Mistake dooms IU in season-ending loss

Senior defender Chris Estridge and the IU men’s soccer team had top seed North Carolina scoreless for 96 minutes, but one misstep did them in.

The 16th-seed Hoosiers (13-4-5) lost in overtime 1-0 to North Carolina in the third round of the NCAA Tournament on Sunday at Fetzer Field.

While trying to control possession in the Tar Heels’ final third, Estridge lost the ball, and it proved costly for the Hoosiers.

“There was a ball that was cleared into the top of the box, and I ran onto it, and Kirk Urso was coming in,” Estridge said. “I put my body between him and the ball, and my next touch was supposed to be a pass out to Alec (Purdie), but I slipped.”

Urso gained possession and passed the ball to Tar Heels forward Billy Schuler, who put his shot past IU junior goalkeeper Luis Soffner for the game winner.

“Schuler had a good turn,” Soffner said. “He’s one of the best forwards up there, and he can finish the ball. He put it far post. It was a good finish, so credit to him.”

Sunday’s contest was the seventh game to go to overtime this season for the Hoosiers. In those games, IU had a record of 0-2-5.

Despite that mark, IU Coach Todd Yeagley said he never wavered in his confidence for his team.

“There was not a bit of hesitation heading into overtime,” Yeagley said. “This team was not hoping to get to PKs or hold on and hope to get one.”

With the Hoosiers falling again in the Sweet 16, Soffner said he is optimistic about the future after the offensive emergence of sophomore midfielder Nikita Kotlov and freshman forward Eriq Zavaleta combining for 19 goals and 44 points for IU.

“This is my third year playing, and we can’t get past that Sweet 16 hump,” Soffner said. “The young guys are playing really well right now, and credit to them, credit to everyone on our team right now. We were playing really well.”

As the team heads into the offseason and reflects on what might have been, Yeagley said he knows what he saw on the field, and he won’t soon forget that.

“I thought our team left everything on the field,” Yeagley said. “I’m very proud of the seniors. They have helped this program get back to a perennial power, and I know that they have laid the ground work for a lot of good things to come.”