INDIANAPOLIS - The IU Indianapolis women's soccer team faced an offensive onslaught against crosstown foe Butler at Carroll Stadium on Sunday night (Sept. 8), falling to the Bulldogs, 3-1. Senior goalkeeper Ashton Kudlo registered a career-high 12 saves in the loss while sophomore Caroline Kelley tallied her team-high third goal of the year to cut the deficit in half midway through the second stanza. 

However, Butler's Talia Sommer capped a two-goal night with a score in the 84th minute to end any suspense. 

"I'm just really proud of the way the girls battled," head coach Chris Johnson said. "We're still kind of dealing with some injuries and sickness stuff and we didn't have a whole lot of people we could turn to off the bench tonight.

"I thought the ones who did come off the bench did a good job. It's not as much as what we're doing as what the players are doing out there on the field."

Butler (4-2-1) opened the scoring in the tenth minute when Amelie Darey poked a shot past Kudlo from the doorstep off a cross from Anna Schroeder. Sommer then tallied in the 27th minute when she took possession near midfield, worked through the Jaguar defense before working a right-footed shot past Kudlo. 

Butler enjoyed a 16-1 shot advantage in the opening half, forcing Kudlo into seven saves in 45 minutes. 

The Jags fired back in the 69th minute when Emma Frey placed a beautiful corner kick just outside the six-yard box, where Kelley's header angled over Butler keeper Anna Pierce for a score. With a new lease on life, Kelley sought an equalizer in the 75th minute, but had a shot from long distance go just over the bar. 

While the IU Indy defense did a lot of bending, but not breaking, in the second half, Sommer finally pushed through in the 84th minute to cap a combination play for the final score of the evening. 

Butler closed with a 25-5 shot advantage while Kelley led the Jaguars with three attempts. Johnson's club was limited to just five subs in the midfield as injuries and illness has continued to pile up through the opening half of the season. Freshman Mia Bilinski paced the reserves with 37 minutes and Keilah Muldrow made her collegiate debut with 32 minutes off the bench. Four starters played all 90 minutes, including Frey, Kelley, Katie Hoog and Kailyn Smith. 

"Obviously, we've had a really tough season so far, but I think throughout the season, it's going to really carry over into conference," Frey said of the tough non-conference slate. "We're playing teams that are harder and more challenging than what we are going to (play) in conference and we're all really learning how to battle and play as a team as we progress through the season so far."

The Jaguars will close out the non-conference slate on Thursday (Sept. 12) when they face Ball State in Muncie at 4:00 p.m. on ESPN+.