Following a 1-1 draw at Brown on Sunday, Indiana head coach Erwin van Bennekom was displeased with the number of chances his squad created. It’s safe to say they picked up the message.
From whistle to whistle, it was complete domination by the Hoosiers in their 5-0 win over Evansville on Thursday night. Indiana outshot Evansville 34-4, leading 18-2 in shots on goal and 11-0 on corners. The ball seemingly never left the attacking half with an Indiana shot coming roughly every three minutes.
“You can’t score goals unless you take a chance,” sophomore midfielder Elle Britt said.
With 34 chances, the goals were bound to come quickly, and they did just that.
The scoring got started in the fourth minute when Layla Sirdah capitalized on an Evansville turnover, waited patiently in the box for an opening, and casually fired one into the back of the net. Then, it was Britt’s time to shine.
Britt led the team in shots on goal coming into the night, but had nothing to show for it. In her second start of the season was hungry to break through.
“I was long overdue for a goal,” Britt said. “I thought tonight was the night. I felt it.”
She was right and then some, earning her first career brace just 26 minutes in. The first goal came in the seventh minute, curling one into the top right corner from well outside the box to make it 2-0. Nineteen minutes later, she would rocket one in from the exact same spot, this time on the ground.
Indiana would go into the halftime break leading 3-0, outshooting Evansville 16-1, 6-0 in shots on goal, and winning the corner battle 7-0.
The Hoosiers would go on to score two more goals in the second half. Lauren Costello headed in a corner off a nice feed from Sirdah in the 56th minute and Avery Snead put one home off a cross in the 75th. Five goals would be more than enough for the Hoosiers to remain undefeated on the season.
Indiana’s new-look offense has been strong and versatile this season, something the Hoosiers lacked last season.
“Maybe last year and the last couple years it was maybe one or two players and now I think we have three, four or five,” van Bennekom said.
Sirdah is responsible for a good portion of the offensive explosion to start the Hoosiers’ season. The freshman leads the team with two goals, five assists, and 10 shots on goal. She finished the night with a goal, two assists and six shots on goal vs Evansville.
“She has so much potential,” van Bennekom said. “She’s shown probably 50 percent of what she can do.”
While much of the attention this season has been on Sirdah and the young talent, Indiana’s next match will be all about the seniors, hosting Division III Lawrence University for Senior Day on Sunday.
