Photo Credit: @IndianaWSOC/X

BILL ARMSTRONG STADIUM (IUSTV Sports) — Big Ten newcomer UCLA had an unfriendly welcome to the conference last Saturday when Indiana football trounced the Bruins 42-13 in Pasadena, California. However, the Bruins had a golden opportunity to even the score on the pitch as they made the trip to Bloomington, Indiana to take on Indiana women’s soccer.

While the Hoosiers held their own defensively, a first half goal proved too much for Indiana to overcome as the Bruins walked away with a 1-0 win.

UCLA dominated possession from the jump, as Indiana opted to start the game in an overly defensive formation in an effort to counteract the Bruins high powered offense. Senior goalkeeper Jamie Gerstenberg kept Indiana knotted up through the initial part of the first half with a pair of tough saves, but it would prove to be too tall a task to keep UCLA out of the net.

In the 18th minute, junior midfielder Sofia Cook lined a left footed strike over the hands of a leaping Gerstenberg and into the red and white netting of the Hoosier goal to give the Bruins an early lead. 

“Their goal came from outside the box and we gave them a little bit too many of those shots,” Bennekom said in his postgame press conference. “And they got the players that can score them.”

Cook’s strike was representative of an initial half which was full of UCLA offensive attacks. On the other end of the pitch, Indiana struggled to find any footing offensively and had just two total shot attempts in the first half of play.

Bennekom elected to switch formations out of the intermission, as the Hoosiers brought up an extra player into the attacking third with hopes of finding some scoring opportunities. While Indiana finally secured some elusive shots on goals, the cream and crimson were unable to find the net and fell at home for the second straight game.

“They were the better team and probably deserve to win in the end,” Bennekom said.

Next up for Indiana is a Sunday afternoon matchup with a dangerous USC squad as the Hoosiers look to bounce back from losing their initial pair of conference games. The Trojans hold a 5-1-1 record with their sole loss coming at the hands of No. 1 Stanford. Kickoff is set for 12 p.m. and the game will be broadcast on BTN+.