BILL ARMSTRONG STADIUM (IUSTV Sports) — The No. 20 ranked Ohio State Buckeyes came into Bloomington and took down the Hoosiers 3-0 in the teams’ first conference bout.
The Buckeyes snapped Indiana’s 15-game home winning streak that back to 2022. Alternatively, the Hoosiers are now on a 4-game losing streak against the Buckeyes, dating back to 2021.
Indiana head coach Erwin Van Bennekom ended his press conference with a thank you and an apology for the performance. It wasn’t Indiana’s best game at Bill Armstrong, but certainly could’ve been worse if adjustments weren’t made to minimize damage.
“Yeah, we changed shade women to diamond in midfield, and I think we got a little bit more control in one second ball, so we had more passing options. So that helped. I think even in the second half, I think we didn’t do enough with that. I think we could have been a little bit better.”
The match was physical with 18 total fouls being committed including four different VAR reviews. One led to a penalty in the 87th minute for OSU’s senior forward Kailyn Dudukovich. Dudukovich snuck the shot in under Indiana’s senior goalkeeper Jamie Gerstenberg for her eighth goal of the season and second of the match.
The Buckeye’s constant pressure on both sides of the ball was too much for the Hoosiers to handle all match. OSU was out to a 2-0 start after 37 minutes and never looked back.
Indiana was able to get off seven shots in the match but only put three on goal. The few shots on goal were masterfully saved by OSU junior keeper Molly Pritchard. Pritchard earned her second shutout of the season against the Hoosiers thanks to her diving saves.
Indiana turns their attention to UCLA at home on Thursday, September, 19th. Van Bennekom knows the team has to be better than what he saw against Ohio State.
“We’ll grab what we can get from this and try to get a little bit better,” Van Bennekom said. “We have to be obviously, usually doesn’t get any easier the next couple weeks, so we just got to get a little bit better.”
No. 20 Ohio State improves to 5-1-1 (1-0-0) with their next match against Brown University on Sunday at noon.
The Hoosiers fall to 5-1-1 (0-0-1) on the season with their next match in a week at home against UCLA.
