Northwestern University Athletics
Northwestern
Indiana
Wildcats Lose at Indiana, 3-0
10/19/2003 12:00:00 AM | Women's Soccer
Oct. 19, 2003
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Box Score BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - There was a lot at stake in Sunday's women's soccer match between Northwestern and Indiana.
Both teams were 3-4-1 in the Big Ten entering the match, and a win seemed like it would go a long way toward clinching a Big Ten Tournament berth.
Unfortunately for the Wildcats, it was the Hoosiers who took advantage. In a match that was actually pretty evenly played -- IU only outshot Northwestern 9-8 -- the Hoosiers got a pair of goals from Kim Grodek en route to a 3-0 victory.
While the match separated the teams on the Big Ten ledger -- NU is now 3-5-1 while IU is 4-4-1 -- they both moved to 7-7-1 overall.
The biggest result of Sunday's match was the ramifications toward the tournament. Northwestern finished the day in eighth place with 10 points, ahead of Wisconsin (3-6-0, 9 points), Minnesota (2-6-1, 7 points) and Iowa (0-8-2, 2 points). Iowa is done for the season, but Wisconsin and Minnesota finish with each other next Friday in Minneapolis. NU, meanwhile, faces the daunting task of going to 20th-ranked Illinois -- which entered Sunday in a position to still win the conference's regular-season title -- for a Friday night showdown.
Looking at next Friday, a Northwestern win over the Illini puts the Wildcats into the tournament regardless of the result in the Minnesota-Wisconsin border war. An NU-Illinois tie, and the Wildcats have to hope for a Minnesota win over the Badgers or a tie in that match. An NU loss, and any chances of a Big Ten Tournament bid are squashed -- at best, the 'Cats would finish in a tie for eighth place with either Minnesota or Wisconsin (depending on the result of that match), and both the Gophers and Badgers beat the Wildcats earlier this year and thus hold the first tiebreaker.
"We actually played pretty hard and fought hard," said NU head coach Jenny Haigh following Sunday's match. "We did a good job between the 18-yard boxes. It was inside of them where we struggled -- every one of their goals was a direct result of a defensive letdown by us.
"We are looking at next week as though we have to win," she continued. "We have put ourselves in a position where we feel we need to win at Illinois and leave nothing to chance."
The Hoosiers earned their 1-0 lead at the 28:07 mark. Carly Everett was awarded an assist after she took a free kick 20 yards from the box. Grodek weaseled her way into scoring position, enough to push the ball past NU goalkeeper Whitney Jones for her fifth goal of the season.
Grodek would not stop there. Just seven minutes later, another foul was drawn five yards outside the box and Grodek was called upon to take the kick. The junior midfielder came through again for the Hoosiers again as she wound up for a powerful kick and blasted the ball into the back of the net.
Megan Pipkens would give the Hoosiers even more of a cushion when she beat a Wildcat defender and then Jones in a 1-on-1 situation.
It was a tough way to go for Jones, who had four saves in the contest. At the other end, Stacey Van Boxmeer started in goal for the Hoosiers and earned two saves before coming out of the game due to injury. Shaunna Daugherty would take her place, earning the win and tallying four saves.
"We had some chances to score today and were not able to take advantage," said Haigh.
Northwestern's match with Illinois is slated to begin at 7 p.m. in Champaign Friday.
MATCH SUMMARY
Score by Half
Northwestern (7-7-1, 3-5-1) 0 0 - 0
Indiana (7-7-1, 4-4-1) 2 1 - 3
Goal Summary
IU - Kim Grodek (Carly Everett), 28:07
IU - Grodek (unassisted), 35:46
IU - Megan Pipkens (unassisted), 63:13
Shots: Indiana 9, NU 8
Corner Kicks: NU 5, Indiana 4
Fouls: NU 13, Indiana 11
GK Saves: NU - Whitney Jones 4; IU - Stacey Van Boxmeer 2 (39:23), Shaunna Daugherty 4 (47:54), Lauren Fabbro 0 (2:43)
