling 2-0, but topped Iowa State, 1-0, with its first goal of the season from freshman forward Molly Beckwith.
In Big Ten action, IU topped Michigan in its previous outing with the Wolverines (9/30), 2-1, at Yeagley Field on Armstrong Stadium, while the Hawkeyes recently fell to the Wolverines, 4-1, at home. Indiana also found success against Wisconsin (2-1), while the Hawkeyes tied the Badgers, 2-2, in double overtime.
•DEFENDING HOME•
Indiana has three home matches left in the 2005 regular season, needing at least two wins to make the Big Ten tournament.
In the way for the Hoosiers are Illinois, Iowa and Purdue. The last time the Hoosiers had three consecutive home matches this season (Xavier, Butler and Bowling Green), IU went 3-0. Indiana looks to repeat the performance to make its second Big Ten tournament in the last three years.
•EIGHT IS A CROWD•
The Hoosiers have become what head coach Mick Lyon called, "a multi-headed monster," as Indiana has scored from every position on the field, minus goalie.
Senior back Courtney O'Bryan recently joined the Hoosier scoring brigade by notching her first career goal against Ohio State (10/7/05) in the Hoosiers' 3-2 loss.
Seniors back Robin Barker (1) and midfielder Kristen Zmijewski (5), junior forward Megan Pipkens (1), sophomores forward Kristin Radcliffe (3) and midfielder Katy Stewart (1) and freshmen forward Molly Beckwith (1) and midfielder Molly Kruger (1) round out the 2005 scorers.
•RANK AND FILE•
For the first time in three tries, the Hoosiers dethroned a ranked opponent in No. 22 Michigan. At Yeagley Field at Armstrong Stadium, Indiana battled to a 2-1 victory against the Wolverines on Sept. 30 for its first win against a ranked foe. This is the highest ranked opponent to fall at the Hoosiers' hands since Mick Lyon took the reigns of the program four years ago.
Last year, the Hoosiers took down then-No. 24 Auburn (Sept.11, 2004) before tying then-No. 24 Illinois (Oct. 17, 2004), 1-1, in Big Ten action.
•LARGE AND IN CHARGE•
Senior Kristen Zmijewski was named the 2005 team captain for the Hoosiers and has taken the role to heart. As an on- and off-the-field leader, Zmijewski has led the Hoosiers to a 6-8-1 record on the season, while scoring five of IU's 16 goals and two assists in 2005.
Zmijewski currently leads the team in points with 12, and entered the IU record books with 13 goals in her career to rank tied for sixth all-time. The Aurora, Ill., native also ranks tied for sixth in game-winning goals, with five in her career.
•SHUTTING OUT THE COMPETITION•
The Hoosiers have held an opponent scoreless three times in the 2005 campaign, the first coming in a 0-0 tie against Loyola Marymount in the season opener, followed by a 1-0 victory against the Iowa State Cyclones. The most recent shutout came against Bowling Green, as the Hoosiers handed the Falcons a 2-0 defeat at home.
•FOUNTAIN OF YOUTH•
Freshman Molly Beckwith and Molly Kruger have teamed to be two of IU's most talented feet on the field. Beckwith (a goal and two assists) currently has four points to her name on the season, while Kruger has tallied a team-best three assists and two goals, leads all Hoosiers with 41 shots and 18 on goal and is tied for second on the roster with seven points. Kruger also recently scored her second career goal against Wisconsin in the Hoosiers first Big Ten road win of the 2005 campaign.
Kruger has started every match for Indiana at the midfield or forward position, while Beckwith has remained a solid reserve at forward, registering action in every game as a valuable substitute.
•THE BARKER FILE•
Recently against Northwestern (10/14), senior Robin Barker notched five shots for the Hoosiers in their 1-0 loss to the Wildcats in Evanston, Ill., the highest mark for a back this season. Barker scored her third game-winning goal of her career against Bowling Green Sept. 18 to rank 10th all-time in the category. The Brownsburg, Ind., native has scored six goals over her four year career, all coming from the back position. The senior has been able to turn the solid IU defense, which has turned out three shutouts so far this season, into a formidable offense.
•BIG TEN ACCOLADES•
Sophomore defender Beverly Markwort earned Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week honors for the week ending Sept. 16 announced the conference. This recognition is Markwort's first-career conference honor, while it is Indiana's first selection since senior goalkeeper Lauren Fabbro garnered defensive honors on Sept. 27, 2004.
Markwort earned the conference accolade by contributing to a back unit that led Indiana to a 2-0 weekend. The sophomore defender led an Indiana defense that allowed just six shots on goal over the weekend, and 10 shots overall over two matches. The Hoosiers downed Butler, 2-1, on Friday and shutout Bowling Green, 2-0, on Sunday. The victory over Bowling Green is Indiana's third shutout of the season.
•HOOSIER HONORS•
Seniors Kristen Zmijewski and Courtney O'Bryan represented the Indiana Hoosiers on the 11-player Hoosier Classic All-Tournament team, after leading IU to a 1-1 record over at the Classic. Zmijewski, a midfielder, and O'Bryan a defender, made the first ever all-tournament list as IU hosted the inaugural Classic inviting then-No.18 ranked Marquette, Miami (Fla.) and Xavier for the event. Marquette took home the tournament title with a 2-0 record, while Miami (1-1) finished second, followed by Indiana (1-1) and Xavier (0-2) in third and fourth.
•GOOD GOLLY MISS MOLLY•
It was the freshmen duo of Molly Beckwith and Molly Kruger who teamed up to notch the Hoosiers' first goal of the season against Iowa State (9/11). The feat came in the 37th minute of action against the Cyclones, as Beckwith moved toward the goal, collecting a dish from Kruger to knock the ball in for Beckwith and Kruger's first collegiate goal and assist, respectively. IU, which had gone scoreless in its first four contests, could not be denied in its offensive domination of Iowa State, posting a 13 to four shot advantage.
