Indiana University Women’s Soccer earns 2 goalless draws on the road
Indiana University Women’s Soccer got two goalless draws at West Virginia Last Thursday evening and Virginia Tech Sunday afternoon to start the season 0-0-2. The Hoosiers host Ball State Thursday at 8 pm in the home opener. In The West Virginia game the Mountaineers provided the first solid chance on frame with a free kick in the 19th minute of play. WVU’s fifth-year senior Jordan Brewster cracked in a crosser that connected with senior Julianne Vallerand, who redirected a header on goal. Sophomore keeper Jamie Gerstenberg was up to the task to make the save. A mishandle in the defensive box nearly led to an easy tally for the home squad, but Gerstenberg regained her composure to keep the Mountaineers off the scoreboard. A tough turnover in the back third almost led to a WVU goal in the 75th minute, but Gerstenberg bailed out the defense with a save on a two-on-one break. The ensuing counter saw senior forward Paige Webber leak behind the Mountaineer defense, but she was dispossessed inside the 18-yard box. Gerstenberg closed out the 10th shutout of her collegiate career with four saves. She ranks seventh in program history in solo shutouts. Indiana has surrendered one or fewer goals in 16-of-17 starts made by Gerstenberg. Indiana holds a mark of 17-9-4 in season openers. The Hoosiers are unbeaten in seven matchups against current Big XII teams (4-0-3). The match marked the first career starts for freshman Jaelyn Pallas, freshman Arianna Rose, freshman Izzy Smith and sophomore Zoe Tiger. Along with Pallas, Rose and Smith, freshman Natasha Kim, freshman Olivia Rush, freshman Sarah Sirdah and freshman Abbey Iler made their collegiate debuts in the match. Indiana played seven true freshmen in the match.
In the Virginia Tech game, Indiana saw a chance in the first 10 minutes of the match with a header from senior forward Paige Webber. The Grand Blanc, Mich., native received a crosser from sophomore defender Camille Hamm and flicked the header just north of frame. Virginia Tech nearly broke the deadlock in the 29th minute on a low, near-post shot from sophomore defender Aino Vuorinen. Sophomore keeper Jamie Gerstenberg made a diving stop to keep the Hokies off the board. Freshman defender Jaelyn Pallas took a free kick from distance and fired on goal in the 47th minute of play, but the ball sailed just above the crossbar. The Hokies found some space in the 50th minute on an uncontested shot from freshman forward Taylor Price. Gerstenberg was up to task and made a sliding leg save. Once again, Gerstenberg saved a goal for the Hoosiers as the home side was able to get a one-on-one counterattack from junior forward Tori Powell. She rifled a right-footed shot on frame that the Birkenwerder, Germany, native was able to punch to the side. Gerstenberg made a career-high eight saves in the match in her 11th career shutout. She is now tied with Shaunna Daugherty) for sixth on the Indiana all-time shutout list. The standout keeper has now conceded one or fewer goals in 17-of-18 career starts in net.
Indiana has been held without a goal in each of the last six matches. IU last found the back in the net on a header from senior Megan Wampler in the 43rd minute of a 1-0 result over Northwestern on Oct. 8, 2021. Indiana was outshot 19-5 in the match with Virginia Tech throwing eight shots on frame. The match marked the first career start for freshman Olivia Rush. Junior defender Alania Kalin made her 20th consecutive start. Senior defender Karlee Luker made her season debut with a first-half substitution for her 20th-career match. Redshirt freshman midfielder Ava Akeel made her first career appearance.
Indiana Cutters fall to Cin City Buccaneers in BCFL Divisional Playoff Semifinal
The Indiana Cutters lost to the Cin City Buccaneers 20-4 in the Blue-Collar Football League Western Conference Divisional Playoff Semifinals Saturday at the Central Green Turf Field in Indianapolis Saturday. The Buccaneers scored with 1:22 left in the first quarter on 35-yard touchdown pass. The extra point was blocked, and Mason Scott took it the other way for the two-point conversion to make it 6-2. It’s the 3rd time this season the Cutters scored on a defensive two-point conversion with Nick Land and Cantrell Harris scoring the other two defensive two-point conversions this season.
The Buccaneers added two more touchdown passes to make it 20-2 with 4:10 to go in the third quarter. Mason Scott got a safety when the Buccaneers’ running back was tackled in the end zone for a 7-yard loss to make it 20-4 with 9:35 left in the game. It was the second time this season the Cutters have scored a safety against the Buccaneers as Donate Hart had one in the June 25, meeting in Martinsville as Bucs won that game 20-2. This was a rematch of last Saturday’s regular season finale in which the Buccaneers won 19-16 in Cincinnati. The Cutters end the season at 4-7 while the Buccaneers move on to the division championship game against the Indiana Tornados next Saturday.
Detroit Lions beat Indianapolis Colts 27-26
The Detroit Lions beat the Indianapolis Colts 27-26 in the second NFL Preseason game for both teams at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis Saturday afternoon. Godwin Igwebuike scored on a 2-yard, tiebreaking run with 4:03 to play and the Lions defense stopped a 2-point conversion attempt with 38 seconds left to preserve the victory. Igwebuike had a solid game, carrying seven times for 32 yards. Former Purdue University quarterback David Blough led the Lions to field goals on their first two possessions and recovered from a batted ball that was intercepted with a 5-yard TD pass as time expired in the first half to make it 13-13. Blough finished 16 of 22 with 76 yards while rushing three times for 18 yards. Tim Boyle took over in the second half and led the Lions to two touchdowns. The first came on their opening series of the third quarter when he connected with Tom Kennedy on a 10-yard TD pass to make it 20-13. Boyle was 12 of 15 with 99 yards.
Indy quarterback Sam Ehlinger answered with a 50-yard pass to a wide-open Dezmon Patmon, who stumbled to the ground, rolled over backward and stretched the ball across to tie the score again. Ehlinger also threw a 15-yard TD pass to Michael Strachan in the first half as Indy’s young, unproven receiving group took a significant step forward from a week ago. Midway through the fourth quarter, though, the game looked as if it could be this year’s first tie until Igwebuike’s powerful final run. And then it nearly happened again when Jack Coan, an undrafted rookie out of Notre Dame, found Samson Nacua for a 26-yard score with 38 seconds left. But Reich called timeout, decided to play for the win and when Coan couldn’t connect with Nacua again, Detroit sealed it by recovering an onside kick. The Colts fall to 0-2 on the preseason and will host the Tampa Bay Buccaneers Saturday night at Lucas Oil Stadium in the third and final preseason game.
Mooresville neats Bloomington North 38-13 in HS Football opener
Mooresville opened the 2022 season with a bang beating Bloomington North 38-13 in the HS Football Season Opener at Mooresville. It took quarterback Nick Patterson and the Mooresville offense less than three minutes to put its first touchdown on the board against the Cougars After that, the Pioneers couldn’t stop scoring. Through the air, on the ground, there wasn’t much the Pioneers couldn’t do as Patterson scored touchdown after touchdown, finishing with two passing, accommodated by 245 yards, and two rushing scores. By halftime Mooresville had a 24-6 advantage. The Pioneers added two more touchdowns to the board by the game’s conclusion.
The backbreaker came early in the second quarter as North finally started to gain some momentum, driving down the field by way of the rushing attack. Lined up on fourth and goal on the one-yard line, the Cougars caught a break on a pass interference call. On most levels of football, that would create a new set of downs, but at the high school level in Indiana, it’s a replay of the down, which caused confusion. The Cougars ran another play with intentions of getting three more tries. Instead, it was a turnover on downs as the Pioneers held steady at the goal line. What set the two teams apart was yardage totals. Mooresville’s defense was able to halt the Bloomington North offense to a standstill. The Pioneers ended the game with 431 yards to the Cougars 113. Mooresville ran 15 more plays and converted on 7-of-12 third down attempts while North went 4-for-14. Hogan Denny led wideouts with six catches for 131 yards and two touchdowns. Levi Dorn grabbed four passes for 74 yards. The Pioneers had 186 total rushing yards. In fairness to the Cougars, starting running back Cody Mikulich exited the game early due to injury. The senior is a major factor in the team’s offense, running for 1,137 yards and 16 touchdowns last season. His presence was supposed to help ease quarterback Dash King into his first game starting varsity. and finished with 41 passing yards and a touchdown. North 0-1 will travel to Bedford North Lawrence Friday Night at 7 pm.
The Other two Monroe County Teams opened up the season with a win Friday Night. Edgewood beat Mitchell 38-16 on the Red Carpet in Ellettsville. The Mustangs 1-0 will host Monrovia this Friday Night at 7 pm. Bloomington South beat New Albany 34-14. The Panthers 1-0 will travel to Martinsville Friday Night to face the Artesians.
Indianapolis Indians Coverage
Indians Beat Iowa to Win Series
A leadoff home run by Hoy Park, lights-out hurling by Johan Oviedo and aggressive baserunning led the Indianapolis Indians to a series-clinching victory over the Iowa Cubs on Sunday afternoon at Victory Field, 8-2. While Park’s seventh home run of the season – his first of the leadoff variety – got the Indians (58-57) on the board, Oviedo made quick work of the I-Cubs (52-65). Each of his first five outs recorded came via punchout before an infield single by Tyler Payne snapped the streak. Through his 2.2 innings, the right-hander threw 32 of his 43 pitches for strikes. Indianapolis took a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the second when Iowa’s first run-scoring wild pitch plated Jack Suwinski following a leadoff single.
The two teams traded a pair of runs in the fourth inning, with Iowa getting on the board via a two-run double by Greg Deichmann to tie the game. With no outs in the bottom of the frame and Travis Swaggerty and Brendt Citta on base, a wild pitch by Blake Whitney (L, 1-5) scored Swaggerty from second as he took off to steal third on the delivery. An RBI double by Jamie Ritchie then scored Citta to extend the lead to 4-2. The Indians offense continued to roll, tacking on three additional runs in the bottom of the fifth. Drew Maggi led off with a single and swiped second before racing home safely on a single to left field by Citta, aided by a wide throw into home by Deichmann. Maggi then came around to lead off the seventh inning and scored again on a sacrifice fly by Citta. Cody Bolton (W, 3-2) entered in relief of Oviedo and tossed 2.0 innings with three additional strikeouts. The Indians pitching staff fanned 12 total batters in the victory, with Cam Alldred, Travis MacGregor and Zach Matson combining for 4.1 scoreless frames. The Indians are now working a three-game winning streak and are above .500 for the first time since June 30. They finished the season series against Iowa with a 12-6 record. The Indians won Friday Night’s game 3-2 and Saturday Night’s game 6-2. Indianapolis continues a 12-game homestand at Victory Field on tomorrow night with a six-game series against the Rochester Red Wings, the teams’ first meeting since 2019. First pitch for the series opener is scheduled for 7:05 PM and neither team has named a starting pitcher.
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