It’s time to reset. IU (6-1-4) had a chance to follow up a home win against No. 7 Butler with an even more impressive result on the road at No. 2 Notre Dame, but failed to even come close.
Tuesday was a night to forget as IU suffered its worst loss to Notre Dame in program history. Now, the Hoosiers can turn their attention to Penn State, who comes to Bloomington on Saturday night.
IU Coach Todd Yeagley said he wasn’t worried about his squad’s performance Tuesday, rather, he was disappointed. The No. 6 Hoosiers had a chance to prove themselves and make a statement on the national stage, but it just wasn’t meant to be.
“We’ll move on quickly,” Yeagley said. “That game is not going to hurt us in the big picture, it’s just one. Everything seemed to be a bit off — it happens sometimes.”
Three points from this match would go a long way toward moving them back up the conference standings, as Penn State and IU both enter the contest tied at fourth place in the Big Ten with six points.
Senior defender Derek Creviston said following the loss Tuesday that achieving normalcy at home Saturday will be good for this team.
“We’re going to have to learn from this one and put our eyes on Penn State,” Creviston said. “We got a lot of work to do and hopefully we can put some goals away and put them in the back of our net.”
As for Penn State (4-5-1), the Nittany Lions come in with a -2 scoring differential, having allowed 15 goals while knocking in 13. They also have yet to win on the road in four opportunities. Still, Penn State did defeat IU in their previous meeting in September of last season in State College, Pennsylvania, 1-0.
If there is one man for IU to key in on, it is senior forward Connor Maloney. He was the named First Team All-Big Ten in 2015 and Big Ten offensive player of the year in 2014. Thus far in 2016, Maloney has four goals and three assists in nine matches.
“Every game we have another one, don’t we? Connor is really, really good,” Yeagley said. “Maloney will get free, it’s just do you limit where his chances come from. You can’t fully stop him, but if you overplay him, he’ll find the right guy.”
The six regular season matches left on the schedule feature just two non-conference opponents, with a road trip to Louisville next Tuesday and a home game against Saint Louis on Oct. 25.
IU is still a team that hasn’t necessarily been able to put it all together quite yet. They have shown the potential in the Butler match, but also the disappointment against Notre Dame.
“I think everyone was ready to get back at it,” senior midfielder Phil Fives said. “A little edgy, a chip our shoulders. Obviously a tough one to swallow, but since we haven’t lost a game yet, it was important for the season to get knocked down and rebuild ourselves.”
Senior midfielder Tanner Thompson talked about having two seasons combined into one with the conference and the non-conference. Saturday’s match against Penn State gives IU a chance to set the bar for the rest of the season in the Big Ten.
“It’ll be nice coming back home playing in front of the fans,” Thompson said. “Getting back into the Big Ten, it’s almost like a separate season. We need to win in the Big Ten, we need to start climbing that standing board.”
