Men's soccer defeats Evansville

After 24 days between victories and five consecutive losses, the IU men’s soccer team captured an elusive win Wednesday night, defeating Evansville 4-2.

On a frigid night at Bill Armstrong Stadium, the Hoosiers capitalized on a strong and diverse goal-scoring attack, fending off two late goals to earn the program’s 16th consecutive victory over the Purple Aces.

Senior midfielder Harrison Petts’ second goal of the season gave IU the lead more than 20 minutes into the first half.

A cross from the left wing found senior midfielder A.J. Corrado, whose headed pass found Petts inside the penalty area.

Taking one touch to put the ball on his right foot, Petts fired a low shot across net and just inside the left post.

The goal ended a 222-minute drought for the Hoosiers that dated back to their Oct. 11 loss at Wisconsin.

IU Coach Todd Yeagley said the goal brought positive energy back to his team.

“It felt good. It was a good way to get back on track in the goal category,” he said. “You knew it was going to happen, you just didn’t know where, when or who. It was nice to get that goal because it was exactly what we had been lacking with a little composure around the box.”

After the opening goal, the Hoosier attack sprung to life.

IU created no fewer than five chances in the half’s final 20 minutes, but could not extend the lead, and Petts’ goal stood unaccompanied at halftime.  

The Hoosiers were able to extend the lead with almost back-to-back goals from a pair of unlikely goalscorers early in the first half.

Junior defender Patrick Doody’s 59th-minute blast — the second of his career — doubled the Hoosiers’ lead after junior midfielder Jamie Vollmer broke through the Purple Aces’ defense.

Vollmer snared a cross in the penalty area and laid the ball off to Doody, whose left-footed strike curled around UE junior goalkeeper Eric Teppen and into the back of the net.

Just one minute and 21 seconds later, sophomore forward Andrew Oliver extended the lead, slotting home a deflected cross from senior defender Matt McKain.

McKain streaked down the left flank and sent his cross in front of the Evansville goal, where it was deflected away from the net and towards Oliver.

The sophomore corralled the ball and took a quick shot, giving his team a three-goal advantage.

The goal was Oliver’s first of the season and third of his career.

Yeagley said the goal was a result of a concerted effort to get Oliver more involved in the team’s attack.

“Andrew’s been one that we’ve been trying to get into a rhythm more and giving him an opportunity,” Yeagley said. “He’s been training really hard, and he did some very good things besides getting the tap-in, though I wouldn’t call it a tap-in because we’ve missed some of those this year.”

Sophomore midfielder Kyle Sparks added a fourth goal in the game’s 75th minute that appeared to seal the game, but the Purple Aces were not ready to concede.

Two goals in the game’s final five minutes gave IU flashbacks of this season’s previous blown leads, but they were not enough to truly put the game in jeopardy.

Yeagley said his team put in a dominating performance despite the two late goals, which made the scoreline “more flattering than it was on the field.”

“We could have had four or five more (goals), and we held a pretty dynamic Evansville team to very few chances,” he said. “I told the team you don’t leave a game defined by the last four minutes. We played 86 minutes of a comprehensive defensive effort in addition to scoring four goals. It was a very good performance.”

Follow reporter Alden Woods on Twitter @acw9293.