Indiana University Athletics
Indiana University
Northwestern
IU Opens Up Big Ten Play on the Road with Northwestern, Illinois
9/14/2016 10:24:00 AM | Women's Soccer
WATCHING THE WILDCATS
The Wildcats are a perfect 7-0-0 on the season and have registered six shutouts while allowing just one goal on the year. Northwestern is outscoring opponents by a total of 13-1 and hold a 114-46 advantage in shots. Last weekend, Northwestern picked up 1-0 victories against Illinois State and Marquette. Brenna Lovera has netted four goals this season, while Maddy Lucas and Kassidy Gorman have each scored twice. Junior goalkeeper Lauren Clem has played every minute for the Wildcats, gathering 15 saves with a 0.14 goals against average. The Wildcats have spent much of the season ranked and received votes in this week's NSCAA Coaches Poll.
IU holds an 11-10-3 advantage in the series. Last season, the teams played to a 1-1 draw after the Hoosiers found an equalizer in the 79th minute of action.
AGAINST THE ILLINI
Illinois wrapped up its non-conference slate with a 3-5-0 mark, finding wins against Morehead State, Illinois State and Evansville. Summer Schafer has scored twice for the Illini while five others have found the back of the net once. In goal, Michelle Denley (21 saves, 0.81 goals against average) and Claire Wheatley (7 saves, 1.53 goals against average) have split time between the pipes.
Last season, the teams battled to a scoreless draw in Bloomington. Illinois holds a 5-11-4 series lead.
LAST TIME OUT
Indiana visited Blacksburg, Va. over the weekend for the Virginia Tech Invitational. The Hoosiers fell to the No. 18-ranked Hokies, 3-0, but came away with a 4-2 victory against JMU on Sunday. In the win against the Dukes, the Hoosiers saw two goals from redshirt sophomore Mykayla Brown and a score from junior Kayla Smith and sophomore Caroline Dreher in the largest offensive output for the program since Sept. 5, 2014. The turning point of the game came in a flurry activity as each team scored a pair of goals in a span of two minutes and 46 seconds. Brown's gamewinner came 59 seconds after Dreher tied the game at 2-2 in the 26th minute.
THAT'S A (NON-CONFERENCE) WRAP
With the two games at Virginia Tech, Indiana ended non-conference action with a 3-4-1 mark. Highlights from the first part of the schedule include:
•Victories against three 2015 NCAA Tournament teams and conference champions (Butler, Northern Colorado and JMU).
•Career firsts: Dreher netted her first goal on the gamewinner against Butler on Aug. 26. Freshmen Meghan Scott (against Northern Colorado on Aug. 28) and Julia De Angelis (against JMU on Sept. 11) recorded their first career point on assists.
•What Would L'Hommedieu: Freshmen goalkeeper Sarah L'Hommedieu has 38 saves on the year in seven starts. After a pair of shutouts against Butler and Northern Colorado, she was named Big Ten Defensive Player and Freshman of the Week on Aug. 30
•L'Hommedieu is second in the conference in saves, as well as saves per game with 5.40.
GOOOOOOOOOOAL
The Hoosiers have netted 10 goals this season from seven different players. Brown leads the way with three goals while Dreher has two. Cassidy Blacha, Veronica Ellis, Annelie Leitner, Maya Piper and Kayla Smith have each found the back of the net this season. Indiana's 10 goals and eight assists has the Hoosiers with 28 points through eight games, tying the total mark from all 19 games last season. IU has 11 different players with at least one point on the season, also tying last year's total.
FRESHMEN MAKING AN IMPACT
IU has seen an immediate impact from its 11-member freshmen class. Over the weekend, a season-high six freshmen got the start - Chandra Davidson, De Angelis, Allison Jorden, Macy Miller, Scott and L'Hommedieu. Miller, a native of Carmel, Ind. leads the team in shots with 13 and shots on goal with seven. Scott, a native of Ontario, Canada, leads the Hoosiers in assists with two.
WHAT'S AHEAD IN 2016?
The 2016 schedule features 11 total games against participants in the 2015 NCAA Tournament and nine opponents who finished last season ranked in the top 50 of the RPI.
The non-conference portion of the slate included eight games, with six opponents advancing to the tournament last year and four winning their conference championship.
Big Ten play sees Indiana face off against five NCAA Tournament teams from a year ago, including National Champion Penn State and Women's College Cup semifinalist Rutgers.
In the latest NSCAA Poll, five of Indiana's 2016 opponents are ranked - No. 10 Minnesota, No. 16 Penn State, No. 17 Virginia Tech, No. 19 Ohio State and No. 22 Rutgers.
