INDIANAPOLIS - IUPUI head women's soccer coach Chris Johnson challenged his squad at halftime. After outshooting the visitors from Cleveland State (1-3-0) 8-5 in the opening 45 minutes, his squad went into the locker room scoreless for the fourth straight time to start the year.

The end result was two goals in the first nine minutes of the second half and a 2-1 win over the Vikings at Kuntz Stadium on Sunday afternoon. Junior forward Angie Pilat scored in the game's 47th and 49th minutes for her first two tallies of the season.

Stacy Downing and Sheri Levack set the table for the first goal. Downing shifted a pass to Levack at the top of the 18-yard box, who carried the ball toward the goal, angling to her left. Levack then played a short cross to Pilat, who one-timed the pass past CSU goalkeeper Erin Withrow for the game's first score. 

Just over two minutes later, Pilat added the eventual game-winner. This time, Downing played a ball to Pilat, who handled the dirty work from there. After originally struggling to control the pass, she recovered, beat a defender and sent a shot past Withrow for her first career multi-goal game.

"It felt good (to score the goals), and it really got our confidence going," Pilat said.

CSU crawled back into contention thanks to a flurry against the IUPUI defense and freshman goalkeeper Jamie Farrell. After a long ball was played into the IUPUI box, Ashley Walchack put a shot on goal that Farrell stopped. The rebound came back to Walchack, who put a second shot on goal, that #J.J. King# cleared off the back line for her second team save of the match. 

Shayna Back ended the rush when she booted her fourth goal of the season into the open net. 

IUPUI (2-1-1) kept the pressure on late in the second half, but was unable to add insurance. Withrow made four saves in goal for CSU, while Farrell and senior Jessie Mann combined to make two saves, while each benefited from one of King's team saves.

"I told them (at halftime) nothing is going to come easy for us, we have to go out and work for it," Johnson said. "If we have to challenge them every game, then that's what we have to do."

Fortunately for Johnson and the Jags, they were able to get the win despite senior forward Mia Moody and junior defender Lisa Gebhard missing the match to injuries. 

"That right there depicts the difference between this year and last year," Johnson said. "Last year when Lisa (Gebhard) went down, we flat out struggled to find a back to replace her and it disrupted everything else we tried to do.

"This year, we've had two people step up and fill in and didn't miss a beat. I thought Jen Scorniaenchi and Kat (McCrory) stepped in and did some really good stuff for us today."

After a four-match home stand to open the season, IUPUI will now trek to Fargo, North Dakota to compete in the four-team Bison Invitational Tournament next weekend. The Jags will face host North Dakota State on Friday, before battling South Dakota State on Sunday. Both schools accepted invitations to join the Mid-Continent Conference this past week and will be eligible for league play next season.