No. 16 Indiana men’s soccer will begin its quest for a 17th Big Ten Tournament title as the second overall seed.
With No. 1 Ohio State’s 2-1 win over No. 10 Maryland on Sunday afternoon, the Hoosiers dropped one spot in the conference table, earning the No. 2 seed for the conference tournament as well as confirming a share of the regular season title with the Buckeyes.
Indiana will face Michigan in the quarterfinals of the tournament in Bridgeview, Illinois. If the Hoosiers advance to the championship as the highest remaining seed, they’ll host the title match at on Nov. 17 at Bill Armstrong Stadium in Bloomington .
The Hoosiers won the Big Ten Tournament as the top seed last year, defeating Michigan 4-3 in a thrilling semifinal match before toppling Penn State 1-0 to lift the championship trophy in front of a raucous home crowd.
This season, Indiana’s path was slightly more difficult. The Hoosiers began the year slow, plagued by the inconsistencies of their revamped attack. But once conference play began, Indiana transformed.
Through October, Indiana accumulated an 8-0-1 record, including seven straight wins to cap the regular season. The Hoosiers — led by senior forward and leading goal scorer Tommy Mihalic — scored at least two goals in every match during that span.
Mihalic notched a career-high and Big Ten-leading 10 goals this season, and six other Hoosiers tallied at least three. Graduate forward Justin Weiss’ recent run of form helped rekindle Indiana’s attack. The Northwestern graduate student transfer scored six goals in four matches, including a brace against his former Wildcats in the Hoosiers’ dominant 6-1 victory to clinch a share of the Big Ten regular season title.
Now, the Hoosiers are turning their focus to the postseason and hoping this momentum persists.
They’ll begin tournament play at 1 p.m. Thursday at SeatGeek Stadium. Coverage of the quarterfinals will be carried on Big Ten +.
Follow reporters Matt Press (@MattPress23) and Mateo Fuentes-Rohwer (@mateo_frohwer) for updates throughout the Indiana men’s soccer season.
This story was updated to include the opponent Indiana will face.
