INDIANAPOLIS - The IUPUI women's soccer team saw its nine-game unbeaten streak come to a halt on Thursday night (Oct. 12) as the Jaguars suffered a 2-1 setback to Oakland at Michael A. Carroll Stadium. IUPUI built a 1-0 first half lead on an Emma Antoine strike, but yielded back-to-back goals in just more than five minutes in the second half as the Golden Grizzlies tilted the outcome in short order. 

"Honestly, we came out really strong in the first half and got one goal, and we needed to hold on in the second half," Leah Shumate said. "(We) probably should've played more defensively, but we were eager to score another one."

Coming into Thursday's matchup, IUPUI had won nine consecutive games dating back to August 31, and now the Jaguars fall to 9-3-3 on the season.

"We should have come out with a little bit more energy," Shumate said, referencing the second half. "The first half, we did have a lot of energy, and I think in the locker room, we talked about bringing that energy again. They (Oakland) could've changed something in their formation. They were just finding pockets and unfortunately getting in."

A win would have been significant in terms of the Jaguars qualifying for Horizon League play. Head coach Chris Johnson was pleased with many of the things he saw from IUPUI and hopes to be able to carry over the positives into their final three-game stretch.

"I thought we came out in the first half (and) put some opportunities together, scored a goal," Johnson said. "(We) got to halftime in a good place and came out in the second half and, for the first five minutes, we're in their end of the field until they got the one break that led to the goal they scored right there."

Johnson, like Shumate, credited Oakland's halftime adjustments and pointed out that specifically as part of the reason they were able to come out on top.

"We have to be a little more intense about putting opportunities away when we're creating those situations," Johnson said. "They made a nice adjustment at halftime. It took us a few minutes to kind of adjust to that, and in that space of time, they got into two situations where they got a person wide open on the near side of the box, played a ball back and got two goals on the far post there."

IUPUI's last loss came at Butler on August 31, and now the team looks to bounce back as they attempt to qualify for the Horizon League Tournament. One of the more impressive and noteworthy stats of the evening was that of the Jaguars' defensive play coming into Thursday's matchup. In fact, prior to Thursday's matchup, IUPUI had only allowed four total goals in Horizon League play.

The timely win for the Grizzlies came thanks to, in part, two timely, second-half goals from forwards Anuhea Aluli and Frankie Mudd. Additionally, both goals came within the first ten minutes of the second half, with Mudd's goal ultimately being the difference in a one-goal victory.

Oakland, now 5-5-5 on the season, secures 12 total points, tying them with IUPUI as both team's head into the home stretch of three games to go. The Jaguars' final three games are against Milwaukee (9-3-3), Robert Morris (9-2-3) and Purdue Fort Wayne (5-6-6).

The message from Johnson echoed that of Shumate's. IUPUI knows it has the pieces to win close games like the one on Thursday. They've done it all season, and with their first defeat in nearly two months, Johnson emphasized the importance of protecting a lead, regardless of the score itself.

"I think we've got to up our intensity when we get a lead and not think it's going to be okay and just take care of itself," Johnson said. "What do we learn from this game here going forward? One of the seniors said, 'hey, we've got to be more intense about finishing opportunities in their box, which we had some and just didn't put them away.' We can't think it's going to go our way just because we're up 1-0. We've got to make it go our way."

As untimely of a loss as this may have been for the Jaguars, the team is confident that, with three games left to go, they'll be ready to take on the rest of their competition in hopes of finishing the season on a strong note.

"As much as I think this loss is hurting us now, I think it's going to be good for us going into the game on Sunday. We'll be ready," Shumate said.