By Nick Jenkinson-SCINN Sports Director
The Minnesota Golden Gophers came into the Bloomington Thursday Night and Beat the Indiana Hoosiers 2-1 on Jerry Yeagley Field on Bill Armstrong Stadium. Indiana started the season 4-2-1 and outscored their opponents 12-10. In the last two games Indiana has lost to ranked opponents in Ohio State and Wisconsin by a combined score of 5-0 and adding Minnesota in the last three games that total is now 7-1. Indiana is 4-5-1 on the season and drops to 1-3 in Big Ten Play as Indiana will travel to Northwestern on Sunday at 1 PM and have eight Big Ten Games remaining going into Sunday’s match.
Minnesota improves to 6-2-2 and 2-1-1 in Big Ten Play and travel to West Lafayette on Sunday at Noon to take on the Purdue Boilermakers. Minnesota Head Coach Erin Chastain is 49-35-18 in her sixth season in Minneapolis and has an overall record of 168-148-52 in 20 seasons as head coach. Indiana and Minnesota were scoreless in the first half as the Hoosiers had a 4-3 shot advantage and both teams had one shot on goal apiece. Minnesota Goalkeeper Sarah Martin and Indiana Goalkeeper Dani Jacobson made 1 save a piece in the first 45 minutes. Indiana had 4 corner kicks to 1 for the Golden Gophers and Minnesota was called offsides twice.
In the Second Half Minnesota scored twice as Ava Westlund open the scoring in the 53rd minute with a one-on-one opportunity against Dani Jacobson and put into the back of the net for a 1-0 lead with Katelyn Rigg getting the assist. The Golden Gophers found the goal for the second time in the 58th minute as Caroline Birdsell scored off a header for her second goal of the season as Taylor Heimerl had the assist and a 2-0 lead. Indiana found the back of the net with six minutes remaining as Maggie Ledwith scored her fourth goal of the season and ninth of her career to make 2-1 but the Hoosiers ran out of time as Minnesota leaves Bloomington with 3 points.
Indiana outshot Minnesota 11-8 and 5-3 Shots on Goal. Sarah Martin made three second half saves for the Golden Gophers and four total on the night while Dani Jacobson did not make a second half save for the Hoosiers between the pipes. Minnesota committed six fouls and Indiana committed five. The Hoosiers had eight corner kicks and Minnesota had 3. The Golden Gophers were called offsides three times and the Hoosiers were not called for offsides during the match. The Golden Gophers picked up two yellow cards in the second half as Keegan Schmeiser was booked at the 52:08 Mark and Matigann Vixayvong at the 75:34 mark.
The Hoosiers are in a tough stretch right now but there are plenty of chances left to get results and secure a place in the Big Ten Tournament. Indiana Hosts Michigan, Michigan State, Purdue and Rutgers at Home and travel to Northwestern, UCLA, USC and Penn State. Indiana Head Coach Josh Rife is 9-10-2 in his second season at his alma mater and 57-48-28 in his eight season overall. The Hoosiers have shown signs of progress and righting the ship and now they need to get some good results in the final eight matches to get into the Big Ten Tournament and a road win Sunday at Northwestern would go a long way in securing that.