Practice makes perfect.
It’s one of the oldest and most overused clichés, but for IU senior Trevor Swartz, that cliché has resonated true.
At the end of a typical IU practice, you’ll see Swartz sending corners in to senior Andrew Gutman. Earlier this season, after one practice, Swartz sent in a corner to Gutman and he missed his shot.
“One more,” Gutman said.
A short kick from Swartz ensued, perhaps fatigued from the practice, but this time he was insistent for another one.
“My bad,” Swartz replied "I’ll get the next one."
One more turns into two more, four more, five more and so on. It’s not that Swartz can’t send a ball in that Gutman can’t finish off. It’s about getting the timing and placing down perfectly.
If they can pinpoint it, with no one on the field and an empty net, they can find the opening with 10 defenders around and an opposing keeper lurking.
Swartz has been credited with an assist on four of Gutman’s 11 goals this season. The most recent was in IU’s second round matchup of the NCAA Tournament against UConn where Gutman made the run to the far post and Swartz found his head for the goal.
“This kid makes me stay 30 minutes after practice and kick it to his head all day,” Swartz said about Gutman following the win.
He jokes about it, but those extra 30 minutes and extra kicks Swartz puts in is a big part of the success he’s had this season.
Swartz has 15 assists this season, which is third place all-time in IU history for most assists in a single season. His two-assist performance Sunday against Air Force pushed him past his head coach, Todd Yeagley, and two other Hoosiers who had 14.
After he got the second assist, Swartz ran over to Yeagley, pointed at him and said, “I got it coach.”
“I’m glad he was focused on the game and not beating my assist record,” Yeagley said jokingly. “I was pretty happy. I told him it was coming.”
Yeagley couldn’t help but smile as Swartz ran over to him after the assist. After the game, Swartz said he just gave Yeagley a hug.
“I’ll rub it in later,” Swartz said.
All season, the team prided itself on the ability to create chances off restarts. Seven of Swartz’s assists this season have come off corner kicks and three have been off free kicks. That leaves five assists from him that haven’t been from a restart.
The team has deemed sophomore Spencer Glass to have the best left foot in the country, but the left foot of the Cameron Park, California native is right there as one of the best in the country.
The Hoosiers have scored six goals in the two NCAA Tournament games this season and Swartz assisted on five of them. From Aug. 26 to Sept. 16, Swartz had an assist in every game, a stretch of six straight.
In the last five games he’s registered an assist, he has accumulated two or more. That streak started on Sept. 11 when he had two against Notre Dame, which is IU’s next opponent in the elite eight at 7 p.m. Friday night in Bill Armstrong Stadium.
Swartz will look to continue to set up his teammates with perfection, studying the team’s defense and finding the areas that he can exploit. Yeagley said no one pays better attention to detail than Swartz, and that right now he’s at the top of his game.
“I’m probably in the best form,” Swartz said.
Perfect timing.
