Box Score

INDIANAPOLIS - Junior Leslie Walker found the back of the net for the first time in 2008 and the defense posted a shutout as the IUPUI women's soccer team collected a hard earned 1-0 victory over North Dakota State at Kuntz Stadium on Sunday afternoon. 

The win pulled the Jaguars back to .500 in Summit League play and capped a string of four straight games at Kuntz Stadium as the Jags went 2-2 during that span. 

Walker scored her second career goal as sophomore Natalie Holland notched her first-ever assist on the play. Holland served a free kick from the left side into the middle of the box, where Walker headed a shot past NDSU (3-6-2, 0-1-1 Summit) goalkeeper Kalani Bertsch in the 75th minute.

"It was a fantastic goal," IUPUI Head Coach Chris Johnson said. "Natalie did a nice job of playing the ball in and Leslie was able to get on the other end of it.

Sophomore Amanda Snyder set up the free kick, drawing a foul deep in NDSU territory.

At the other end of the field, IUPUI (4-5-0, 1-1-0 Summit) goalkeeper Jamie Farrell made six saves to register her third shutout of the season. 

"Jamie made a couple nice saves in the first half," Johnson said. "We started out with three in the back and went to a 4-4-2 in the second half. I thought Kelly Williams did a really good job of just running things down and keeping people in front of her. She was the fastest player on the field and did a really nice job today."

The game was a back-and-forth affair from the outset as both teams had seven first half shots. However, NDSU enjoyed a 4-0 advantage in corner kicks in the first 45 minutes. The Jaguars didn't earn a corner kick until the 56th minute, but was unable to muster a shot off the opportunity.

For the match, IUPUI outshot NDSU 15-12 as Holland, who has recently asserted herself within the offensive attack, took a team-high five attempts. Laura Murphy led NDSU with five shots, four of which were on goal.

"Natalie's done a good job for us all year," Johnson said. "She's getting more and more comfortable winning balls and has done a good job of getting us in our attack."

A physical affair from the outset, the run of play was marred by 24 total fouls and four cards, all of which came in the final 23 minutes. North Dakota State was whistled for 15 fouls to IUPUI's nine.

"They were good at initiating contact," Johnson said. "They're just a really physical team. Every time we played the ball to our forwards, they were just hammering them."

IUPUI continues a string of three straight Summit League games on Friday when it heads up I-69 to take on IPFW. Kickoff is slated for 7:30 p.m..