The University of Indianapolis women’s soccer team finished their first GLVC weekend on the road with a 0-1 loss to Missouri S &T on Sept. 21.
Sophomore goalkeeper Emma Crenshaw made her first appearance in the goal with six saves before the Miners made the first and only goal of the game at the 74th minute.
Prior to the loss, the Greyhounds faced the Drury Panthers on Sept. 19 which resulted in a 1-1 tie.
Senior Katie Johnston scored at the 36th minute of the game and senior goalkeeper Megan Fee made three saves until the Panthers scored with three minutes left in regulation. The Greyhounds had several shots on goal, but could not break the tie.
UIndy took its second loss of the season against the visiting Rockhurst University Hawks, losing 1-0 in the Greyhounds’ second conference match of the season on Sunday Sept. 14, at Key Stadium.
Fee took the loss in goal, holding off 30 shots from the Hawks before Rockhurst scored in the 76th minute to take the lead. Despite their best efforts, the Greyhounds could not tie the match before the end of regulation, even with a close shot off the crossbar that came from junior midfielder/back Kiara Elliott in the 87th minute.
A few days prior, the Greyhounds played in their first Great Lakes Valley Conference match of the season on Friday, Sept. 12, at Key Stadium against the William Jewell College Cardinals, which ended in a 2-2 tie.
The Greyhounds struck first against the Cardinals with Johnston’s first goal of the season during the 25th minute, but after a miscue during a late free kick before the half, the Cardinals tied the match with seconds remaining. The second half was a competitive battle for the Greyhounds as they gave up another goal during the 64th minute, placing them in a trailing position, 2-1. UIndy did not buckle under pressure, however, and tied the game 2-2, with 22 seconds remaining in regulation. Following two scoreless overtime periods, the match ended in a draw.
Heading into halftime during that match, the Cardinals had all the momentum after the last-second tying goal. Following the tie, Head Women’s Soccer Coach Kiley Cirillo said that he wished certain moments had gone differently during that half.
“Honestly, the last minute of the first half I want back,” he said. “What we said as a staff was we got real tight and just forgot what we were supposed to be doing.”
Senior midfielder Katie Crump said she also wished the first half had gone differently, as well.
“It’s never a good feeling,” she said. “We kind of dropped our heads for a second, but at halftime we all picked each other up. We knew we were playing well and didn’t let it [the last goal of the first half] get to us.”
The Greyhounds continued fighting to tie up the score during the remainder of the second half, and as time dwindled down, the Cardinals made a crucial mistake with a handle ball that led to a Greyhound free kick. With 22 seconds remaining on the clock, sophomore forward/midfielder Liz Behrends drilled a shot to tie the match and force overtime.
According to Cirillo, the Hounds were extremely confident in Behrends’ ability to make the shot.
“Yesterday after practice, she spent about 30 minutes hitting that exact ball from that exact spot. She took about 30 shots,” he said. “My confidence level for her to do it was very high.”
Crump said she also was confident in the shot.
“Once she struck that ball everyone knew it was going in,” she said. “It was an indescribable feeling.”
Despite the Hounds best efforts in overtime to try and take the lead, they ended with the 2-2 draw.
“[It was] not the result we wanted with the tie, but at the same time it’s a point in the GLVC, and we showed a lot of character,” Cirillo said. “ We showed a lot of belief that we are the better team. I thought we did a pretty good job.”
UIndy’s next match will take place on Friday, Sept. 26, at McKendree University and is set to get underway at 6 p.m.
