Indiana Battles to Draw with No. 13 Penn State

Thursday, October 6

Bloomington, Ind.

7:00 PM

Indiana University

5-7-2,2-3-1B1G

Penn State

8-2-3,4-0-2B1G

OT 1

OT 2

Penn State

Indiana

10/6/2016 11:56:00 PM | Women's Soccer

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BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Indiana Women's Soccer battled to a 1-1 draw against No. 13 Penn State on Thursday night at Bill Armstrong Stadium, earning its first point against a ranked conference foe since 2009.

"We've seen our team progress each weekend," said head coach Amy Berbary. "We're starting to believe in ourselves and we're continuing to get better. The younger players are understanding the concepts, they're understanding our style and what we try to do. I'm just proud of them. We fought the entire time and we came out with a result."

The Hoosiers (5-7-2, 2-3-1 Big Ten) had to battle back against the defending national champions early as Penn State (8-2-3, 4-0-2) scored in the eighth minute after Frannie Crouse sent one into the lower right corner off assists from Megan Schafer and Salina Williford.

Indiana out-shot the Nittany Lions in the first half, 5-2, including a pair of looks from sophomore Maya Piper, both of which were off frame. Freshman Allison Jorden got a great look off an Indiana corner kick in the 18^th minute, but her header just went high over the crossbar.

The equalizer for the Hoosiers came off the foot of a Nittany Lion in the 42^nd minute. After freshman Macy Miller served the ball into the box looking for freshman Julia Gilliam, a Penn State defender looking for the clearance clipped it with her foot, sailing it into the top left of the goal past keeper Amanda Dennis.

On the other end of the field, freshman goalkeeper Sarah L'Hommedieu came up big again and again for the Hoosiers, ending the night with seven saves, all of which came after the first half of action. She was tested often with Penn State out-shooting Indiana 18-9, including 12-2 in the second half.

"Sarah was unbelievable tonight with a couple big time reaction saves," said Berbary. "She's gotten better every week and she's getting more and more confident. Our team has so much faith in her and she saved us tonight."

One of her most impressive stops of the night came on a flicked on shot by Crouse, which L'Hommedieu jumped up and parried out of play in the 55^th minute. Just 13 minutes later, L'Hommedieu made a diving save on a point blank shot by Williford from 12 yards out. The Nittany Lions followed up that effort with four consecutive corners, all of which were cleared by the Indiana defense without a single shot being attempted.

The first overtime period featured a pair of shots from redshirt sophomore Mykayla Brown, but both were blocked by Penn State defenders. L'Hommedieu made a trio of saves in the overtime periods to keep the game locked in at 1-1.

"I think it's a huge confidence booster and I think we just have to carry it in to the next game," said redshirt senior defender Marissa Borschke. "We have to keep looking forward and using the same energy and same fight in the next five games that are guaranteed because we want to be in postseason and we want to be playing in November."

Indiana returns to Armstrong Stadium on Sunday afternoon for another battle with a ranked opponent as the Hoosiers host No. 24 Rutgers at 1 p.m. It is the Think Pink game and will feature free keychains in support of breast cancer awareness.