Sunday is Senior Day For IU Women's Soccer

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SENIOR DAY FOR THE HOOSIERS
Sunday will be the final regular season home game for Indiana, and prior to the game (around 1:10pm), the team will take time to recognize the eight players that are playing their final season in the Cream and Crimson.

 

Those eight players are (in alphabetical order): Rebecca Candler, Shannon Flower, Megan Holland, Kate McCusker, Monica Melink, Lisa Nouanesengsy, Lara Ross and Becca Zambon.

 

Over the last four years, that group has increased the team win total each season and each one has been named Academic All-Big Ten at least once during their career.

 

GOLDEN BOOT< Indiana retained possession of the Golden Boot on Thursday with a 2-1 victory at Purdue. It is the first-ever win in West Lafayette for the Hoosiers and have now won two in a row against the Boilermakers.

 

Purdue scored first just before halftime to take a 1-0 lead into the locker room, but the story of the first half was IU goalkeeper Shannon Flower, who made eight saves in the half to keep the Hoosiers in the game. She finished the game with 10 saves to match her career high.

 

In the second half, IU played with more confidence and was able to get the tying goal in the 69th minute when Abby Smith found Rebecca Candler on the right side of the box and she drilled it inside the far post.

Then with just over 10 minutes left in the game, Smith was in the middle of the action again. This time she took a free kick before the Purdue defense was set, finding Candler in the box. Candler took a couple touches and then sent a cross in front of the goal that found Monica Melink and she finished it to put IU ahead, 2-1.

 

HOOSIERS HELPING HOOSIERS
After collecting three assists on Thursday against Purdue, Indiana now has 37 assist on the season to set a new IU single-season record. The previous record was 35 set by the 1998 team.

 

FLOWER POWER
Senior goalkeeper Shannon Flower has had a great final collegiate campaign in the Cream and Crimson. Through the first 17 games, she has posted seven shutouts, leaving her one shy of tying the IU single-season record. Entering this year, Flower had two solo shutouts in 34 games played.

 

She added another chapter to her legacy with a 10-save effort at Purdue on Thursday. But her effort in the first half against the Boilermakers was what truly counted, as she made eight saves and many of those were from close range.

 

Her goals against average this season of 1.03 ranks her inside the Top 10 all-time at IU while her career goals against average of 1.59 also puts her inside the Top 10 on that list.

 

CANDLER CAN
Senior Rebecca Candler has continued the momentum she built up last year into this, her final season at IU. After setting the Indiana single-season assists record with 10 in 2012, she has seven to her credit this year. Most recently, she assisted on the game-winning goal in overtime at Michigan State and at Purdue on Thursday.

 

She has 19 helpers in her career, putting her in second place on the IU career assists list, trailing only Wendy Dillinger's 24 assists.

 

The Medina, Ohio, native also has 11 career assists in Big Ten games, which is a new IU record.

 

AMAZING ABBY
Junior midfielder Abby Smith once again showed her penchant for making big plays in crunch time on Thursday at Purdue. She was credited with assists on both goals for the Hoosiers to give her five this season to go with her four goals - including one game-winner. 

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Well Done Ladies! Thank You. 12-4-1/5-4

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IU Women's Soccer ‏@IUWSoccer 1m

HOOSIERS WIN!!!! IU defeats Wisconsin, 1-0, and clinches a spot in the Big Ten Tournament! Abby Smith with the game-winner

 

13-4-1/6-4

 

Nice job Ladies!

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BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - The Indiana Women's Soccer team (13-4-1, 6-4 Big Ten) clinched a spot in the Big Ten Tournament for the first time since 2007 on Sunday with a 1-0 victory against Wisconsin (9-6-2, 4-5-1 Big Ten) at Bill Armstrong Stadium. Junior Abby Smith scored the game-winning goal on a diving header in the 79th minute and senior goalkeeper Shannon Flower made it hold up with five saves.

 

"This team has worked so hard to get where they are," Indiana head coachAmy Berbary said. "Our immediate goal was to advance to the Big Ten Tournament, and to be able to do it on our own, before the season is over is amazing. I can't express in words how proud I am of this team and happy for them that they get to experience postseason play before their careers are over."

 

Indiana held a 10-9 edge in shots for the game while Wisconsin drew eight corners to five for the Hoosiers.

 

The 13 wins are the most since the 2007 season while the six Big Ten wins are the most since 1998 for the Hoosiers. It's also the first time since 2007 that Indiana has earned a spot in the Big Ten Tournament and the 11th time overall that IU will participate in the conference tournament.

 

The shutout for Flower gives her eight this season, tying Ashley Davis (1998) for the most by an IU goalkeeper in a single season. The 13 wins in goal for Flower are tied for second-most in a single-season by an IU keeper, one behind Davis' 14 wins in 1998.

 

Wisconsin began the game by drawing consecutive corner kicks and had threatening services into the box but Flower - and Tori Keller - turned them all away. On one corner, the Badgers sent the corner kick in front of the box and it was deflected away from Flower and seemed destined for the goal but Keller was on her mark on the near post and cleared the ball off the line. The Badgers finished the first half with a 6-3 advantage in corner kicks.

 

"Wisconsin has a fierce attacking front five, and we knew that going in. So we knew that we had to be near perfect, defensively, and that was all over the field. Shannon once again came up huge for us, and when she makes a big save, it makes everyone setup their own game."

 

The Hoosiers were able to get their attack going in the first half as well, with Kayleigh Steigerwaltproviding a number of strong crossing passes through the box but she was unable to find anyone on the receiving end of them, so the teams went to the locker room tied, 0-0.

 

In the second half, it appeared to be more of the same from both teams, with each one taking turns putting pressure on the other goal.

 

In the 67th minute, the Badgers got a shot off from 25 yards out that looked to be headed for the upper right corner of the goal, but at the last second, Flower jumped up and deflected the ball over the crossbar. Then in the 75th minute, a missed clearance by an IU defender deflected off a Wisconsin attacker and put the Badgers in 1-on-1 with Flower in goal. The senior came charging off her line and went down to the ground to block the shot and keep the game scoreless.

 

That save by Flower energized the Indiana attack and they were able to convert just a few minutes later. After Nebraska failed to clear the ball out of the final third, Monica Melink gathered the ball on the right side and beat her defender to the end line and sent a low, hard cross into the box. Smith was making her run from the far side and dove head first at the ball and was able to deflect it towards the far post, out of the reach of the UW keeper. The ball rolled towards the post, hitting the inside of it and falling in the goal to put the Hoosiers ahead, 1-0.

 

The goal is the fifth of the season for Smith and the sixth game-winner of her career. For Melink, it's the fourth assist of the season and the second straight game with a point after scoring the game-winning goal at Purdue on Thursday.

 

"We had got in on (goal) several times, but just let our chances go over the crossbar," Berbary said. "So we told the team that this was going to be a game of chances and who was going to be able to execute one or two chances and Abby stepped up big, laying out for us. That's the competitiveness that we need in and around the frame and we weren't going to let it get away from us today."

 

Prior to the game, eight seniors were recognized - Rebecca Candler, Shannon Flower, Megan Holland,Kate McCusker, Monica Melink, Lisa Nouanesengsy, Lara Ross and Becca Zambon - for their contributions to the program as they played their final regular season home game at Armstrong Stadium.

 

Indiana will close out the regular season on Friday when they travel to Lincoln, Neb., to take on the Huskers at 5 p.m. ET. The Big Ten Tournament will then take place Nov. 6-10 in Champaign, Ill. 

 

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