Ohio State ends IU Big Ten tourney run in semifinals

Freshman goalkeeper Luis Soffner stood at the 18, his head thrown back in frustration.
A third Buckeye goal in 41 minutes had just gone past his gloved hands.

“We made some mistakes defensively, and they capitalized,” IU coach Mike Freitag said. “They didn’t have a whole lot of chances, but when they did, they finished. The name of the game is finishing.”

Ohio State beat IU for the second time in 12 days, kicking in the most goals Soffner has allowed in a single game during his first season.

The 4-2 loss knocked the Hoosiers out of the Big Ten Tournament, leaving them at 10-9-1 and anticipating a selection for the NCAA tournament.

“I’m hurting,” junior midfielder Andy Adlard said. “It’s very disappointing. I know we were so close, and we were playing well from the start, so it’s really frustrating to lose.”

After a goal in the opening four minutes of each half, IU was unable to outscore Ohio State in the semifinal match of the Big Ten tournament.

“The one goal, the guy had a pretty good shot, but the rest of them we thought they were really our fault,” senior midfielder Lee Hagedorn said. “We should have had a stop, and we didn’t.”

About six minutes after the first IU goal, junior midfielder Daniel Kelly charged toward the net and went to take a shot but became entangled with an Ohio State defender. He did not get up to play another minute. Freitag said he thinks Kelly pulled his hamstring.

“That’s a big blow for us because D.K.’s been playing so well for us, offensively,” Freitag said. “When he went out, that hurt us a little bit.”

But what hurt more was Ohio State’s next two first-half goals. The third Buckeye score came on a long serve from 25 yards out and seemed to pierce IU soccer’s confidence.

“They played a game the day before, a lot of running the day before,” Freitag said. “It was a fresh team against a team that isn’t. Now that’s part of it ... that’s not an excuse, but that factors into the equation.”

At the start of the second half, the Hoosiers’ momentum and intensity changed.

Hagedorn took a shot in the 48th minute that was rebounded by leading scorer and sophomore forward Will Bruin, who finished the ball for the Hoosiers’ second goal. But the Hoosiers were unable to get goal No. 3 off their feet.

“Once Ohio State got their few goals, everything went downhill from there,” Adlard said. “Then we picked it back, and then it went downhill again.”

The Hoosiers kept trying to push the scoring boulder back up the hill. With 10 seconds left in the game, senior back Ofori Sarkodie had the ball, and a couple of quick passes between defenders eventually led the ball to Bruin’s foot. Bruin took the shot with three seconds left, but the ball sailed high and the final seconds ticked off the game clock.

“I’ve been here four and a half years and never thought this day would come,” Hagedorn said. “Never thought I’d go out in a loss, that’s for sure. It’s definitely a sad day knowing that we might not be able to play again in front of our home fans at Jerry Yeagley Field.”