Hoosiers Earn Win in 89th Minute At Nebraska

Maggie Ledwith delivered a late game-winner Thursday night as Indiana women’s soccer opened Big Ten play with a 1-0 road victory over Nebraska at Barbara Hibner Field.

The victory improves the Hoosiers to 4-2-1 overall and 1-0 in Big Ten play, while Nebraska falls to 2-2-3 overall and 0-1 in the conference.

Indiana and Nebraska battled through more than 88 minutes of scoreless soccer before the Hoosiers finally found their breakthrough.

In the 89th minute, Grace Hamm and Haden Vlcek combined to set up Ledwith, who found the back of the net at the 88:11 mark. The goal was Ledwith’s third of the season and gave Indiana the 1-0 advantage with just 1:49 remaining.

Indiana’s defense took care of the rest, completing the shutout and giving the Hoosiers their second consecutive road victory.

Goalkeeper Dani Jacobson played the full 90 minutes for Indiana and stopped all three Nebraska shots on goal to earn the clean sheet.

The match was evenly contested statistically. Indiana finished with a slight 12-11 advantage in total shots and put six attempts on goal compared with three for Nebraska. The Cornhuskers generated six corner kicks while Indiana did not record a corner.

Nebraska goalkeeper Avery Gillahan made five saves, but Ledwith’s late strike proved to be the difference.

The result gives Indiana consecutive victories after closing non-conference play with a 3-2 win at Ohio. The Hoosiers have now scored four goals over their last two matches while earning back-to-back road wins.

Indiana returns home Sunday for another major Big Ten test as the Hoosiers welcome No. 6 Ohio State to Bill Armstrong Stadium in Bloomington. Kickoff is scheduled for 1 p.m.