IU ties NCAA record against Butler

With a 2-0 win against Butler, the Hoosiers clinched a winning season to tie UCLA’s NCAA Division I record of 40 consecutive winning seasons.

After allowing Louisville Cardinals to match their early goal in last week’s game, the Hoosiers left no doubt against Butler.

The Hoosiers scored early and added a buffer near the middle of the second half, sophomore forward Eriq Zavaleta said.

“It’s always good to get a nice brace,” he said. “The game was not necessarily going our way throughout the entire game. I think we did a good job of fighting to get the second goal and seal off the game.”

Despite controlling much of the offensive pressure in the beginning of the first half, the Hoosiers did not test Butler goalkeeper Jon Dawson until minute 23.

Six minutes later, the Hoosiers would find the net and push ahead of the Bulldogs.

Zavaleta opened the scoring column for the Hoosiers with a heading flick into the net off a throw-in from junior midfielder Nikita Kotlov.

The ball rolled past the touchline near the right flag in the Butler defensive third. Kotlov took the long throw and found Zavaleta near the front post, just as he did for the opening goal in the Aug. 31 Clemson game.

“Nikita throws a good ball in, and I was able to get myself a bit of space to get the finish,” Zavaleta said. “The long throw adds a different asset to our game, and it’s another way to be dangerous. He has been able get to the ball in good spots all year, and I was able to finish one today.”

The goal was Zavaleta’s 13th of the season, and the assist was Kotlov’s third.

The Bulldogs did not match Zavaleta’s header, and the Hoosiers went to into the locker room at 1-0.

Leading into the game, the Hoosiers were undefeated in six games after scoring in the first half and undefeated in eight games after scoring first.

The Hoosiers came back for the second maintaining their offensive pressure.

After two corner kicks from junior midfielder A.J. Corrado and two one-touch volley rebounds from sophomore midfielder Patrick Doody, the Hoosiers capitalized with their second goal of the night.

Junior midfielder Jacob Bushue, playing along the right touchline, beat his defender and took two dribbles toward the box before playing a roller to Kotlov.

Receiving the ball in the middle of the box, Kotlov fired a one-touch shot past Dawson’s right arm and into the net.

“We’ve been working on criss-cross patterns in practice, and I’m not even sure if Bushue saw where I was,” Kotlov said. “He was expecting someone to be there, so I made a strong run, and he gave me a perfect ball. It was kind of lucky from that
point on.”

Senior goalkeeper Luis Soffner was not tested in the second half until a cross following a free kick in minute 63. The ball came into the six-yard box, and Bushue fought for positioning against his man before heading the ball out of the box.

Late in the second half, the Hoosiers were able to block, deflect or control the ball around their box, not allowing the Bulldogs a clear shot at Soffner for the clean sheet.

“You put the ball in the box enough, and one might bounce your way,” Yeagley said. “We were still able to deal with it. They had one really good chance, but most of them weren’t clear looks.”

The shutout was the Hoosiers’ fourth in the seven games and second in a row in which Kotlov scored a point. The junior had a scoring run late last season, scoring nine points in the final 10 games.

Kotlov said he wants this season to stay as it is.

“I would love for it to happen again, but we’ll see,” Kotlov said. “We’re going to have to pick it up from this game. We need to look forward to playing our game. The goals will come for the entire team, in general.”