Pesky defense and missed offensive opportunities handed No. 5 IU men’s soccer its first loss of the season. The University of Butler defeated IU 2-1 Tuesday at the Bud and Jackie Sellick Bowl.
The Bulldogs showcased lockdown defense and another goal from their leading scorer, senior forward Brandon Guhl. Guhl kicked in his fourth of the year while senior defender Alex Lehtinen tapped in the Bulldogs’ second goal of the night.
Here are three takeaways from Tuesday’s game which put the Hoosiers at 4-1-2.
IU’s offense went numb early in the first half.
Offensive production was dominant inside the first 25 minutes of play for the Hoosiers. Ball movement was fluid and shots on goal were happening frequently.
In the 24th minute, IU freshman forward Herbert Endeley drew a penalty which brought fellow freshman forward Victor Bezerra to take the kick. Unlike his successful attempt against Wisconsin, Bezerra’s shot was blocked by Butler’s sophomore goalkeeper Gabriel Gjergji.
Gjergji stopped all four shots on goal in the first half while his defenders gave the Hoosiers no opportunities off rebounds. Once Bezerra missed, the offense began to subside.
The first half statistics show IU led in corner kicks 6-0 and in shots by a tally of 6-1. Following the missed penalty kick the momentum turned and the Butler defense locked down.
Butler junior defender Rhys Myers kicked away passes from IU senior defender Simon Waever and stopped the speedy Endeley from sneaking in the goal box.
IU tried finding holes in the Butler defense to place passes in the goal box but were unable to get the ball close to its forwards. Further miscommunications and passes that overshot its mark doomed multiple chances the Hoosiers had to catch the Bulldogs in the first 45 minutes.
Bad defensive predicaments
IU senior goalkeeper Sean Caulfield was brought out of the box a handful of times to stop Butler from scoring.
At the start of the second half he came roughly 10 yards out of the box to stop a Bulldog forward on his own from scoring. The result of the play was a no call but the collision between the two athletes could have resulted in a serious injury, plus a Butler goal.
Although Caulfield’s heroics worked periodically, they were not enough to prevent two goals from reaching the back of the net. He was positioned toward the top of the goal box for both of Butler’s goals, leaving plenty of room for Guhl and Lehtinen.
With IU’s offense slumped for much of the first and second half, Butler kept getting the ball inside 15 yards of the goal and had a few three-on-two and two-on-one opportunities to score.
The offensive resilience nearly brought IU back
After Lehtinen put Butler up 2-0 IU began to climb back into the game. IU head coach Todd Yeagley’s offense came back from a 2-0 deficit in their home opener against the University of Pittsburgh and nearly tied the match Tuesday night.
Sophomore defender Jack Maher kicked home his second goal of the season in the 83rd minute of play to cut the Bulldog lead in half. This surge of energy led to IU finishing the game with a total of 18 shots, six being on goal.
Along with Waever, freshman midfielder Aidan Morris and junior defender A.J. Palazzolo delivered strong left and right crosses in the hopes of finding Endeley for headers. Both players also overshot open attempts from roughly 10-25 yards out that sailed over the crossbar.
Junior forward Thomas Warr and freshman defender Daniel Munie also got into the header action with point blank misses and deflections from Myers and other Butler defenders.
In the end, the Bulldogs kept clearing the ball to the other end of the field and prevented IU from tying the match with seconds left on the clock.
IU returns to Jerry Yeagley Field Friday against Sacramento State at 7:30 p.m. This will be the last home game before embarking on a two-game conference road trip.
