TERRE HAUTE, Ind. - The IUPUI women's soccer team displayed some perseverance on a steamy Sunday afternoon (Aug. 28), scoring a pair of second half goals to steal a win at Indiana State, 2-1. Senior Tori Minnich deposited the game-winner in the 89th minute after Hayley Shelton had pulled IUPUI even in the 58th minute. Sophomore Maryna Clark assisted on both scores, upping her team-high total to four on the year. 

With the win, IUPUI improved to 3-1 to start the season for the first time in school history. 

Minnich's fourth career game-winner came courtesy of a nifty pass from Clark in the closing moments. Freshman Courtney Hodge launched a restart from just inside midfield to the far post where Clark popped a pass back towards the mouth of the goal. From there, the perfectly placed Minnich deposited her third score of the season past ISU goalie Brittany San Roman to send the Jags to a come-from-behind win. 

"We had a lot of bodies in the box at the end for the final goal," Minnich said. "It's great that we had that many people fighting until the final whistle."

"It felt great to get the win," Clark said. "This is always a team that we have to come out hard on. I think we fought hard and did a great job getting in the box and following everything up."

Finishes from in close were the story of the day as all three goals came from point blank range. 

Indiana State (2-2) took a 1-0 lead in the waning minutes of the first half on a score from Kayla Trinka. Similar to the Jaguars' game-winner, ISU had a free kick from just inside midfield aimed towards the middle of the penalty area. Junior goalie Catherine Schmidt was able to knock down an initial header attempt, but Trinka slipped the rebound through traffic for the game's first score. 

The second half belonged to the Jaguars though, beginning with Shelton's third goal in two games tilting the momentum. Clark carried the ball up the left side before sliding a cross into harms way, resulting in Shelton scoring from six yards out. After not scoring a goal in the first 31 matches of her IUPUI career, Shelton has now scored three times in the past two contests. 

The Jags stayed on the attack throughout the second half, leading up to the game-winner. IUPUI closed with a 14-9 shot advantage, paced by Catherine Raster and Clark's three attempts. 

Schmidt cleaned up two saves to collect her third win of the young season. 

Head Coach Chris Johnson shuffled bodies throughout the match as the game time temperature neared 90 degrees and the temperature on the turf was approximately 100 degrees. Senior Maddie Riedford and junior Leia Peterman helped anchor the defensive back, both playing more than 70 minutes in the field in sweltering heat. The Jaguars' depth continued to impress though as IUPUI has now outscored foes 8-1 in the second half this season as opposed to a 5-4 advantage in opening halves. 

"This was a great win for us," said Minnich, who also scored the game-winner in a 2-1 victory over Indiana State last season. "We have lost a lot of close games like this (in the past)."

The Fort Wayne-native now has five career goals against the Sycamores, including netting a hat trick against ISU as a sophomore in 2014. 

IUPUI will hit the road for two matches next week, beginning at Marshall on Friday night (Sept. 2) at 7:00 p.m.. The two-game trip will conclude at VMI on Sunday (Sept. 4).