Scorers replace last year’s offense

Even after losing more than 75 percent of last season’s team’s goal scoring to graduation and the MLS, IU Coach Todd Yeagley still knew he had the offensive firepower his team needed for success.

Senior Alec Purdie returned for a fourth year. Purdie showed offensive potential his last few seasons, Yeagley said.

Yeagley’s Hoosiers also had freshman Eriq Zavaleta, who leads the team in goals scored this year with nine.

But after coming off an injury, Yeagley said he didn’t realize the impact of yet a third offensive threat, sophomore Nikita Kotlov, completing a “Three Musketeers” of sorts in IU’s attacking front.

“We did have high expectations for Nikita coming into the season because he had lots of flashes last year,” Yeagley said. “But even with his injury, he’s taken the time and given us great effort.”

The Indianapolis native knows his role as one of the go-to guys on the team is more important than ever with the end of the season looming Saturday against Ohio State at home.

“My role is more of the dynamic movements in the middle to create options for us to score goals,” Kotlov said. “I simply go out and try to create as many chances for myself as I can, and lately, my teammates have done a great job finding me up top.”

In his freshman season, Kotlov scored three goals and recorded six assists.

This year, though he is yet to get an assist, he’s kicked five goals with one regular season game remaining on the schedule, which is important for a team that had lost 25 of its 37 goals last year in now-gone Will Bruin and Andy Adlard.

“This season, we’ve been able to find goals in many different spots,” Yeagley said. “We had to find ways to replace the offense we lost — and we had to do it by committee. And I think we’ve done that.”

It’s a trend Yeagley and his squad hope to continue as they face the Big Ten’s top-ranked team, which is hunting for a win that would bring a conference regular season title this weekend.

As Kotlov prepares for the final regular season battle, he said he knows he’s
coming into the season finale a smarter player than he was last year or even at the beginning of this season.

“Late this year, I’ve done a lot more passing up shots and looking for the right one,” Kotlov said. “I’m trying to pick my chances wisely instead of just ripping right at it and hoping it goes in.”

Yeagley said he has noticed an improvement in his up-and-coming athlete.
“I’ve been telling him all year that we need him to step up and make plays,” Yeagley said. “And he has, but a lot of the things he does well don’t show up on the stat sheet.”