Penn State ousts men's soccer team from Big Ten Tournament

IU arrived Thursday at Penn State for the Big Ten Tournament equipped with Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year Will Bruin, Big Ten Coach of the Year Todd Yeagley and the conference’s best record.

None of that mattered Friday when the No. 1-seeded Hoosiers lost to No. 4 Penn State, 2-1, and caught an early flight home.

“We played them evenly, if not more opportunities than them,” freshman midfielder Nikita Kotlov said. “They finished on their chances, and we didn’t.”

Four minutes into the game, an offensive surge yielded Bruin’s 16th goal of the year, but Nittany Lion goals in both halves made the difference.

Less than seven minutes later, the game was knotted up with Penn State’s Cory Hertzog’s goal, which ballooned his season total to a conference-leading 17. Hertzog beat junior defender Tommy Meyer one-on-one, then maneuvered by sophomore goalkeeper Luis Soffner, who came off his line.

“We had our chances,” Bruin said. “We hurt ourselves by giving up the first goal that
never should have happened. It’s the story of our season.”

Then came the second half.

And then came the missed opportunities.

With 13 shots in the game, five were on goal, and Penn State goalkeeper Brendan Birmingham smothered most of them. His four saves kept the Hoosiers in check in the second half, none of which were more important than a split-second save on a Harrison Petts strike with 11:30 to play.

“Some shots from distance were off, and some shots were blocked,” Yeagley said. “We did enough to win games like that. Our big push is eliminating our goals against and keeping a clean sheet. You’re going to have to win 1-0 games in the (NCAA) tournament.”

Twenty-five minutes into the second half, Penn State’s Justin Lee took a cross from teammate Matheus Braga that he scorched past a diving Soffner to take a 2-1 lead.

A controversial no-call came with 2:50 minutes remaining. Penn State’s Drew Cost took down Kotlov from behind in the box. A whistle on the play would have resulted in a penalty kick to send the game in overtime.

“I felt that call certainly could have been made,” Yeagley said. “He’s got position to be able to make a play and (Cost) came to the side of him to where he couldn’t make a play. Those are the breaks you sometimes get and you sometimes don’t. We were right there on the edge, but we aren’t going to hang our hats on one play.”

Kotlov said he could have seen the play go either way.

“If it was in the first half and there wasn’t much on the line, it would have been called,” he said. “At first I thought it was a foul, and I was really mad. Since it was late in the game, for the ref to call that, it would be tough on him. “

Regardless, the Hoosiers returned to Bloomington with a two-game losing streak as they await their NCAA bid fate.

The NCAA Tournament bracket will be announced Monday.

A veteran to the postseason, Bruin said he is confident but realistic in his expectations for the Hoosiers’ tournament fate.

“I’m thinking we’ll get a home game on Thursday and then have to travel the rest of the way,” he said. “We know everyone in our region and know that if we are on our game, we can do some damage for sure.”