IU coach Todd Yeagley called it a special pass.
In the 67th minute, sophomore midfielder Spencer Glass received the ball far out from the penalty box. He nudged it forward a bit to set himself up.
Then he put what his teammates call the “best left foot in the country” on the ball with perfection.
The ball went soaring as it curved across to the opposite side of the box. Senior defender Rece Buckmaster came streaking toward the goal at the perfect time.
Buckmaster attacked the ball with his head and found the net in the far post to put it past the goalkeeper.
“Rico was free on the back, so someone yelled back post," Glass said. "I saw Rico coming in hot, so I put it to the back post.”
The goal propelled the No. 2 Hoosiers to a 2-0 victory over Penn State on Sunday afternoon.
Glass also contributed to the first goal IU scored as time was dwindling down in the first half.
With halftime looming, IU was desperate for that first score.
Each time IU had an opportunity to find the back of the net, it seemed either offside was called or Penn State would make a play to break it up.
In the 44th minute, sophomore midfielder Ian Black recorded the first point of his career.
Glass passed it to Black on the left side, who sent a cross into the box. The ball was in a position where only senior midfielder Austin Panchot could find it.
Panchot put his head on the ball, and it went over the outreaching hands of the goalkeeper to give the Hoosiers a 1-0 lead right before halftime.
“I knew there wasn’t much time left and that’s the time to be opportunistic,” Panchot said. “Ian put it in and I was trying to redirect it near post and catch the goalie off guard. It was a good end of the half for our team and it was definitely a boost going into the second half.”
Despite senior defender and captain Andrew Gutman not playing Sunday after the collision with a Northwestern player Sept. 26, it was a strong all-around performance from the IU defense.
The Hoosiers prevented the Nittany Lions from recording a shot in the second half. For the match, IU had a 14-2 advantage in shots.
It’s the first time since 2012 that IU has started Big Ten play with a 3-0 record. IU will ride a nine-game winning streak into Lexington, Kentucky. The Hoosiers will face No. 7 Kentucky for their fourth top-10 matchup away from Bill Armstrong Stadium.
“It felt like we were in control whistle to whistle,” Yeagley said. “It was probably the most complete game by our defending unit. This game was crucial for us to get back to the top of the Big Ten.”
