From the first possession of the game, during which IU drew a penalty call and converted from the spot, the Hoosiers never looked back.
IU's first regular season home game at Bill Armstrong Stadium was a soggy one Friday night, but it ended with a 5-1 IU win against San Francisco.
Rain showers and continuous wind made the conditions cold and gloomy, but IU wasn't fazed as it dominated the game, controlling possession and burning San Francisco defenders down the sidelines.
Junior midfielder Trevor Swartz opened up the scoring in the first minute of the game. He converted a penalty kick drawn by freshman attacker Griffin Dorsey after the winger cut inside the 18-yard box and was bodied to the ground by a San Francisco defender.
The Hoosiers extended their lead in the 19th minute after Dorsey played a one-two ball with freshman attacker Mason Toye, who finished a through ball in front of goal. Toye got the start at striker on Friday for IU, and he scored his second goal of the season as well.
“The combinations up top were excellent. Griffin was an absolute tear to their left back, and you saw the moments where Mason showed what he could do,” IU Coach Todd Yeagley said.
Toye praised Dorsey after the game and said the winger makes his job a lot easier. He said Dorsey creates a lot of chances from the wing, and he said it shows why Dorsey was named Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week for his performances last weekend.
“Right now I think he’s one of the best players in the Big Ten as a freshman,” Toye said. “He hasn’t been stopped this whole season, so the Big Ten should be scared because they haven’t seen anyone like Griffin Dorsey.”
After Toye’s goal, San Francisco responded with one of its own after a free kick was headed into the bottom right corner to pull one back. Junior midfielder Francesco Moore said he thought the team responded well to the Dons' goal.
“There was no panic,” Moore said. “We made some mistakes that we could’ve done better, but even though we have some freshman on the team, I think we’re very mature, and we talk about what we need to do to respond to goals like that.”
Moore was one of five Hoosier goal scorers on Friday, and scored one of IU's three unanswered goals in the 5-1 victory. He was called up to take a penalty after senior attacker Rashad Hyacenth was brought down in the box. Moore executed from the spot, shooting the ball into the center of the net while the goalkeeper dove left.
Hyacenth also got a goal of his own after coming into the game for the first time near the 70-minute mark. He was one of three strikers to appear, and the last one to enter the game. Yeagley said he knew he could count on Hyacenth to hold possession and keep Don defenders off of him while he held and controlled the ball.
“Rashad came in and played like a senior,” Yeagley said. “He kept us calm and drew a foul because of his strength. He’s smart, and he knows what to do in those types of situations. Thomas was hurting a little bit and Mason was cramping, and he’s part of that striker rotation so he knew what to do when he got in.”
The Hoosiers’ clean-sheet streak was snapped 20 minutes into the game after San Francisco scored its header goal. The streak had lasted across the span of two weekends and 210 minutes, but the team responded by locking down defensively and not allowing another goal for the rest of the game.
IU will play at 8 p.m. Sunday night against South Florida. The Bulls fell to No. 17 Butler 3-2 in extra time before IU's game Friday.
