LOS ANGELES — There was less than a minute left. Most of the players on Indiana men’s soccer were out of stamina, evident through their little jogs and crouched postures.
But Patrick McDonald wasn’t done running. He’d been running all game, and when his team needed him to close out a critical Big Ten regular season match, he was there.
“He is at his best when the lights are brightest, and the stage is the biggest,” Indiana head coach Todd Yeagley said postgame. “Some guys tend to have up and down moments, but he rises to the occasion.”
First, the senior midfielder retrieved a dangerous ball in Indiana’s box and pushed it away from danger, but his efforts to retain possession failed. However, McDonald continued to sprint, putting his head down and using whatever energy he had left to pressure the backline.
Then, only seconds later, McDonald poked a dangerous ball past a sliding Bruin, settled near the touch line and booted the ball down the field. As the public address announcer counted down the final moments of the game, the traveling Hoosier faithful celebrated No. 25 Indiana’s 2-1 victory over No. 15.
In a match as frenetic as Friday night was, both teams needed players to control the tempo and win balls in the midfield. McDonald and his partner, junior Jack Wagoner, did just that.
McDonald and Wagoner first began their partnership back in 2022, as the two headlined the Hoosier midfield in their NCAA Championship run. Although the journey ultimately ended short of a ninth national championship, a duo was formed.
“We were together pretty much the whole season,” McDonald said postgame. “We really got a good relationship in there, and now we’ve just kept it rolling.”
Entering the 2024 season, McDonald and Wagoner’s partnership was not a guarantee. Wagoner’s position the previous year had been taken over by Hugo Bacharach down the stretch, limiting Wagoner’s minutes from the bench.
The arrival of graduate transfer Luke Jeffus from Tulsa University prompted more questions as to whether Wagoner would get the spot next to McDonald, but after a string of positive performances, the Chesterfield, Missouri, native secured the place in the starting lineup.
As the midfielders continued to string together top performances and build momentum, it became increasingly difficult for Yeagley to substitute either of them in the run of unbeaten games. Friday night was no different, as both McDonald and Wagoner played all 90 minutes.
Yeagley noted the chemistry between the two is “excellent.”
“There’s a good yin and yang at what their qualities are, and they read each other well,” Yeagley said. “That’s over two years of playing together, a lot of minutes. You can see that.”
The qualities Yeagley mentioned extend beyond the physical tools each player has. The head coach highlighted McDonald’s range, and claimed Wagoner is like a “quarterback” with his ability to read plays and move players around where they need to be.
What both players possess is an engine, one which never turns off.
In the first half, Wagoner chased down a ball following a UCLA corner. HIs effort forced a poor back pass, which in turn earned a throw-in for Indiana. Similarly, McDonald seemed to never stop moving in the second half, whether he had the ball or not.
Part of the engine is the internal motivation each player has, knowing the consequences of each regular season Big Ten game. The other part is the motivation from the players behind them, ones who don’t see the field but McDonald and Wagoner both recognize for their efforts.
“We know how hard these guys on the bench work,” McDonald said. “For us to be out here representing them, we got to put our best foot forward and (leave) all of it on the field.”
With McDonald and Wagoner backing each other up, it’s become easy for the two to work together. McDonald remarked how easy it is to play next to Wagoner, noting the same quarterback-like qualities Yeagley brought up.
Wagoner feels the same about his partner.
“We sort of know where each other’s going to be in certain spots,” Wagoner said postgame. “We can always rely on each other to be there, back us up if we make a mistake, if we’re out of position. It’s a blessing to play with a guy like Pat.”
Even though their qualities are like a yin and yang, their motives are identical. Both acknowledged the importance of the win while drawing focus on Indiana’s next Big Ten match against Northwestern on Tuesday.
And much like their engines, they’ll aim for Indiana’s win to keep running.
Follow reporters Matt Press (@MattPress23) and Mateo Fuentes-Rohwer (@mateo_frohwer) for updates throughout the Indiana men’s soccer season.
