October 19, 2012
ANOTHER GAME WINNER
Smith lead Indiana women to 2-0 win

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Abby Smith tallied her fourth game-winning goal of the year and Sarah Stone made seven saves to earn her third shutout of the season as Indian defeated Minnesota 2-0 on a cold and rainy night at Armstrong Stadium Friday.

With the win, the Hoosiers improve to (9-7-1 ( 4-5 Big Ten) while Minnesota falls to 9-7-1 (4-4-1 Big Ten).

“Our defense was extremely organized tonight, led by two of our seniors, Molly Buynak and Ciersten Burks,” Indiana head coach Mick Lyon said. “They really had everyone where they needed to be and made it really tough for Minnesota to get on goal.”

Indiana has now won three straight games in the Big Ten and four of its last five. It is the longest winning streak in conference play for the Hoosiers since the final three games of the 2008 season.

Indiana found the back of the net for the first time in the 22nd minute when Rebecca Candler found Smith wide open at back post and Smith put home her fourth goal of the year to put IU ahead 1-0. Each of Smith’s four goals have ended up being game-winning goals while Candler extended her single-season school record for assists with her 10th of the year. She also pushes her consecutive games with a point streak to six games.

Just over seven minutes later in the 30th minute, Becca Zambon raced up the right sideline and fed a ball into the box that was corralled by Orianica Velasquez. The senior forward then, in one motion, turned towards the goal and sent a laser shot inside the far post for her seventh goal of the season to put the Hoosiers in front, 2-0.

The goal by Velasquez is the 26th of her career, moving into a tie for fourth place all-time at Indiana.

Stone registered seven saves to pick up the shutout in goal for the Hoosiers, the third shutout for the redshirt freshman in just her fifth start. Minnesota goalkeeper Car Parkhill made three saves as the Golden Gophers held a 16-6 shots advantage.

The victory snaps a four-game losing skid against Minnesota as well. This season, Indiana is 7-2 at Armstrong Stadium.

Indiana will host Wisconsin on Sunday at Armstrong Stadium with kickoff slated for 1:00 p.m. ET.