The women’s soccer team gathered Tuesday for their first practice after a heartbreaking weekend. As they walked onto the practice field, they were greeted with a quote.

“It is not the mountain we conquer, but ourselves.”

This quote by Edmund Hillary was meant to be a motivational factor after the disappointing Big Ten opening games.

On Friday, the Buckeyes fell to No. 25 Purdue in West Lafayette, Ind. In a grueling battle between the two Big Ten teams, the Buckeyes failed to score a goal, losing 1-0. Purdue’s record jumped to 8-1-2, while OSU fell to 4-3-1.

In the first half, the Boilermakers outshot the Buckeyes 10-6. The team had to battle some unforgivable weather during this period, but it worked in their advantage over the next 45 minutes as they outshot their opponent 12-9.

“We had 25 mph winds in our face (during the first half),” coach Lori Walker said. “So, by putting the wind at our back, it changed the game for both teams. We relaxed, started to play and kept the ball on the ground.”

The only goal came when the Boilermakers capitalized on a corner kick. The Buckeyes’ attempts in the second half to level the score were aided by junior midfielder Lara Dickenmann, who took five shots. Dickenmann racked up eight shots that night. The team was backed up by a strong defense. Freshman goalkeeper Lauren Robertson had back-to-back saves.

Even though the Buckeyes added a loss to their record, the close score indicates two common occurrences during Big Ten matchups. It is tough to win by a landslide and it is always exciting.

“Going into every Big Ten game is a big deal,” said Lisa Grub, forward and senior tri-captain. “They are all decided by one goal.”

Opening up the Big Ten season to a nationally ranked team creates some anxiety and nerves. Those emotions were not visible Friday night. Even after the game, the girls were not disappointed in the way they played, instead they felt shorted.

“We lost because we were a little bit unlucky,” Dickenmann said.

The team did not have to look far for motivation to leave all thoughts of the Purdue game on the Varsity Soccer Complex in West Lafayette. Sunday brought them to another Big Ten rival’s stadium. This time, the Buckeyes would face off against Indiana. Dickenmann, originally from Kriens, Switzerland, was ready for the challenges of this game.

“Big Ten is motivation,” Dickenmann said.

The fans came out on Sunday to watch the game. Even with Dickenmann’s quick goal 34 seconds into the second half to tie the score, the Buckeyes just could not get a win. With the 2-1 loss, OSU sits at 0-2-0 in the Big Ten and 4-4-1 overall.

The Hoosiers came out strong in the first half, scoring off a free kick with 44:25 remaining.They continued using set pieces to give OSU its second loss in the Big Ten. Walker was attempting another type of game plan, one that proves the team’s agility.

“Our game plan is not to create set pieces and that is what Indiana’s game plan was,” she said. “We want to score off the run.”

The Buckeyes gave Indiana plenty of opportunities to execute their game plan. The Hoosiers took six corner kicks adding to their total of 14 shots over the course of the game. Robertson kept the Hoosiers to just two goals by coming through with five saves.

The lone goal scored by OSU was a team effort. Crossed over by defender Emily Francis to teammate Grubb, the ball was tapped backwards to Dickenmann, who popped it into the goal. The assist by Grubb put her over the edge to become the all-time points leader. Grubb beat out the previous leader Lisa Suttmiller (1994-97) to set the record at 84 points.

“I didn’t have any idea I did it until after the game,” Grubb said. “I would have rather won than broken the record.”

The Hoosiers managed to squeak in a last minute goal off another free kick at 80:34. Walker, however, was proud of her team’s performance.

“Indiana out-fouled us. We pride ourselves that we aren’t hacks,” she said. “We play hard but we play clean.”

The Buckeyes come back home this weekend for another double dose of Big Ten action when they take on Wisconsin at 7:30 p.m. Friday and Northwestern at 1 p.m. Sunday.