At Bill Armstrong Stadium, it’s all about the eight banners that stand on the east side of the field. It’s all about the name associated with the pitch, Jerry Yeagley Field. It’s all about the team that garners top 25 rankings each and every season. It’s all about the men’s soccer team.
Meanwhile, the women’s soccer program hired a new man before the 2019 season who is slowly changing the outlook on the program and shifting some attention to the women’s side. Erwin van Bennekom, in his second season at IU, is changing the narrative with Indiana women’s soccer.
In just his second season, he had Indiana inside the top 25, just for a moment. Indiana split the week they were ranked and were dropped out of the rankings, but that doesn’t mean that week wasn’t significant. Indiana hadn’t been ranked in the top 25 since 1999. So even if it was for one week, it was still worth something to the program.
“It shows a little bit of the improvement of the program overall,” van Bennekom said. “It’s nice. It looks good toward the outside and it shows everyone the improvements we’ve made.”
Head Coach Erwin van Bennekom and forward Jen Blitchok discuss the 2021 season thus far and what it meant to be ranked in the top 25.
He also stressed that Indiana is only as good as its last game, which at the time was a win over Maryland, 3-2. Indiana has a really solid blend of upperclassman talent as well as some younger players stepping into bigger roles early.
Senior Melanie Forbes leads the team with three goals while Oliwia Wos leads the team with two assists. Freshman Jen Blitchok is second on the team in goals scored with two.
“Jen has something about her that many women have,” van Bennekom said. “She’s nasty. She’s tough.”
Blitchok has bought into van Bennekom’s system in her first year at Indiana, a system that seems to be producing some really solid soccer over the past few weeks.
“He’s probably the best coach I’ve had, soccer wise,” Blitchok said. “Even just being here for just a year, it’s been awesome all the things I’ve been able to learn through him.”
The view from outside the team is changing, with more attention being given to the women’s program with the new leadership from van Bennekom, but he also wants to make sure business is taken care of on the pitch.
He talked about his desire to win trumping most other things when it comes to training. He wants training sessions to be built toward winning, not all about having fun and having a good time with your teammates. When it boils down to it, it’s all about winning.
“I said it the other day after the Maryland win,” van Bennekom said. “Not losing should be more fun than winning. That feeling I carry.”
Head Coach Erwin van Bennekom and forward Jen Blitchok talk about working well with each other, the team’s mentality toward practices and games, the goals for the season and more.
He also mentioned how it’s tougher to have great, impactful training sessions playing multiple games a week with the new condensed spring schedule.
When asked about the goals of the program, whether that be immediate or distant, it remains about winning.
“Our goal is just focusing on the next game and winning the next game,” Blitchok said. “I’d say our main goal is to win as much as we can and develop as much as we can, looking toward the future and just bringing this program up and following Erwin’s vision for it.”
“She’s well trained,” van Bennekom said. “It’s about winning the next game. For a forward like Jen, you miss a chance, you try and score the next one. That’s what it is.”
The two agree, the goal is simple for the women’s soccer program: win and win some more. If the start to 2021 is any indication, they’re heading in the right direction.
