The frustration was too much to contain. He was already upset with being in overtime after out-shooting Ohio State 19-4 and the match still being scoreless. Then his teammate senior midfielder Matt Foldesy was given a yellow card in the 97th minute.
What followed on the next free kick was too much for junior midfielder Tanner Thompson. The ball was played into the box, players fell to the ground, and a penalty was called. Senior defender Liam Doyle converted the penalty, and the Buckeyes won the game.
That much was certain. There was some disagreement between the referees and the Hoosiers about whether freshman midfielder Frankie Moore really did pull down an opponent in the box though.
“The ball was in the box, things were bumping around,” Thompson said. “The ref made a decision. I don’t know if it was the right decision, but he made a decision.”
Thompson made his opinion about the referee’s decision clear after Doyle converted the penalty. As soon as the ball hit the lower left corner of the net Thompson turned and yelled at any referee within earshot.
He wanted an explanation for why the Hoosiers just lost a game IU Coach Todd Yeagley said the Hoosiers dominated from start to finish.
Thompson was told the assistant referee saw a foul in the box, a foul Thompson said he didn’t see. No Hoosiers saw Moore pull down any Buckeye in the box. When the referee pointed to the spot, sophomore defender Grant Lillard jumped off the ground not believing what the referee was calling.
Lillard wasn’t the only Hoosier on the ground. There were multiple Buckeyes on the ground. Everyone was on the ground, freshman defender Andrew Gutman said.
“I was toward the back post, and it was just a mosh,” Gutman said. “Everyone fell, not just him.”
Thompson also wasn’t the only Hoosier upset with the officials after the match, or during the match. After Foldesy received his yellow card moments before the penalty multiple players and coaches on the IU bench jumped off the bench and onto the field because of frustration with the center official.
The Hoosiers deserved to win, Yeagley said. They don’t deserve to be in last place in the Big Ten but, after Saturday night, they are.
One of the few Hoosiers who did not seek an explanation after the game was Yeagley. Complaining wouldn’t do anything. He said he knew his team deserved to win, but yelling about it wouldn’t change anything. Thompson said he realized after the match, and he needs to control himself.
Yeagley not venting his frustrations doesn’t mean he didn’t feel any better about how the match ended. His team is playing great soccer, he said. His team didn’t do anything to deserve to lose Saturday. What he called “outside sources” affected the game, he said.
“I feel bad for them,” Yeagley said. “I’m not upset. I’m disappointed they had to experience that, because I thought it was an unfair result in the end.”
