Hoosiers fall to No. 5 UNC in 3rd round of NCAAs

Senior defender Ofori Sarkodie finished his career at IU crouching at midfield of North Carolina’s Fetzer Field.

A congratulatory hug went to North Carolina midfielder Dustin McCarty as he slipped off his captain’s armband. It was all over.

Sarkodie and his teammates left Chapel Hill, N.C., on Sunday with a 1-0 loss to the No. 5 seed Tar Heels, ending the Hoosiers’ season in the third round of the NCAA Tournament.

“We came together when it mattered this year, but North Carolina, on the day, was able to outmatch us a bit,” Sarkodie said. “It’s part of the game.”

North Carolina faces Drake to decide who goes to the College Cup. IU finished 12-10-1 on the season.

The Tar Heels’ lone goal came 27 minutes into the game when sophomore forward Alex Dixon slid a ball past freshman goalkeeper Luis Soffner to the opposite post.

It was the only goal IU gave up during its three-game postseason run.

“I thought the goal was a soft goal,” IU coach Mike Freitag said. “I felt we weren’t as clicked in as we should have been for 90 minutes. We had several good chances to score and didn’t put them away.”

Dixon’s goal came on one of North Carolina’s seven shots in the first half. He led the game with five total shots, three of which were on-goal.

North Carolina outshot IU 15-9 on the afternoon, possessing much of the second half. The Tar Heels finished the game with 13 corner kicks.

IU had its opportunities, though. 

A goal from sophomore forward Will Bruin looked to be a certainty eight minutes in but was waived off after he was flagged offside. Later, with 10 minutes to play, junior midfielder Andy Adlard had a turnaround strike batted away by keeper Brooks Haggerty. 

“We decided to apply some pressure, but unfortunately we were not sharp enough to put those away,” Sarkodie said. “Come tourney time, you get one, two, maybe three chances to put one away. When you go a goal down that early, it makes it difficult to win on any pitch.”

This loss marks IU’s fifth straight year without making a College Cup appearance.
“Many people would have been happy with making the Sweet Sixteen, but that’s not
Indiana soccer,” Freitag said.

The Hoosiers struggled with a top-10 RPI schedule this season, putting together three consecutive wins only once and nearly missing the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1986.

“I’m disappointed, obviously,” Sarkodie said. “I’m happy with maturity I’ve gotten, happy with my education and I really don’t have any regrets except that I never did reach the Final Four.

“I’m proud to have played with these guys. Indiana Soccer was here long before me and will be here long after me. I hope to have left my stamp here, because I did what I could.”

The senior class was the second in the program’s 36-year history to fail to reach the College Cup.

Freitag said the lack of execution Sunday was indicative of the way the entire season went for IU.

“The thing this year was, for whatever reason, we didn’t find a way to string wins together,” he said. “That’s what bit us in the end – our lack of consistency. We lost to a team I know we can beat. We didn’t get it done.”

Freshman defender Matt Wiet said the future is still bright for the Hoosiers.

“I think that even if we do start off a little bit slow, we have fantastic players,” he said. “The biggest issue that we’ll have is chemistry. If we sort that out in the first month, setting our goal for a national championship won’t be shooting for the moon. We’re Indiana.”