CHICAGO - The IUPUI women's soccer team will close the 2021 regular season at UIC on Wednesday night (Oct. 27) with postseason implications on the line. With a win and some help, the Jaguars can still secure a spot in the six-team Horizon League Tournament. Defensively, IUPUI is riding a four-game shutout streak, having not allowed a score since the Oct. 7 loss to league leader Milwaukee. Since then the Jags have rattled off shutouts at Detroit Mercy (1-0), Green Bay (0-0), Robert Morris (0-0) and Youngstown State (1-0).
AP Woodall has collected all four clean sheets in goal and now ranks among the league leaders in goals against average, shutouts, saves and save percentage.
Sophomore
Leah Shumate tallied the game-winner at Detroit Mercy and junior
Maya Lacognato came up with Saturday's game-winner, tallying off assists from
Paige Waskom and
Renae Blevins. Lacognato was making a far post run when Waskom slid a pass in to Blevins. Blevins elected to send the ball out left to Lacognato, who redirected home her third goal of the season in the game's 85th minute. It was her second game-winner of the season and eighth of her collegiate career.
Woodall and the IUPUI defense made the goal stand as the Jaguars limited YSU to just five shot attempts and just two on frame.
For the season, Woodall now has a 1.46 GAA and .814 save percentage with 92 total saves. Offensively, senior
Elizabeth Bueckers continues to pace the attack with six goals and 13 points while Lacognato now has three goals and eight points. Shumate and
Sam Slimak are both tied for third overall with four points.
Head coach
Chris Johnson's team continues to be the walking wounded as Lacognato and
Autumn Weeks are the lone two players to have started all 16 matches. Twenty-one different players have made at least one start this season.
QUOTABLE
"Paige [Waskom] crossed it, and I was like: all you've got to do is just tap it in. Kept my composure, and that's what happened," Lacognato said following the win over Youngstown State on Saturday (Oct. 23).
PRESEASON POLLS
IUPUI was picked to finish fifth in the league according to the preseason poll released on Aug. 18:
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PROBABLE XI (based on the last outing)
GK-
AP Woodall, Sr.
D-
Alex Bond, Jr.
D-
Grace Moore, Jr.
D-
Maya Turner, Jr.
D-
Autumn Weeks, Jr.
MF-
Renae Blevins, Sr.
MF-
Leah Shumate, Soph.
MF-
Paige Waskom, Fr.
F-
Elizabeth Bueckers, Sr.
F-
Maya Lacognato, Jr.
F-
Hannah Roberson, Fr.
FIRSTS
Four IUPUI players have tallied their first collegiate goals this season in junior
Ciena Miller, sophomores
Sam Slimak and
Leah Shumate and freshman
Abbey Renner. Both Miller and Slimak tallied against Marian and Renner scored against Wright State. Shumate netted her first on Oct. 10 at Detroit Mercy for the game-winner. In addition,
Ashton Kudlo registered a shutout in her first match in goal, blanking Purdue Fort Wayne on Sept. 19.
HEAD COACH CHRIS JOHNSON
Johnson is now in his 19th season on the IUPUI sidelines and owns a 135-167-43 mark with the Jaguars. He spent his first nine years of his coaching career at the University of Indianapolis where he amassed an 81-79-2 mark. All total, Johnson has 216 collegiate wins to his credit.
SCOUTING UIC
UIC is 1-12-3 overall and 1-7-2 in Horizon League play with the Flames' lone win having come over Robert Morris on Oct. 7. UIC has been outscored 28-7 on the year as Kaitlyn Montague and Megan Bowman have three goals each for the Flames. Montague has a team-high seven points, while also leading the team in shots (31) and shots on goal (15) and has the team's game-winner. Lena Kurz has played the majority of the team's minutes in goal, making 15 appearances with a 1.54 goals against average and .768 save percentage with two shutouts.
ALL-TIME SERIES
IUPUI is 5-1 all-time against UIC and has won five-in-a-row over the Flames. The Jags are just 1-1 in the two meetings in Chicago. (
Series History)
UP NEXT
Should IUPUI earn a spot in the six-team Horizon League Tournament, the Jaguars will play on Sunday, Oct. 31 on the road in the opening round.
