INDIANAPOLIS - After months of waiting to finally get the campaign underway, it was Autumn Weeks that sent the hosts home with a victory as the sophomore tallied the game's lone goal in the 58th minute of the Jaguars' 1-0 win over Cleveland State on Wednesday (Feb. 3). Sophomore goalkeeper AP Woodall dialed up a shutout as the Jaguars captured three key points on the season's opening day. 

"I'm really proud of the kids and all the work they've put in the past 11 months to get to this point. What they've done to get here has been incredible," head coach Chris Johnson said. "In the second half, I thought we were defending pretty well but I wasn't sure where a goal was going to come from."

Fortune came in the form of a Weeks' volley coming from a strong cross from Kamryn Benscoter. Renae Blevins sent a cross in from the right side towards Valentine Pursey, making a near post run. However, CSU goalkeeper Stevie Holbrook punched the attempt away to Benscoter at the edge of the 18. Benscoter centered the ball to Weeks, who redirected a left-footed attempt past Holbrook for her fourth career score. Benscoter, who made her first collegiate start on Wednesday, earned her first point since Sept. 17, 2017. 

"I'm happy for (Autumn)," Johnson said. "She sat out all fall and she's done a great job of getting all the way back to where she was able to play almost 70 minutes today. And Kam's cross was a great cross to put it in a position for us to be able to capitalize."

"It felt great to be back. It's been like a whole year since we've played a game, so we were just having fun out there - it was a great time," Weeks said. "I just tried to look around and sit in the right space and Kam just found me out there and I finished it for her. It was a great ball from Kam and I finished it up."

After a rocky start to the match, the Jaguars settled in defensively and created more scoring opportunities in the second half. A couple key giveaways in the initial minutes led to some early CSU (0-1, 0-1 HL) shot attempts, but Woodall made clean stops on Maddie Young and Kathryn Ramicone in the game's first six minutes. Woodall closed with four saves in her fourth career shutout. 

The Jaguars' back third allowed just six shot attempts as IUPUI closed with a 7-6 shot advantage.

"I thought Grace Moore and Alex Bond did a really good job today. Grace did a great job of stepping into a new role and I thought she played really well back there," Johnson said. "Morgan (Rymer) did a great job in the midfield in terms of keeping us connected. She just gets better every single season."

Pursey and Elizabeth Bueckers led the IUPUI attack with two attempts apiece. 

Bueckers just missed sneaking a shot past Holbrook after a gorgeous pass from Natalie McNally in the 70th minute. 

The Jaguars next regularly scheduled game on Feb. 10 with Green Bay has already been canceled due to COVID-19 protocol. However, Johnson's squad is actively trying to reschedule a competition for Feb. 10 and the most updated information will be posted upon confirmation.