On a soaking wet Jerry Yeagley Field, Indiana men’s soccer pinned Michigan in their own half but could not score.
Lack of accuracy has been a recurring theme for this Hoosier team, and Tuesday night was no different. The Hoosiers had 19 shot attempts but only seven shots on goal against the Wolverines.
Indiana had a slow start, but its first chance came with 26 minutes left in the first half off junior midfielder Patrick McDonald’s low shot from outside the box. Michigan freshman goalkeeper Isaiah Goldson gave a juicy rebound, but freshman forward Collins Oduro could not follow up.
After that, chances started to pour for Indiana. With 20 minutes to go in the opening half, senior defender Joey Maher headed one over the bar and, five minutes later, junior forward Tommy Mihalic fired one from the distance that was saved by Goldson.
Besides the chances generated, Indiana also had control of possession and pressed Michigan against their own end.
With just a minute left in the first half, the Hoosiers saw their best chance go to waste. Senior forward Maouloune Goumballe put the ball inside the 6-yard box for freshman forward Clay Murador but he whiffed it.
“I thought we were in control of the first half,” head coach Todd Yeagley said after the game. “I wasn’t disappointed, but we’ve got to play faster, more decisive.”
Back for the second half, Indiana’s dominance grew even larger.
[Related: No. 23 Indiana men’s soccer ties Wisconsin in first Big Ten matchup of season]
Within the first 15 minutes of the second half, the Hoosiers had five chances to score from crosses – the most dangerous ones coming back-to-back with 30 minutes left in the game. First, Goldson tipped a shot by senior forward Karsen Henderlong that hit the post, then Mihalic fired a curling ball from outside the box that hit the crossbar.
Henderlong had another chance from inside the box with a scissor-kick that went just over the crossbar with 15 minutes left of play.
In the last 10 minutes of the game, Indiana went all-in, and chances flourished once again. The Hoosiers relied on crosses from both sides but could not put the ball in the net.
Senior defender Andrew Goldsworthy was subbed in for Oduro in an attempt to win the high crosses. This was Goldsworthy’s first game since the 2021-22 season
“He’s the best header in our team,” Yeagley said about Goldsworthy. “That’s the reason we put him there.”
Just a few seconds before the final whistle, senior defender Hugo Bacharach had another golden opportunity inside the 6-yard box. After a deflection from a corner, the ball bounced right in front of Bacharach, but Goldson kept his shot out.
“It’s a game of inches, and if those fall our way that game could’ve easily be two or three nil,” senior goalkeeper JT Harms said in a post-game interview.
With the tie, the Hoosiers are still winless in the Big Ten – with a 0-1-2 record – and are now 3-3-3 overall in the season.
[Related: Indiana men’s soccer’s mistake proves costly in loss to No. 22 Michigan State]
So far this season, the Hoosiers have averaged 16 shot attempts per game, but they only have six goals in nine games. In games against the University of Washington and Wisconsin, for example, Indiana had the most possession and more shots on goal than its opponents, but was not able to convert chances into goals, and that affects its chances to make the NCAA playoffs.
Now, Indiana has a full week to recover and prepare before its game against the University of Kentucky. Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. Oct. 3 in Lexington, Kentucky.
