Indiana men’s soccer is slowly finding its form again.
The Hoosiers bounced back from a winless start to the season with a 2-0-0-mark last week to close out their recent home stand. Beyond the positive results, the team showed a glimpse of its potential to be consistently dangerous on the attacking end all while earning a pair of clean sheets.
What was their reward? A return to the United Soccer Coaches top-25 poll after a one-week hiatus. The No. 15 Hoosiers’ first opportunity to defend their new ranking? A fiery in-state rivalry match against the No. 20-ranked Butler University Bulldogs in Indianapolis.
“Butler’s always a game that’s exciting for the state,” Indiana head coach Todd Yeagley said. “They really promote this game and it’s a really good night for college soccer in the state of Indiana.”
Here is what you need to know before Indiana goes for its third consecutive win, and first on the road against Butler in 11 years.
Breaking Butler Down
The Bulldogs, who were voted fifth most likely to take home the Big East Conference Championship in the preseason coaches’ poll, have kept pace with their demanding early schedule.
Butler defeated then-No. 14 Marshall University to stay a perfect 2-0-0 at home and come into Wednesday’s matchup with a 3-1-0 overall record. The team’s only blemish came against the first Big Ten opponent it played this season, a 2-0 loss to Ohio State.
Yeagley said he expects Butler to take a similar approach to what Indiana dealt with against Akron.
“They want to advance the ball up the field through each line,” Yeagley said. “Our ability to turn over Akron, I certainly feel we’ll be able to do that against Butler in the right moments.”
The Zips attempted to overwhelm the Hoosiers with aggressive team rotations and pursuits, but the Hoosiers kept their nerve, eventually grasping control of the pace and never letting go. If the Bulldogs opt to throw numbers forward, the Hoosiers will have little trouble figuring out how to exploit the tactical setup.
Patience and Growing Pains
The Hoosiers have gotten the results they’ve needed lately, but Yeagley knows there’s still work to be done.
“I think the moments against Akron showed that there was a lot of splitting spaces and visual cues on when and where to press and how to press,” Yeagley said. “Those are nuances you can’t teach in two weeks of preseason.”
Yeagley pointed to redshirt senior defender Daniel Munie and senior forward Ryan Wittenbrink as role models for the underclassmen looking to take the next step. He said Munie took a while to break in after an up-and-down freshman season, while Wittenbrink eventually overcame his struggles with learning how to thrive in a prime attacking role.
[Related: ‘We hate losing to each other’: Indiana men’s soccer sophomore duo thrives off competition]
“Our young guys that are in those spots, we can reference directly to the players that are here, not the guys on the wall or who left two years ago,” Yeagley said.
While some players, such as sophomore forwards Samuel Sarver and Tommy Mihalic, are expected to produce more for the Hoosiers in their second go-around, others like senior forward Karsen Henderlong, a transfer, are learning to accept a more limited role.
“I’m bullish that he’s doing a good job of understanding that this is a process,” Yeagley said. “You have a driven kid who wants to contribute greatly, and (I’ve said to him), ‘We need some production from you, but you don’t need to be the guy, we got guys.’”
Injury Updates
Three players were subbed out of Friday’s match against then-No. 9 University of Akron due to injury concerns: Munie, Henderlong and senior defender Nyk Sessock.
The three all took knocks to the leg in the second half, but all walked off the pitch under their own strength.
As of Monday, Yeagley said no final decisions have been made on their availability for the match against Butler. If any of the three Hoosiers can’t recover in time, Yeagley said the group’s depth has been assembled for uncertain situations such as this.
Meanwhile, redshirt senior goalkeeper Bryant Pratt remains in doubt for a second straight match with an undisclosed hand/arm injury.
“I hate to rule (players) out because we’ve seen some pretty miraculous comebacks with some guys,” Yeagley said. “Some of it is pain tolerance or discomfort, not that you have to hold them out. We’re anticipating (Pratt) most likely not being available.”
