Senior defender Andrew Gutman clapped his hands and raised his fist as he received a standing ovation in the 85th minute.
“I thought it was for John Bennec,” Gutman joked about the freshman subbing in for him.
As much as the presence of the Bloomington-native Bennec may have appeased the crowd, the ovation was undoubtedly for Gutman.
His one goal, one assist, all-around performance helped boost the No. 6 Hoosiers to a 3-0 victory over No. 22-ranked Dartmouth.
Since the whistle blew to start the game, Gutman was on the attack down the left side of the field. Through the first 10 minutes, both teams were playing even, but Gutman had the few chances inside the box.
Fast forward 10 minutes and sophomore forward Justin Rennicks drew a foul right outside the box in the 20th minute. Senior midfielder Trevor Swartz stepped up to take the free kick and sent in a line drive off his left foot across the box.
Gutman was there to put it in the back of the net, but it wasn’t with his head or his foot. It was with his shoulder. Unintentional, maybe, but effective.
“I kind of just got in the way of the ball hoping something would happen,” Gutman said.
The next goal was a little more routine.
The Hoosiers went into halftime up 1-0, but Coach Todd Yeagley said he thought there could have been more chances, and that he wanted to see more in the second half.
Four minutes in, the Hoosiers suffered a bit of a scare when Dartmouth sent in a cross that got kicked up, leading to a header where sophomore goalie Trey Muse had to dive right and push it past the post out of bounds.
Then it was all IU.
In the 69th minute, Gutman sent in a picture perfect through ball from midfield to sophomore forward Griffin Dorsey, who needed just one touch and a dribble to beat the keeper and extend the lead to 2-0.
It was Dorsey’s second goal of the season, and Gutman’s second assist.
“Grif makes those runs across the back line and I try to find him,” Gutman said. “Luckily, I just hit it perfectly this time and he had a good finish.”
“Right on my feet,” Dorsey said.
Yeagley said it was the play of the game.
The post-goal celebration might have been just as good as the goal for Dorsey because he was able to go hug his dad who flew in from Colorado to see him play.
“It was awesome,” Dorsey said.
In the 78th minute, senior midfielder Austin Panchot fired a shot from the top of the box that skidded across the wet grass and through the keeper’s hands and legs into the back of the net.
“It was a good win,” Yeagley said. “The second half was much more balanced. We realized they were playing back and decided we are going to take care of the ball and use the clock. Once we got the third goal that’s what we were doing.”
Up next for the Hoosiers will be yet another ranked opponent in No. 18 UConn, who lost to No. 24 Notre Dame, 3-0, in the game prior to IU’s at Bill Armstrong Stadium.
The game will be Sunday at 8 p.m., and the Hoosiers hope to continue to thrive in front of their home crowd.
“Playing at home definitely brings us to another level,” Gutman said. “You saw it tonight and you’ll see it on Sunday.”
