YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio - The IUPUI women's soccer team will look to keep its unbeaten spring season alive on Wednesday (Mar. 24) when the Jaguars trek to Youngstown State for a 2:00 p.m. kickoff. Wednesday's contest is slated to be broadcast on ESPN3.
IUPUI (4-0-1) has been opportunistic throughout the entire season, riding six goals to a 4-0-1 mark while the defense has registered four shutouts. All four victories have come by a one-goal margin including last week's hard fought, 1-0 win over UIC.
Valentine Pursey headed home a
Jessica Jacobs corner kick in the 54th minute and
AP Woodall posted another clean sheet to give the Jags the win. In doing so, Pursey tied IUPUI's all-time record with 15 career winners and Woodall earned her third #HLWSOC Defensive Player of the Week Award.
Head coach
Chris Johnson's team is currently tied atop the Horizon League standings with 13 points in five games. The top four teams will advance to the Horizon League Tournament, scheduled for Apr. 11 and Apr. 17.
QUOTABLE
"I'm proud of our girls. I thought our backs did a really nice job today in front of AP. I thought we were strong and limited their scoring opportunities. When they did get something on frame, we continued to rely on AP to come up with big saves when we needed them. Offensively, I thought we did a good job of creating some chances and playing some balls inside their box. V did a nice job of getting on the end of one for the winner and we made it stand up. All in all, this was a really good win for us over a top quality opponent," Johnson said following the win over UIC.
SCOUTING THE JAGUARS
IUPUI is 4-0-1 to start the year with wins over Cleveland State, Milwaukee, Wright State and UIC and a scoreless draw on the road at Detroit Mercy. Individually, IUPUI has five goals with Pursey having scored twice and
Josie Denton,
Elizabeth Bueckers and
Autumn Weeks having tallies. The Jags have also totaled six assists with Jacobs pacing the team with two. In goal, Woodall has a 0.38 goals against average and .913 save percentage in her five appearances. She and
Natalie McNally are the only two Jaguars to have played all 470 minutes so far this season.
LAST TIME OUT: IUPUI 1, UIC 0 //
Recap I
Highlights I
Box Score
PRESEASON POLLS
IUPUI was picked to finish second according to the #HLWSOC Preseason Poll released on Feb. 1, trailing only Milwaukee. The Jags went 12-7-1 last season and 6-3 in Horizon League play.
#HLWSOC STANDINGS
NOTE: For the 2021 spring season only, qualifying teams will be seeded in descending order according to Horizon League points per match. The standings reflect the current seeding as of March 18.
RETURNING STARTERS (8)
Elizabeth Bueckers - Jr., MF/F - (5 goals, 1 assist, 2 GWG)
Maya Lacognato - Soph., F - (6 goals, 2 assists, 2 GWG)
Natalie McNally - Sr., D - (2 goals, 1 assist)
Valentine Pursey - Sr., MF/F - (8 goals, 6 assists, 4 GWG)
Miranda Ricks - Sr., MF - (2 goals, 2 assists, 1 GWG)
Morgan Rymer - Sr., MF - (1 assist)
Jillian Steinbrink - Sr., D - (1 goal, 2 assists, 1 GWG)
Autumn Weeks - So., MF/D - (3 goals, 1 GWG)
HONOREES AND LEADERS
Pursey was a first team All-Horizon League selection last season while Lacognato and departed senior goalkeeper Sophia Lipka were voted to the second team. Lacognato, Weeks and
AP Woodall were voted to the All-Freshman Team as IUPUI had a league-best three All-Freshman Team selections. Pursey was fourth in the league with 0.40 goals per game last season and third in the league with 1.10 points per game. Woodall, albeit in limited action, ranked second in the league with a 0.60 goals against average while Lipka was fourth at 1.18. Lipka was third in the league at 4.69 saves per game and had four shutouts.
ON THE SIDELINES
Head coach
Chris Johnson enters his 18th season on the IUPUI sidelines, easily ranking as the longest tenured current head coach among any of the Jaguars' sports. Johnson has 130 career wins on the IUPUI sidelines and 211 in his college head coaching career dating back to the University of Indianapolis where he began coaching in 1994.
NEW FACES
IUPUI has seven new faces on the roster this year in true freshmen
Emma Antoine,
Jessica Jacobs,
Emma Manolovic,
Leah Shumate,
Sam Slimak,
Alex Stocker and
Carlie Werner. The group represents four different states (Illinois, Indiana, Michigan and Ohio) as Antoine (Carmel), Jacobs (Castle) and Werner (Batesville) were in-state recruits. Slimak, Stocker, Shumate, Jacobs and Werner all made their collegiate debuts at Detroit Mercy with Slimak and Stocker earning starts.
SCOUTING YSU
YSU is 0-6 on the year, but five of the six losses have come by a single goal. The Penguins have been outscored 12-5 on the year as Marcella Sizer has a team-high three goals. Abriana Rondin has two of the team's four assists. In goal, Kate McEachern has played the bulk of the team's minutes, amassing a 1.97 GAA and .760 save percentage. Three YSU keepers have seen time and combined for a 1.98 GAA and .750 save percentage. YSU is 0-2 at home this year with losses having come to Oakland and Northern Kentucky.
VERSUS THE PENGUINS (see the entire history here)
IUPUI is 9-0 all-time against Youngstown State and 5-0 in the five meetings in Youngstown. The Jags won on the road on Sept. 28, 2019 as
Jillian Steinbrink, Bueckers and McNally all scored goals.
SCHEDULE BREAKDOWN
The Horizon League will compete in a weekly, single round robin format this season, beginning with the Feb. 3 matchups. Teams will play each Wednesday for eight weeks before finishing league play on Tuesday, Mar. 30 and Monday, Apr. 5. The Jags will host matches with Cleveland State (Feb. 3), Robert Morris (Feb. 17), Wright State (Mar. 10), UIC (Mar. 17) and Northern Kentucky (Mar. 30) and face Detroit Mercy (Feb. 24), Milwaukee (Mar. 3), Youngstown State (Mar. 24) and Purdue Fort Wayne (Apr. 5) on the road. The Jaguars' Feb. 10 match at Green Bay has already been canceled due to COVID-19 protocols.
ESPN COVERAGE
All five of IUPUI's home matches will be aired on ESPN platforms (either ESPN3 or ESPN+) this season. In addition, selected road matches will also be aired on ESPN platforms at the host schools' discretion.
