ATHENS, Ohio – The Indiana Women’s Soccer team opened the 2013 campaign with a 1-0 win at Ohio University on Friday afternoon at Chessa Field. It was also the first win for the Hoosiers first-year head coach Amy Berbary.

 

“We talk all the time about going into a game and just trying to do what we are supposed to do and the results will take care of themselves from there,” Berbary said after the win. “Tonight we grinded one out and found a way to get it done and come away with the win.”

 

The Hoosiers (1-0) outshot the Bobcats in the game, 10-8, while both teams generated four corner kicks.

 

Senior goalkeeper Shannon Flower was outstanding in goal for the Hoosiers, making three saves and thwarting a number of other Ohio (0-1) opportunities with her positioning and toughness going up for balls in the air.

 

“I think once I made the first save cleanly, everyone kind of took a breath and settled in,” Flower said. “That was definitely a confidence booster and got rid of some of the jitters.”

 

The Bobcats got the first good look on goal in the contest, but Flower made the diving save in the ninth minute to keep OU off the board. That would be her only save in the first half as the defense in front of her held Ohio at bay.

 

The Hoosiers best attempt in the first half came on a free kick from Becca Zambon that found its way into the six-yard box but skipped over the leg of Bekah White right in front of the goal. Senior Rebecca Candler was also a strong threat in the attacking third of the field in the first half, using her speed on the slow field conditions to beat a couple defenders to loose balls but she was not able to find the right angles to finish her shots.

 

In the second half, Lisa Nouanesengsy did all that she could to get the IU offense in gear, creating havoc in the attacking third of the field. She was able to draw a corner kick and she sent the ball into the box where a couple of Hoosiers were waiting but somehow OU was able to deflect a pair of shots wide and the game remained scoreless.

 

But the Hoosiers were able to break through in the 69^th minute when a ball was played back to defender Lara Ross, who lofted it back into the box. With the Ohio defenders trying to push up to draw the offsides call, Nouanesengsy sprinted towards the goal – while remaining onside – and volleyed the ball into the back of the net for her first goal of the season and 14^th of her career. For Ross, it was her first career assist.

 

“I just wanted to put the ball back into play so I put some air under it and Lisa was able to make the run back in and got the perfect touch on it,” Ross said of her first assist.

 

From there, the Indiana defense took charge and did not allow the Bobcats to find the equalizer of the final 20-plus minutes. But it didn’t come without some more heroics from Flower, who made another spectacular diving save to her right in the 72^nd minute to keep the shutout in tact.

 

“This win will really give a lot of confidence going into Sunday’s game,” Nouanesengsy said. “Winning the first game of the year is always a positive and we are just going to try to build off of that.”

 

Indiana improves to 13-6-2 all-time in season openers and 4-3-1 in season openers away from Armstrong Stadium.  The last time IU opened the season on the road was 2010, when they defeated Evansville, 3-0.

 

The Hoosiers will return home to take on Georgia Southern on Sunday at 1:00 p.m. ET. There will be free food available prior to the game from Jimmy John’s and admission is free to all IUWS home games this season. Fans will also be able to watch a live video stream of the game on IUHoosiers.com.