A storied rivalry match between a pair of top-20 teams Wednesday night did not disappoint as No. 4 IU welcomed No. 16 University of Kentucky to Bill Armstrong Stadium in Bloomington.
With both teams entering the match in the midst of win streaks, the possibility for an overtime thriller became increasingly likely, and it came to fruition as the full 100 minutes of play wasn’t enough for either team to find a goal to decide a winner.
“Overall, I think our performance was good in that it was very focused,” IU senior defender Simon Waever said. “I think we were very cohesive as a team tonight.”
That cohesiveness showed throughout both halves of the match, as IU — backed up into its own territory for long stretches — was able to slow down Kentucky’s aggressive offense and thwart countless chances before any damage could be done.
Spearheaded by Waever and IU sophomore defender Jack Maher, the Hoosiers’ back line was relentless in their on-ball defense, and they needed to play as such with IU freshman goalkeeper Roman Celentano making his first career home start.
Though the Wildcats were able to get off 14 total shots, two more shots than the Hoosiers generated, Celentano’s poise and confidence shined bright as he came up big with three saves on the night.
Celentano and Maher’s most impressive sequence of the match came midway through the first overtime period, when a chaotic scramble in front of IU’s net was halted courtesy of Celentano punching the initial corner kick away. Maher followed by heading out the rebound attempt.
For however well IU’s defense played, its offense could not capitalize and match that same level of production.
“I thought we weren’t very clean on the day and kind of getting through our first one or two passes,” IU head coach Todd Yeagley said. “If we would’ve done that better, then the field would’ve opened up, and we would’ve been able to get a lot more good attacks.”
IU freshman forward Herbert Endeley tried his best to lead the Hoosiers’ attack, as he recorded a team-high four shots, but poor passing and stellar defense from the Wildcats negated most of the Hoosiers’ quality chances.
The best chance of the night for IU came courtesy of a long ball passed to IU freshman forward Joshua Penn, who was able to find IU junior midfielder Spencer Glass in front of the Wildcats’ net. Glass tried for a header, but an uncalled handball off a Kentucky defender halted the attack.
“Today I thought our youth showed a bit at times,” Yeagley said. “We know that performance isn’t a championship level performance.”
In order to get to that championship level, IU is going to have to start showing it can defeat top-ranked teams. In two meetings against ranked opponents this season, the Hoosiers have played to a double-overtime draw with both, the other against the then-No. 16 University of Notre Dame.
IU has multiple opportunities to prove itself coming up, however, with teams such as Michigan and Maryland still looming on the schedule.
“It’s important to just remember that even on a night when we’re not on our top level, we can still get a result against a very good team,” Waever said.
