Zavaleta scores 2 goals to help IU to 2nd straight win

Freshman Eriq Zavaleta has come up big exactly when the IU men’s soccer team has needed him, leading to two road wins this week.

Zavaleta scored two goals Saturday to lead the Hoosiers to a 4-1 win against Michigan in Ann Arbor, Mich.

Zavaleta is tied for the team lead in goals with senior Alec Purdie, who also scored Saturday. Zavaleta’s seven goals are the most ever scored by a freshman, breaking Will Bruin’s 2008 record of six.

After two Hoosier goals were taken off the board from offside’s calls and a Michigan goal, Indiana trailed 1-0 at halftime, but the players remained confident.

“In the locker room at half, you could see we needed to make some changes to get back to do what we came to do and execute,” IU Coach Todd Yeagley said.

The Hoosiers still trailed 1-0 when Zavaleta scored his second goal in as many games to knot the game at one in the 56th minute. The goal sparked the Hoosiers, and seven minutes later, senior Alec Purdie netted his seventh goal of the season to put the game at 2-1.

“Harrison (Petts) had the ball at the top of the box. He got it to me, and the keeper was right in front of me,” Purdie said. “I waited half a second for him to go down, and I kicked it over him. There wasn’t much to it.”

Sophomore Nikita Kotlov scored with a header in the 78th minute, and eight minutes later, Zavaleta struck again for his second goal of the game. The freshman-senior duo of Zavaleta and Purdie has combined for 14 goals this season and has provided life for the Hoosiers’ offense.

“We’ve got good support. We’re putting ourselves in good spots and getting balls played to us where we can score goals,” Zavaleta said. “Alec’s doing a great job finishing off his chances, and I’ve been doing good so far, too. We’re hoping to keep it up.”

The Hoosiers have now won two games in a row after their three-game losing streak, and Zavaleta said he believes his team is going to take this momentum and run with it.
“We knew that getting that win at Butler was going to give us the momentum to go forward,” Zavaleta said. “We came out in the first half against Michigan with some chances, but nothing that we could finish. We were lucky and grateful to get that first one, because once we did, the rest came fairly easily.”

Yeagley said he can see his team growing with every victory.

“Being down in the first half, not playing our best and to see the response was a real positive step for this team,” Yeagley said. “It’s always difficult to win on the road, no matter who you are playing — a lot of positives to draw on from the second half.”