Indiana University Athletics
IU Encouraged by Second Half Outburst
8/21/2015 11:13:00 PM | Women's Soccer
After struggling to find their feet early, the Hoosiers' offense came alive in the second half against the Hokies. And after spending the majority of the 2014 season struggling to find offense, Friday's new-found attack was a welcome change.
"We were much more creative in the final third than we have been from last year, and that's something we've been working on," Berbary said. "It's too bad it took us a little while to get started."
Indiana registered seven shots in the second half alone, five of which were on goal.
Unfortunately for Indiana, by the time the Hoosiers found their rhythm they were already down two goals and running out of time.
IU's lone score came on a 20-yarder off the foot of senior midfielder Jessie Bujouves in the 79th minute that cut Indiana's deficit in half.
"It was just a good shot," Bujouves said. "I think we regrouped in the locker room and sorted out some of the issues that we had and came back with more energy.
Bujouves' goal was the breakthrough Indiana seemed poised to make. The Hoosiers consistently threatened the Virginia Tech goal throughout the second half by controlling the ball enough and forcing the Hokies back on their heels.
"We had really good leadership in every line," Berbary said. "We just had a flowing front three, which I think helped. The way that we defended together and then sprung out of it I think was the best we've been in a while."
Nowhere was that more evident than in the 73rd minute when freshman forward Abby Allen created a scoring opportunity on her own by chasing down a loose ball around the midfield, outracing everyone on the field down the line and just barely missing a shot wide left of goal.
Allen provided a spark off the Indiana bench with two shots on the night that left her veteran teammates impressed.
"As a freshman playing in your first game at home, it's really tough," Bujouves said. "She really did a great job in her first game and was very composed."
Indiana will look to carry over its momentum offensively into Sunday's game against SIU-Edwardsville.
Although Friday night's result wasn't what the Hoosiers were looking for, they seemed to rediscover an attack that wasn't always consistent enough on last year's team.
And after stressing the attack all offseason, that's an encouraging sign.
"We definitely had a lot more fight," sophomore forward Kayla Smith said. She led the Hoosiers with three shots on goal and six total.
"It really makes me excited for the season and have very high hopes for the team."
