No. 8 IU men’s soccer won its second conference match of the season with a 3-1 victory over Northwestern. Tuesday’s match moved IU to 6-1-2 on the season and 31-2-7 all time against Northwestern.
This second conference win of the season brings IU to 21-0-8 in Big Ten season play since 2015.
With another road match against Penn State looming Sunday, here are three takeaways from IU’s second consecutive victory.
Another Hoosier makes his season debut
Freshman Roman Celentano made his first start of 2019 as IU’s goalkeeper, giving senior Sean Caulfield the night off.
Celentano blocked two of three shots on goal during the first half. The Wildcats took most, if not all, of their shots from roughly 10-15 yards out and were not able to crash the penalty box.
IU’s defense protected Celentano from trouble for most of the second half, leaving him just one play to make a dive and protect the net. Northwestern took three additional shots but none of them came close to entering the goal.
Northwestern scored against itself
Two of IU’s three goals came from freshman forward Maouloune Goumballe and an own goal. Goumballe’s came in the first half while the own goal came in the 58th minute.
Goumballe drove the ball into traffic and got within 10 feet of the net before encountering the Wildcat defenders. An apparent miscommunication between junior goalie Miha Miskovic and a teammate led to Goumballe deflecting the ball off the defender who then tapped the ball into the goal.
IU’s freshman was credited with the score, his second on the season.
Northwestern tied the game before halftime and came out trying to play tighter defense against IU.
Thirteen minutes into the second half, freshman forward Joshua Penn cruised past the Wildcat defense and attempted to rifle a pass to his teammates near the goal box.
From the left side of the field, Penn kicked the ball off the leg of a Northwestern defender, and it flew backward into the goal. The Illinois native was not credited with the goal, but it put IU up 2-1 and provided momentum for their third goal of the night.
Maouloune Goumballe was everywhere
Goumballe serviced Penn in IU’s 1-0 win against Sacramento State and came through with another assist and goal Tuesday.
Freshman midfielder Aidan Morris kicked home his first collegiate goal after receiving a pass from Goumballe in the 66th minute. Following a throw in, Goumballe found Morris who blasted the ball into the left side of the goal to give IU a 3-1 lead.
Bringing his energy off the bench, Goumballe found his teammates all night with passes that split the Wildcat attackers and helped the Hoosiers find shot opportunities. In part from his efforts, IU ended up outshooting Northwestern 11-9.
Goumballe’s first half goal was his second of the season and has the potential to give IU head coach Todd Yeagley a reason to place him in the starting 11. His playmaking combined with his speed contributed to a handful of offensive opportunities which gave the Hoosiers the edge.
IU and Penn State clash at 1 p.m. Sunday at Jeffrey Field in Pennsylvania. The winner of this match will be the only undefeated Big Ten team in conference play.
