Those who live in glass houses should not throw stones.
For those unfamiliar with that proverb, it essentially means not to criticize others because everyone has flaws of some kind.
Well, this column isn’t to criticize; it’s to compliment. It's also not a direct comparison to the proverb's meaning, but rather altering it to fit the case of IU men's soccer.
For IU sophomore Spencer Glass, assists will be in place of stones, and his team can take the place of houses. The No. 2-ranked Hoosiers are anything but made of glass.
Perhaps steel or bricks can be used to describe this team after Sunday's 2-0 victory against Penn State — winners of nine straight, top team in the Big Ten standings and defeated the Nittany Lions without their best player, senior Andrew Gutman.
Gutman was out simply for protection purposes. He went down against Northwestern on Sept. 26 and briefly came out of the game before returning. IU Coach Todd Yeagley said Gutman was ready to go Sunday, but this was just for caution.
Starting in place of Gutman was Glass.
Glass, who plays in the midfield most of the time, is no stranger to shifting to the backline and feels completely comfortable in that role.
“We knew his time was coming for more minutes,” Yeagley said on Glass. “We felt he could play on both lines — midfield and in the back — and today we needed him in the back line and he did a great job.”
Glass and the rest of the IU defense held Penn State to just two shots on the day, with none coming in the second half, making the life of sophomore keeper Trey Muse much easier as he had to make no saves in the game.
No matter the position Glass is thrown into, he will always give opposing teams issues with one thing — his left foot. More specifically, the passing of his left foot.
Multiple times throughout the game Sunday, Glass would reverse with the field with one big kick from the left foot. To put it into perspective, Glass is sending the ball about 60 yards across the field, in midair, with absolute precision to one of his teammates, so they can control it with ease.
Then there’s his crosses. Coming down the left flank, Glass’ crosses are as dangerous as anyone’s in the NCAA. Depending on what he sees, Glass will either keep it low or boot it above the heads of the 22 players on the pitch. High or low, Glass' intentions are the same each time — find a teammate’s body part and hope they find the back of the net.
On Sunday, with IU up 1-0 already, Glass sent in a cross to the far post to senior Rece Buckmaster, who headed the dagger into Penn State’s goal. It was Glass’ sixth assist on the season.
“I remember looking up and someone said it was Rennicks, but I knew it was either Rennicks or Dorsey who was on the right, and they were drawing their defender down,” Glass said. “Rico was free on the back, so someone yelled back post. I saw Rico coming in hot, so I put it to the back post.”
It was IU’s left back assisting to its right back.
“It was special,” Yeagley said.
Last season, Glass totaled four assists, one goal and six points. This season through just 10 games, Glass has six assists, one goal and eight points.
After he found sophomore Griffin Dorsey for a goal against Northwestern, Dorsey said Glass has the best left foot in the country. That isn’t the first time one of Glass’ teammates has said that about him either, and they aren’t wrong. The closest thing to Glass’ left foot is the left foot of senior Trevor Swartz, who brings a similar skill set and has eight assists on the season.
Glass said he is humbled by the kind words, but personal accolades aren’t nearly as important as bringing home a National Championship.
In that journey to the College Cup, Glass will keep sending in those stones to his teammates, testing the houses of the opponents and seeing how breakable their glass is.
