INDIANAPOLIS - The IU Indianapolis women's soccer team went down two goals in the opening half against Horizon League foe Wright State on Thursday (Sept. 25) before eventually drawing even. However, the visiting Raiders got the final tally and earned a 3-2 road win over the Jaguars. Junior
Lindsey Castillo and freshman
JoJo Murphy both tallied their first goals of the season in the defeat.
Wright State (6-5, 3-0 HL) won for a fifth time in six games while the Jaguars slid to 1-8-1 overall and 0-2 to open Horizon League play.
The Jaguars fell in a quick hole in the seventh minute when Samara Nunn centered a pass to Makenzie Chinn, who was able to turn on a defender and angle a shot past
Sarah Bambrick. In the 32nd minute, a defensive miscue led to an easy score for Nunn, doubling the Raiders' lead.
However, Castillo came up with a critical goal just before halftime. Freshman
Maci Sammons sent a pass to
Ella Green, who headed a pass to Castillo. Castillo capitalized, hitting a left-footed shot from long distance over WSU keeper Kiera Sarka for her fourth career goal. The score represented a major momentum shift for the Jaguars, after having scored just one goal in the previous five games combined.
"Honestly, we just needed to play our game, just be patient and move the ball through the midfield, talk, communicate and then make sure we played to feet and don't force balls that don't need to be forced," Castillo said. "We just needed to relax."
While the game slowed down for the Jaguars, the intensity ramped up. IU Indy pulled even in the 65th minute when Murphy flared a shot over Sarka after an assist from
Caroline Kelley for her first career goal.
WSU found the winner in the 83rd minute when Ashley Vaughn had the finishing touch from in close, initially setup by Caitlin Burger's corner kick.
IU Indy finished with 58 percent of the game's possession but was outshot 18-15. Senior midfielder
Emma Frey had a game-high four shot attempts and Castillo and
Hannah Roberson had three apiece.
Bambrick closed with five saves in the loss.
The Jaguars will return to action on Sunday (Sept. 28) when they take on Cleveland State at 1:00 p.m. on ESPN+.
