IU Columbus’ Lily Campbell takes a shot on goal against the defense of Saint Mary-of-the-Woods’ Lauren Tilley Thursday at BCSC Soccer Complex.
Tommy Walker/For The Republic
With three games left in the regular season, IU Columbus is fighting for a chance to get into the River States Conference men’s and women’s soccer tournaments.
The Crimson Pride women stayed alive in their quest to make the tournament Thursday by picking up their first conference victory in two years, a 1-0 win against Saint Mary-of-the-Woods at BCSC Soccer Complex. The IUC men, however, dropped a 4-2 decision to the Pomeroys in a game that could end up deciding the sixth-and-final playoff berth.
“I just feel like we had to get one win to start off and build on,” Hallie Archer said of the women’s triumph. “We won two games against pretty easy teams at the beginning of the season, so now competing in the conference with teams that are good, that was a good team. I think it just makes us feel a little bit more confident going into the postseason, hopefully.”
Archer, a sophomore from Switzerland County, was involved in both goals for the Crimson Pride women (3-9-2, 1-6). She scored the game’s first goal in the 24th minute when she put a shot over the head of SMWC keeper Lauren Rindone from 30 yards out.
“I just saw (the ball) pop out, and you have to take your chances when you get them,” Archer said.
The game stayed 1-0 until the 63rd minute when Lily Campbell, a junior from Salem, scored off a pass from Archer. That second goal proved critical after the Pomeroys (1-12-1, 1-6) got a goal from Olivia Wainscott in the 72nd minute.
“It was crucial,” Campbell said. “We try to score within the first 15 minutes of the second half. It kind of took us a little bit longer, but we got there, and it was nice to have, and it was a nice finish.”
IUC outshot SMWC 12-11, with both teams putting nine shots on goal. Zoe Bippus recorded eight saves for the Crimson Pride.
“It’s definitely exciting,” Campbell said. “We played a difficult first couple matches in our conference, and we’re kind of easing into the ones we can compete a lot in.”
“The girls showed a lot of fight,” IUC coach Kevin Nolan added. “They’ve been so close the last two games. We were up 1-0 at halftime and then tied with (IU) Kokomo, one of the best teams in our conference, in the last 15 minutes and just kind of ran out of gas and lost that one. The game before that, the last 5 minutes against Rio (Grande), we lost in the last 5 minutes. So it was good to see out a victory. We have another big, winnable game on Saturday (at Midway), so if we catch a little fire and some momentum, I think the girls will be good the rest of the year.”
In the men’s game that followed, the Crimson Pride (5-8-1, 2-4) struck first when former Columbus North teammates Alejandro “Pollo” Alvarez and Christian Cardoso connected, with Cardoso finishing in the 23rd minute. But the Pomeroys (5-9, 3-2) answered with goals in the 32nd and 35th minutes to take a 2-1 halftime lead, then added two more goals in the 56th minute to go ahead 4-1.
IUC scored its second goal in the 82nd minute when Dylan Krueckeberg headed in a free kick from Trent Schenk.
SMWC outshot the Crimson Pride 16-15, putting 11 shots on goal to nine for IUC. Jacob Kasarda posted four saves.
The women’s and men’s teams play doubleheaders Saturday at Midway (Kentucky), Oct. 30 at home against Oakland City and Nov. 1 at home against Kentucky Christian. If they finish in the top six among the nine soccer-playing schools in the RSC, they would make the conference tournament.
“We’re going to be there with (SMWC) all the way up until the last game of the season,” Nolan said of the men’s team. “We knew how big it was. We were just undisciplined today. There were a lot of other things we could have put it on — referees, injuries, suspensions — but we didn’t deserve to win today, and it’s tough because we always get one of these games every year. It just didn’t work today.
“It’s frustrating because I know how good these guys can be, but they have to decide if they want to be that good because they have all the qualities to do it,” he added. “They just have to do it. We’ll hopefully bounce back. We’re still alive to make the playoffs, and it’s just the seeding now. If we can get a result against Midway and finish the season strong with results, we can get into the playoff, and hopefully, if some results fall our way that we want, maybe we can get a home game. But we’re just trying to get into the playoff now.”
