Indiana men’s soccer faced the University of Nebraska Omaha on Wednesday night in Bloomington in a game defined by both energy and rain making on-and-off appearances. Both teams had stretches of dominance while also facing fatigue in the 110-minute match.
The game entered the second overtime period locked at 0-0 and stayed that way until 21 seconds remained on the clock.
Junior forward Victor Bezerra seized an opportunity off a cross from senior defender Spencer Glass to nail a shot into the top left of the goal past Omaha’s freshman goalkeeper Nathaniel Sallah to record the golden goal for Indiana.
“That’s the perfect two in that script,” Indiana head coach Todd Yeagley said regarding Bezerra and Glass.
Bezerra, who played confidently in the first half but seemed to falter in the second, returned in overtime to win the match for the Hoosiers. He contributed throughout the match with two shots on goal and a season-high five shots. The Hoosiers finished with 15 shots and five shots on goal.
“This year, my goals are very team oriented,” Bezerra said. “My focus this year is basically on whatever is going to help the team and finding what way I can efficiently benefit everyone else around me.”
Bezerra’s start to the season wasn’t what anyone expected. Bezerra didn’t play for two matches after sustaining a knee injury in Indiana’s first regular season game against the University of Notre Dame.
Bezerra notched his first goal of the season in Indiana’s ninth game against Michigan off a penalty kick, finishing the match with a then-season-high four shots.
He had already matched that statistic by the end of the first half against Omaha, looking confident and dominant with the ball. Bezerra was responsible for four of Indiana’s six halftime shots and one of two on goal. In the 45th minute, Bezerra took a last-second opportunity for a goal, rocketing the ball just left of the net.
Despite the missed shots, Bezerra’s golden goal was the most important one of the night.
“Those kinds of goals are the best,” Bezerra said. “They feel the best and it's just a sigh of relief for the whole team.”
Bezerrra said the goal was for the team more so than for himself. He said he already felt confident coming into the game despite only having one goal on the season, so his confidence only grew with his contributions against Omaha.
Bezerra was involved in the action all game and threatened the Mavericks with direct plays. His charges toward goal and crosses led to 13 corner kicks for the Hoosiers, providing ample goal-scoring opportunities. Indiana finished the game with 13 corner kicks to Omaha’s five.
Bezerra exited the game for 10 minutes after being taken down by a slide tackle in the 71st minute but returned with nine minutes left in regulation. However, for the remainder of regulation, the Mavericks prevented Bezerra from getting any shots off.
Bezerra had two goal attempts in the first overtime period, but Sallah and his defense read his moves and prevented a shot. Ultimately, they couldn’t stop Glass and Bezerra’s final push.
“We needed to feel a late one,” Yeagley said. “And we needed Vic to score. This will go a long way for our team.”
