Relying less on its wingers than in the last few games, No. 10 Indiana men’s soccer defeated Seton Hall University 1-0 Monday at Bill Armstrong Stadium.
The Hoosiers started the game with the same formation as the last few games, a high pressing 4-4-2, and it yielded the same results: a few early chances with freshman forward Collins Oduro on the left and an overreliance on deep crosses.
Oduro’s first shot came from inside the 18-yard box but hit the chest of graduate student goalkeeper Mats Roorda. His second chance was almost identical but was deflected wide by sophomore defender Liam Guske.
“We had plenty of chances tonight, but not as good of quality chances as against Washington,” head coach Todd Yeagley said after the game.
Despite Oduro’s couple of chances, Indiana didn’t create many opportunities in the first half. While struggling to score, the Hoosiers' defense didn’t allow Seton Hall any dangerous chances.
After going into halftime tied at zero, both teams were more aggressive in the second half. Five minutes into the half, Seton Hall had its first dangerous play of the night with junior forward Tim Ströbeck firing a low shot just left of the goal.
The Hoosiers started to switch the focus of their attack to the middle instead of the wings, and they saw improvement. Almost immediately following, junior forward Tommy Mihalic — who shot from inside the box past the goalkeeper — was unable to score after Seton Hall junior defender Rikard Cederberg deflected the ball into the crossbar.
With 63 minutes of play, Indiana finally broke through. Senior forward Maouloune Goumballe received the ball with his back turned to the goal and passed it to the left to junior forward Sam Sarver on the run. Sarver infiltrated the box and shot the ball to the near side, opening the scoring.
“When the ball was coming, I was expecting Sam to get under me,” Goumballe said in the post-game interview. “It’s a movement we work on training, so it’s pretty routine.”
After the goal, Indiana had a few chances to double their lead but couldn’t finish them. First, senior defender Hugo Bacharach headed the ball over the crossbar on a freekick, and minutes later, Sarver had back-to-back chances on the right but was unable to convert.
“We don’t have a set game plan every game,” Sarver said after the match. “I think that’s what makes us a very good team as we adapt.”
With 10 minutes left of play, Mihalic was elbowed by Seton Hall senior midfielder Tomas Nunez and, after a VAR check, the referee gave Nunez a straight red card.
The numeric advantage gave the Hoosiers the opportunity to run out the clock without suffering any pressure from the Pirates.
Now, Indiana travels to Tampa, Florida to face the University of South Florida on Friday. Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. at Corbett Stadium, and the match will be streamed live on ESPN+.
“Tonight, you saw a Seton Hall team that didn’t play through their lines very much,” Yeagley said. “I think this game Friday will be very much different.”
