INDIANAPOLIS - An inexperienced women's soccer team struggled to gets its offense going in a 3-0 loss to Northern Iowa at Kuntz Stadium on Friday night. UNI got a very early goal from Amy Seubert and a pair of second half scores from Chelsie Hochstedler as the Panthers outshot the Jaguars 23-8 on the evening.
The loss dropped the Jaguars to 0-4 on the young season, all of which coming by shutout.
UNI got all the offense it would need just 4:51 into the game when Seubert lofted a free kick from 30 yards out over the head of sophomore goalkeeper Jamie Farrell. From there, a deflated IUPUI squad feel victim to a relentless Northern Iowa (2-2-1) attack that forced Farrell to gather a career-high 12 saves in defeat.
"We're at a fragile point right now," IUPUI head coach Chris Johnson said. "We really need some more energy and enthusiasm from our seniors right now. It's not like we're not getting leadership from them, but we need more.
"We're relying on a lot of freshmen right now, and they're looking for leadership out there."
IUPUI nearly got the break it needed early in the second half while trailing just 1-0. Junior #J.J. King# chipped a ball into the box from the left flank that bounced in front of UNI goalkeeper Heidi O'Mara and then over her head. Unfortunately, no Jaguar was able to get on the finishing end of the ball, allowing O'Mara to dive on top of the free ball just before it crossed the end line.
"We need that one play to go our way and help change a game our direction," Johnson said. "It's going to come around, it just hasn't yet."
Instead, UNI got a fortunate break in the 55th minute when Laura Wagner whipped a cross to the near post on a counter attack. Hochstedler beat Farrell to the ball and had it glance off of her body, just inside the right post for a 2-0 lead.
Hochstedler capped the scoring by carrying the ball over 40 yards before beating Farrell in a one-on-one situation inside the box with just under 18 minutes left.
Wagner paced UNI with four shot attempts while three different Panthers attempted three. Sophomore midfielder Katrina McCrory led the Jaguars with two attempts. Johnson praised the play of sophomore forward Leslie Walker and Stephanie Hoffman as well.
"I thought Leslie did some really good things up top," Johnson said. "We're just struggling to find the right combination of people on the field at the same time."
IUPUI will take the remainder of the weekend off before returning to action next week. The Jaguars will play at Indiana State on Wednesday night in Terre Haute before heading to Youngstown State on Friday.
