Indiana men’s soccer took a 1-1 draw on the road against the University of Akron on Friday night. Indiana moves to 3-1-1 on the season with its first draw coming against an Akron squad that held a 4-0-0 record this season. Almost 3,400 fans packed into FirstEnergy Stadium, the largest crowd Indiana has seen this season.
“That was an excellent college soccer game. Quality from both sides,” Indiana head coach Todd Yeagley said after the match. “This was a tough environment to play in and we are happy to walk away with a point. Of course, we wanted to get three points, but we are happy with the result.”
Junior defender Daniel Munie scored the Hoosiers’ lone goal in the 66th minute to take a 1-0 lead, but Akron senior forward Diogo Pacheco put away the equalizer off an assist from freshman forward Jason Shokalook less than two minutes after to tie the game.
Munie’s goal came off a corner kick from junior forward Victor Bezerra, which he put into the net off a jumping header. Bezerra was credited with an assist on Munie’s third career goal,.
While the Hoosier offense was able to put 17 shots on the board and seven on goal, the Zips senior goalkeeper Will Meyer put up a masterful performance. The University of Louisville transfer totaled six saves on the night of which multiple came off diving stops against Hoosiers near the net.
Meyer saved two potential golden-goal attempts from Indiana in overtime, with one in each period. Indiana goalkeeper junior Roman Celentano also made three saves as Akron was able to put four shots on goal out of 16 total. Celentano made multiple diving stops, keeping Indiana within striking distance and ultimately giving them the draw.
“I thought both goalkeepers were great tonight. Meyer had two or three phenomenal saves,” Yeagley said. “The save he made in overtime on the shot from Vic, that was phenomenal. Like I said, that was a well-played college soccer match.”
The Hoosiers and Zips combined for 33 shots total, and 20 of which came in a fast-paced second half which saw seven of the game's 11 shots on goal. Bezerra led the Hoosiers in shots with four and shots on goal with two, playing 94 minutes in his second game since returning from a leg injury.
The team’s seven shots on goal came from six different Hoosiers. Bezerra was the only player with two, and six Hoosiers also had multiple shots.
Yeagley kept a tight bench against Akron, only playing four substitutes after opting for six in Indiana’s last matchup against Xavier University. Indiana will have ample time to rest ahead of its next match, which won’t be played until next Friday.
“It was good to extend some of our guys,” Yeagley said. “That was the first time that Spencer [Glass] had played the full 90. Joe [Schmidt] and Vic are working back into it, as well. We like where we are at.”
Indiana’s next game will open Big Ten play for the team as it returns home to face Rutgers at 8 p.m. Sept. 17 at Bill Armstrong Stadium in Bloomington. Rutgers is 4-0-1 this season, coming off a 3-2 win against Lehigh University in its last game Friday.
