The man does it all.
Literally, IU’s senior defender Andrew Gutman does it all.
From defending the best offensive players in college to taking on the best defenders in college; from stopping goals to scoring goals; you name it, Gutman does it.
On Friday night, number 15 was the hero.
Eighteen seconds remained in No. 4 IU’s matchup with Maryland and the two were knotted at 1-1. The Hoosiers had not beaten the Terrapins since 2004 and have tied them for the past four years. With 18 seconds left, it looked as if overtime was brewing and history would repeat itself.
Then, Gutman happened.
His fellow outside back, senior Rece Buckmaster, sent in a low cross through the box and Gutman found it with his right foot and put the nail in Maryland’s coffin.
“I knew there was like 30 seconds left and I just kind of stayed up,” Gutman said. “Rico got down the right side and he played in a hell of a ball. It was probably harder to miss than to make that goal.”
He ran across the box to the right corner where Buckmaster tackled him to the ground. Then, the rest of the red jerseys piled on. Eighteen seconds still needed to be played, but IU deserved the celebration for they had finally taken down the Terrapins.
“It was a great ball in and a really good finish,” said sophomore goalkeeper Trey Muse, who had three big saves on the day. “It was a great game and good performance by the team.”
For Gutman, it was his eighth goal of the season and, oh yeah, second of the game.
The excitement of that last goal almost took away from the first goal of the game, which would have been the match-winner if it wasn’t for Maryland’s Paul Bin rocketing the equalizer into the top of the net in the second half.
Gutman’s first goal was off a corner taken by senior Austin Panchot in the 33rd minute that curved in from the left side. Gutman rose up and redirected it with his head into the far post for the 1-0 lead into halftime.
If the two goals weren’t impressive enough, the left back nearly had a hat trick. In the 19th minute, Gutman connected his head on another ball, this time from senior Francesco Moore, but it turned out it was a handball and the goal got called back.
He made sure the next two were confirmed.
Gutman leads the team in goals as a left back. Think about that, one of the most dangerous goal scorers in all of the NCAA is playing on the backline. There’s a reason he was ranked as the No. 2 player in the nation before the season started.
Questions surrounded who would carry much of the load for IU in terms of putting balls in the back of net. After Mason Toye, who was a freshman last year that scored ten goals, got drafted by the Minnesota United, people asked who would take his place. The names of IU’s strikers and midfielders were looked at as the answer, but with the defensive responsibilities Gutman has, his name wasn’t at the top of the list.
Now, he’s one of IU’s biggest offensive threats while remaining one of IU’s constant ball stoppers. As talented as he is, he knows his goals wouldn’t be possible if IU’s strikers and midfielders didn’t help by drawing defenders out. He’s a team player and no matter how many goals he scores, Gutman says the word “we” more than “me.”
IU is off to its best start in the Big Ten since 2002 at 5-0. Gutman said the roster is comprised of winners, and that there’s no complacency in the approaches to games.
Coach Todd Yeagley couldn’t agree more.
“I think a lot of that is Andrew,” Yeagley said. “His leadership and his drive is contagious. He’s going to have a future at the next level. We all know that, and he knows that, but yet he is so focused on this year’s team and making sure we leave this year with something to show. He really wants to hold that trophy on the 28th.”
The 28th refers to this month, and its IU’s last game of the regular season against Michigan State, where the Hoosiers could very well have the opportunity to be crowned Big Ten regular season champions.
