Ohio State junior midfielder Peyton McNamara (9) scored twice in No. 22 Ohio State’s 2-1 win over Kent State Sept. 11. Credit: Zachary Rilley | Photo Editor
The Ohio State women’s soccer team will look for its first road conference victory of the season when it takes on Indiana at Bill Armstrong Stadium in Bloomington Thursday.
The Buckeyes (6-2-2, 1-1-1 Big Ten) enter the game on the heels of back-to-back shutouts in a scoreless draw against Iowa and 2-0 win at Michigan. The Hoosiers (2-2-6, 0-2-1 Big Ten) come into Thursday’s match being outscored 5-0 in their first two Big Ten matches, with losses against Wisconsin and Minnesota.
Indiana has yet to score a goal in Big Ten play as it played to a scoreless draw against Penn State in its conference opener.
The Hoosiers have scored just eight goals all season, and senior defender Talani Barnett said the Buckeyes may have to adjust their play style depending on how Indiana plays.
“They seem like a very direct team,” Barnett said. “It means we have to focus more on dropping our back line, but we also have to adjust to how they play because they might play differently than we play.”
The leading goal scorers for Indiana are freshmen forward Jordyn Levy and midfielder Ava Akeel, with two each. Although the Hoosiers have scored just eight goals this season, they’ve only allowed five.
For the Buckeyes, senior forward Emma Sears and junior midfielder Peyton McNamara are tied for the team lead in goals with four.
Head coach Lori Walker-Hock said Ohio State doesn’t know what it’s going to get from Indiana, so the Buckeyes will have to focus on their game.
“We focus in on ourselves,” Walker-Hock said. “Doing all the things that we need to be doing at this point and cleaning up our finishing and our runs in the box and making sure that we’re defending better.”
The Buckeyes will look to win their second-consecutive conference game Thursday in Bloomington with opening kick set for 7 p.m.
