Transfer forward Ben Maurey had played 16 games for IU prior to Saturday and had not scored a goal for the Hoosiers.
That changed on Saturday when he scored the only goal in the 39th minute of the NCAA tournament second round game against Connecticut.
“It feels really great,” Maurey said. “I mean it’s special always to get a win in tournament time and to help the team advance.”
Freshman defender Andrew Gutman beat his marker and got to the byline before cutting the ball back for Maurey to get his first goal for the Hoosiers from four yards out.
Maurey suffered an injury in IU’s 2-1 win over Louisville a month ago, and back then Maurey didn't know if he would be fit enough to be on the field for a postseason game.
The injury was the second that Maurey suffered at the Bill Armstrong stadium as he had previously suffered a season-ending injury when he was playing for Brown against IU.
“You always wished you score earlier in the year,” Maurey said. “But I mean coming back from an injury where a month ago I didn’t think I was going to step on the field again to coming to the NCAA and getting my first one in a huge uniform, it’s kind of overwhelming.”
For Maurey and the team, the goal was also more than another stat for the history books. The winning goal came in a game when the Hoosiers honored senior midfielder Kyle Sparks on their wrists after he recently had season-ending surgery.
“A couple of us taped Kyle Sparks on our wrist because he recently had surgery,” Maurey said. “He’s probably not going to be able to play for us for the rest of the year. We did it for Kyle, and this game was for Kyle.”
But beyond that, Maurey said that he is just pleased with getting his first goal in the cream and crimson and is happy that it is finally out of the way.
“It’s a little bit of weight off the shoulders too to finally get that one, and hopefully they starting rolling in,” Maurey said. “I would have liked to score it a little earlier but it’s a great game to get it in.”
IU Coach Todd Yeagley said that Maurey has been a tremendous addition since transferring to IU and that he likes what the forward brings to the team.
Besides the goal, Maurey also contributed in other ways during his 30 minutes on the field.
Playing at the tip of the attack, the forward acted as a target man and was adept at holding up the ball for his teammates to join up in the attack. Maurey challenged for almost every header and posed a different kind of threat to the Connecticut defense.
Maurey also showed his willingness to help out on the defensive side, as at one point in the second half, he tracked all the way back to help Gutman out on the left side of the defense.
“It’s great to see Ben get his first goal, he’s played well this season and come back from a tough injury,” Yeagley said. “The whole team is really excited for Ben because he’s been an integral part of our team and has fit in fantastic from his first minute here as a transfer.”
