“This was a great win for us,” Indiana
head coach Mick Lyon said. “Our win on
Friday against Florida was tremendous
and this win made the entire weekend
very special because Mercer is a very
good team and will win a lot of games
this year.”
With the win, the
Hoosiers match the best start in program
history, which was set in 1994 and then
equaled again in 2000. It is also the
best start for the Hoosiers in the eight
years under the direction of head coach
Mick Lyon. Dating back to last season,
the Hoosiers have won eight games in a
row, the longest winning streak under
Lyon. The longest winning streak in
program history is 14 games, which
spanned the final nine games of the 1993
season and the first five games of the
1994 season.
The Bears got on the
board first in the 40th
minute when Kate Alderman found Sara
Elliot for a header that beat IU keeper
Lauren Hollandsworth to give Mercer a
1-0 lead just before halftime.
Lyon and the Hoosiers
made some adjustments at halftime and
came out and controlled play in the
second half. They were finally able to
get the equalizer in at the 63:51 mark
when Lawrence send a free kick in
towards the box that found the head of
Carly Samp, who deposited it past the
Mercer keeper for her second goal of the
season.
“We had a good talk
at halftime,” said Lyon. “We knew that
Mercer played about as well as they
could in the first half so we knew that
if we came out and played as well as we
could in the second half we would be in
good position to win the game, and we
did, which was excellent to see.”
