Box Score
Box Score (.html) I Box Score (.pdf) I Photo Gallery I Highlights I Tori Minnich Postgame I Chris Johnson Postgame

INDIANAPOLIS - Sophomore Tori Minnich scored three goals in a 12-minute stretch of the second half on Sunday (Sept. 21) as the IUPUI women's soccer team battled back from a three-goal deficit to capture a 3-3 draw against Indiana State. 

In doing so, Minnich turned in just the sixth hat trick in IUPUI history and the second Jaguar to accomplish the feat in two weeks. Teammate Krissy Kirkhoff also scored three goals in a game earlier this season. 

"We battled the whole game," Minnich said. "We proved to ourselves that we can fight back, we can score the goals and we can create the opportunities. Overall, it just gives us a lot of confidence going into conference.

"The midfielders and forwards who played the balls in to me - they were great balls. They set me up right in front of the goal so a lot of the credit goes to them."

"I'm very proud of how the girls played," IUPUI Head Coach Chris Johnson said. "We dug ourselves a huge hole. The kids could've hung their heads and just kind of mailed it in the rest of the game and our kids did not. Tori Minnich provided a great spark for us out there."

Despite creating a myriad of scoring chances in the first half, the Jaguars trailed 1-0 at the break after ISU's Sydney Loesing scored in the game's 11th minute. Indiana State's Maddie Orf made it 2-0 in the 48th minute and then assisted Natalie Vaught's goal in the 51st minute.

Rather than sulk, the Jaguars immediately got down to business as Minnich scored 42 seconds after Vaught's tally. Sophomore Meghan Day drove a free kick into the ISU penalty box, where Minnich flicked a shot past ISU (2-6-3) goalie Brittany San Roman.

"(Tori) came through at the right moment," Johnson said of Minnich's first score. "She's a great kid - she works hard all the time and just battles and battles and battles. When you have a teammate like that and you can kind of build off what she's doing, it does provide a huge spark for us."

The Jaguars climbed back in the match in the 54th minute when Minnich gathered the ball inside the 18 and drilled a shot off the underside of the crossbar for her fourth tally of the year. Junior Sierra Bryant earned the assist by driving the ball off a defender in the direction of Minnich.

IUPUI came all the way back in the 63rd minute, thanks again to a restart goal. This time, Kalli Shepler-Tucker flared the restart into the teeth of the ISU defense, where Minnich redirected a shot into the upper right-hand corner.

IUPUI (2-5-3), which attempted a season-high 31 shots, kept the heat on including a Day drive that tested San Roman in the 82nd minute. Senior Taylor Heidorn had a quality chance in the second overtime, but hit her shot right at San Roman, who closed with 10 saves.

Freshman goalie Catherine Schmidt capped her nine-save performance by stoning ISU's Emily Chura on a free kick just outside the 18-yard box in the closing seconds of the match.

Vaught led Indiana State with five shots while Kirkhoff's career-high 10 shots tied for the third-highest single-game performance in IUPUI history. Heidorn had five shots and Minnich had four, all on target.

The Jaguars will now open Summit League play on Oct. 3 when they trek to South Dakota State for a 7:00 p.m. kickoff. IUPUI will conclude the two-game trip at North Dakota State on Sunday, Oct. 5.