Then senior Adam Montague took off down the field and fired in the last goal of IU’s regular season, putting the No. 21 Michigan State Spartans ahead for good.
The Spartans spoiled the Hoosiers’ senior night with a 3-2 win at Bill Armstrong Stadium in a game that saw IU trail twice but come back, before finally giving up the game winner in the 83rd minute.
“I thought we were going to win it,” senior defender Patrick Doody said. “I thought we were going to put one more in, if not two more. It’s very disappointing and leaves a bad taste in your mouth.”
It was MSU freshman Ken Krolicki who doomed IU as he scored the first two Spartan goals of the night.
“Sometimes teams score good goals and you don’t necessarily say it’s poor defending or not well done by us,” IU Coach Todd Yeagley said. “They made a nice play, credit to them. They made a couple nice plays tonight and that was the difference, but it’s tough to win a game when you give up three.”
The loss left players visibly upset after the game.
“It kind of shocked us,” Doody said. “Just wasn’t good enough.”
The Hoosiers, who finish the regular season 11-3-4, 3-3-2, have not beaten the Spartans during regular season since 2010.
“I don’t know what it is with them,” Doody said. “I think I’ve lost 3-2 now at least two or three times to them. Credit to them, they’re a hell of a team. It is what it is.”
Sophomore midfielder Tanner Thompson said he thought IU was going to win.
“It’s frustrating,” Thompson said. “Getting that late goal I thought we were going to push for the win. I wasn’t even worried.”
Junior forward Andrew Oliver notched his third goal of the season on a pass inside the box from Thompson in the 48th minute.
The Hoosiers seemed a beat late all night. As the missed opportunities piled up, Yeagley called it a tough outcome.
“It’s tough, I thought we had momentum,” Yeagley said. “We did a lot of good things tonight, it was a good performance, just a little bit off in our final pass in some sequences. “
MSU finishes its season 10-4-4, 4-2-3.
“They’re a good team,” Yeagley said. “This is a mature team. It’s the best team they’ve had in a long time.”
With the loss, IU will be the No. 6 seed in the Big Ten tournament and travel to face the No. 3 seed Northwestern Wildcats (9-3-5, 4-1-3) on Sunday.
IU is undefeated on the road this season and will look to have that trend continue in the Big Ten.
“We’re not intimidated on the road,” Yeagley said.
IU tied the Wildcats 1-1 in September in Bloomington.
“It’s a new season,” Yeagley said. “I told the guys the first season is over. Your body of work is really strong, and you have to put this one behind you. It stings a bit because it was there for the taking, yet the next game a trophy is in line. We’ll get them back and ready for that.”
