Hoosiers go 2-0 on weekend, jump to 2-1-1

SOUTH BEND – The IU men’s soccer team combined for five goals and 33 shots taken in its first two victories of the season.

But the Hoosiers weren’t happy with their performance.

“We got to take better chances with our strikes,” sophomore forward Will Bruin said. “I should have had two or three other ones. I have yet to score with my foot, but that’s alright. They’ll come.”

IU walked off the pitch with a 2-0 record this weekend after beating New Mexico on Friday evening 3-2 and Seattle University 2-0 Sunday in the Mike Berticelli Memorial Tournament in South Bend.

Coming off their first loss of the season to No. 2 Wake Forest, the Hoosiers had a slow start followed by sloppy play against the Lobos.

Both teams took five shots in the first half before cranking up their legs in the second for a combined 20 shots.

Senior midfielder Lee Hagedorn had the first goal for the Hoosiers, just minutes after New Mexico scored.

The Hoosiers’ second and third goals, from sophomore forwards Bruin and Alec Purdie, respectively, were both headed in.

Hagedorn said different styles of play were part of the Hoosier’s first road game stumble.

“Overall, I think everyone from the coaches to the players were a little disappointed in how we played today,” Hagedorn said after Friday’s win. “We were happy we ended up getting a win, and we fought hard when we got down, but we definitely let a couple goals go in that shouldn’t have gone in.”

After a day of rest, the Hoosiers came out solid Sunday with non-stop chatter in the backfield to win their second road contest.

“I didn’t think we played very well against New Mexico,” IU coach Mike Freitag said. “Defensively I think we gave them too much respect early on, and then today I thought we played much better ... Defensively and offensively we’re starting to gel little by little.”

The constant talking between freshman goalkeeper Luis Soffner and his teammates is something Soffner said Freitag told them they needed to develop.

“Coach has just been telling the back line that the more and more we talk, the better we’ll be,” Soffner said. “As long as we talk to each other and are talking to the midfielders ... We really can’t let up any shots.”

Soffner recorded his second shutout for the Hoosiers after a rookie attitude almost lost him the zero that lit up Seattle’s score.

“I was backpedaling and on my last step before I hopped up, and I just twisted my ankle,” Soffner said of his first save of the game. “I just kind of threw my momentum off. I dropped it and luckily we got on it and just put it out right away. It was kind of a mistake from me being a little casual, I guess.”

Bruin agreed he and the rest of the team also made mistakes in the match.

Still, he and junior forward/midfielder Andy Adlard combined for 12 total shots, with both earning goals in the contest.

“We’re starting to gel offensively,” Bruin said. “Defensively we’re staying in shape, but there’s still stuff they need to work on. Our offense is starting to come along now. We’re starting to find gaps and finally put some balls in.”

The Hoosiers still missed many opportunities, with 19 shots taken and only two goals.

“It’s better than 15,” Freitag said. “We could have had more goals today. We just got to get better in making our chances, but I’ll take 19 shots and two goals any day if we shut them out.”