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INDIANAPOLIS - Freshman Autumn Weeks tallied her first two career goals and junior Valentine Pursey distributed a pair of assists as the IUPUI women's soccer team knocked UIC from the ranks of the league's unbeaten, 2-1 on Wednesday night (Oct. 2). The win was the Jaguars' third-in-a-row and fifth in the past six games. 

UIC fell to 6-3-1 and 2-1 in Horizon League play. 

"It puts us back on track for what we want to accomplish. The girls' goal at the beginning of the season was to win a conference championship. This puts us right back on track to do that," head coach Chris Johnson said.

UIC, which had yielded just four goals in the season's first 10 games, saw Weeks break open the scoring in the 15th minute with her first career strike. Pursey sent freshman Maya Lacognato free towards the right corner, allowing the Jaguar rookie to roll a cross through traffic. The ball went unfettered to Weeks just beyond the six-yard box and the fellow freshman put a shot just under the bar and easily past UIC goalkeeper Lena Kurz, who ranked among the nation's best in goals against average. 

Kurz kept her team in the match with sensational saves against Renae Blevins and Grace Moore later in the half as the Jaguars took a 1-0 lead into the locker room. 

In the 62nd minute, Weeks struck again, this time blasting a shot into the upper 90 from beyond the 18-yard box, just off Kurz's hands. Pursey launched a gorgeous ball to Elizabeth Bueckers in the corner, who setup Weeks' second score for her first assist of the season. 

"The insurance goal ended up being real key with about three minutes to go when we gave up one that I didn't think we'd give up right there," Johnson said. "We've done a great job of moving the ball and finding the width of the field and having multiple runners in the box. Autumn makes the effort to get down the field - she smashed a ball in the back of the net and that was a great, great finish.

"Both came from attacks out wide, which we've been working on quite a bit. We haven't been as efficient in those situations as we need to be - we still have room for improvement for sure."

The Jags ended up needing both of Weeks' scores as UIC cut the lead in half in the 88th minute as senior Sophia Lipka saw her bid for a 20th career shutout go by the boards. Emily Valentine sent a corner kick to the near post that slipped just through Lipka's hands and Jessica Christmas pushed it just over the line for her first score of the season. 

Lipka finished with eight saves and lowered her goals against average to 1.29 on the season. Kurz closed with six stops, facing 14 shots including a game-high four from Pursey. 

IUPUI will return to action on Saturday (Oct. 6) when the Jaguars face Detroit Mercy at 1:00 p.m. in a game that will be broadcast on ESPN+.