INDIANAPOLIS - It took a little longer than intended, but the IUPUI women's soccer team collected a 2-0 season opening win over Valparaiso on a rainy Friday night (Aug. 19) at Michael A. Carroll Stadium, thanks to goals from junior Krissy Kirkhoff and senior Tori Minnich. The victory was the first over the Crusaders since 2004, snapped a 10-game winless streak against the Horizon League foe. 

Junior goalie Catherine Schmidt registered her fifth career shutout, collecting seven saves in the victory.

"It's a great start," IUPUI Head Coach Chris Johnson said. "It's still just one game at this point in time, but it's a great start and we're happy to get out of the gates in the right direction.

After both teams waited out a weather delay that pushed the kickoff back more than an hour, both sides had first half scoring opportunities, thanks in part to a wet ball and wet turf. However, IUPUI was the only one to strike paydirt when Kirkhoff tallied her 22nd career goal in the 31st minute, thanks to a long lead pass from Hayley Shelton. Shelton set Kirkhoff up on a long breakaway and the Jags' top attacker from a season ago needed to beat just one defender before rolling a shot past VU's goalie from long distance for the game's first score.

"We were a little slow coming out of the gate. We had some difficulty settling the ball on the wet surface and making sure that we were going to be able to connect passes. I thought that was pretty bad at the beginning of the game. They capitalized a lot more than we did and just kind of beat us to the 50-50's," Johnson said of the first half. "I was really happy to get on the board there, but it wasn't a great first half for us, that's for sure."

"I did take a huge touch forward and the girl was going in, so that was kind of my chance to get another touch on it," Kirkhoff said of her score. "Going at the keeper, I just toe poked it and I'm lucky it went in."

IUPUI tacked on some early insurance to start the second half when Catherine Raster setup a Minnich header in the game's 50th minute. Raster played superb service from the right side before Minnich redirected a shot inside the right post for her 19th career score and the Jags lone shot on goal after halftime. 

Valpo (0-1) was unlucky on a number occasions, including a near miss less than six minutes into the match. VU's Ava Porlier got a shot past Schmidt, but junior back Leia Peterman cleared the shot off the back line to keep the Crusaders off the board. VU's Natalia Kontul pinged a shot off the crossbar in the 35th minute and Morgan Manzke had back-to-back dangerous left-footed corner kicks late in the half that both sailed just high of target.

Kirkhoff led IUPUI with four shot attempts, putting three on frame, while Raster attempted three shots. April Cronin led VU with a game-high five attempts.

"It feels awesome," Kirkhoff said of the win. "We've been working out butts off in practice. This is one of many, but it's great to get a good start."

IUPUI will cap the two-game weekend when the Jaguars take on Ball State at 2:00 p.m. in Muncie on Sunday afternoon (Aug. 21). Live stats will be available on IUPUIJags.com and photos and a full recap will be online immediately afterwards.