The IU men’s soccer team needed to defeat Penn State.
Not only were the Hoosiers coming off their lone loss of the season in blowout fashion at No. 2 Notre Dame, but they also failed to defeat the Nittany Lions in the previous three regular season matchups.
With IU being shutout by Penn State over the last 450 minutes in regulation, the Hoosiers used a late first half goal by sophomore midfielder Cory Thomas coupled with a few key saves from senior goalkeeper Colin Webb to outlast the Nittany Lions 1-0 Saturday night.
“Really good win tonight, they have some really good attackers and are difficult to matchup with the way that they play,” IU Coach Todd Yeagley said. “We weren’t as sharp tonight, but the reality is we just need to get results and we had a lot of good soccer in this game.”
The Hoosiers started the game controlling possession early and recorded the first five shots within the first 15 minutes before Penn State could even find a chance on offense.
In the 25th minute, Yeagley motioned to his bench for the first time in the game and called on Thomas to replace sophomore midfielder Austin Panchot. Ten minutes later, it paid off.
As Thomas and a Penn State defender chased after a ball that was heading toward the end line, the Hoosier won the footrace and was able to knock the ball out of bounds on the sideline instead.
The heads-up play by the sophomore forced a Nittany Lions goal throw-in, instead of a goal kick, which proved to pay dividends for IU when earning its goal.
“Cory, those are plays that have been inconsistent in his game,” Yeagley said. “He’s so talented individually, but doing those things that don’t go on a stat sheet. I think he’s turned the corner, and I’m really happy for him because he’s been one to work really hard and be very consistent.”
Senior defender Billy McConnell had the initial disruption off the Penn State throw-in, but it was sophomore midfielder Trevor Swartz who stripped the Nitany Lions clean.
Thomas was able to slip past the defense to take the pass from Swartz inside the box and rocket a shot off the hands of Penn State goalkeeper Evan Finney to find the back of the net for his first career goal.
“I thought Trevor made a nice carry with the ball,” Thomas said. “I was just trying to get behind the defense because they weren’t really paying attention to those slip back runs. I thought the goalie was cheating near-post a little bit, so I shot one high near post and it worked out.”
The Hoosiers were able to maintain that one goal advantage throughout the rest of the game thanks, in large part, to the solid performance by Webb in goal.
The senior goalkeeper recorded his Big Ten leading seventh shutout of the season and 27th of his career during the four-save effort.
The victory now puts the Hoosiers in sole possession of fourth place in the Big Ten standings, with matches still to play against Wisconsin and Michigan State. The Badgers and Spartans sit second and third respectively ahead of the Hoosiers in the conference table.
“Overall, we were not our best and I credit Penn State for partly some of that,” Yeagley said. “This will be an important win for us heading into the last part of the Big Ten season, so I’m pleased.”
