rey skies, light rain, chilly temperatures.
This must mean one thing: it is the start of the Big Ten season. And that’s what happened today, as the Lady Hoosiers took on Michigan at Armstrong stadium
The start of the game was accompanied by rain, which was dying down by the time the game had started.
As the field became wet, the ball became slicker and play turned into a back in forth affair. This provided IU best chance of the first half in the 24th minute, as Ori Velasquez stretched her legs out on the left wing, taking on two Michigan defenders before shooting with her left at MU goalie Haley Kopmeyer.
The shot deflected off of her fingertips before trickling across the face of the goal before being cleared out for an IU throw in.
But Michigan didn’t take lightly to that, though, and responded with their best chance of the half in the 26th through Christina Murillo. Her chance, almost a copy of Vela’s, ended differently as it ended up in the sure hands of Lindsay Campbell.
And as the first half came to a close, along went the dreary weather. As the teams went into the locker room still scoreless, there was belief that IU would be able to get something out of this afternoon.
But it sure did not start that way. Just two minutes into the second half, after a quick passing sequence by Michigan, defender Shelina Zadorsky found herself all alone on the top of the 18 and looped a quick shot over the head of Campbell. It struck the underside of the goal and just like that, Michigan was up 1-0.
After the score, the Wolverines proceeded to “Park the Bus” and for the majority of the second half, IU had run after run of Possession.
Raid after raid on the Michigan defense from Velasquez and Carly Samp produced chance after chance that they found themselves wanting numerous times.
This was best summed up by IU’s best chance of the game.
Velasquez, screaming down the left flank, went between two defenders before crossing into the box for a rampaging Samp, who proceeded to swing and miss. The miscue immediately led to a scramble in the box that resulted in one of the 12 corners the Hoosiers had all game.
Michigan did attack some, with the majority of it being long balls and through balls aimed for 5’11 Nkem Ezurike, who was in a game long battle with IU’s 5’3 Ciersten Burks.
“She’s a tough player who really likes to be physical,” Burks said after the game regarding her marking of Ezurike. “I was just dishing it right back.”
This tug of war led to Ezurike receiving a yellow card late in the game for dissent after another fine Burks challenge.
Speaking about the incident after the game, Burks seemed to pride herself on the performance, “A lot of times its easy as a defender to frustrate a forward and I think that’s what happened,” Burks said. “I just tried to not let her do what she wanted to do, and I just think that was her frustration coming out.”
This was one of four cards dished out in the game, all in the second half as the game descended into a bit of a slugfest in the late stages.
As the game came to a close, it was a little bittersweet for the Lady Hoosiers.
After all that possession, all that hustle, all those chances, they couldn’t find that goal to tie it up. And as the hooter sounded, so did the UM bench as they celebrated a 1-0 in the Big Ten season opener.
After the game, Coach Mick Lyons rued the missed chances “We didn’t really do a good enough job committing players from the back going forward,” Lyons said after the game. “I thought we were killing them out wide, which is where our strengths are. I thought Ori (Velasquez) and Carly (Samp) could’ve done more. But, for us to get more out of them, we’ve got to give them options in the box.”
Next weekend, IU has a double header weekend. They play Iowa on Friday at 5pm, and complete the weekend with their first ever conference game against Nebraska next Sunday at 1pm.
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