Ohio State midfielder Kyle Culbertson took aim and fired the ball toward the near post. Webb dove and made the save, giving the No. 10 Hoosiers a 2-1 win over the Buckeyes in Columbus — IU’s third straight win.
“Honestly I walked away looking down to the ground when the shot was taken, so I didn’t see the save,” IU Coach Todd Yeagley said. “But by the reaction from the bench, I know Colin measured up really well. Big play by Colin, he’s been really good for us this year. We needed him today to make a play to help us get the win.”
Webb knew he had to make the stop and made sure his teammates could celebrate when the game was over.
“It was definitely a big time result for the guys,” Webb said. “The guys put in a great effort and I wanted to make sure they were rewarded for the hard work they put in.”
IU (8-1-3, 2-1-1) got its first goal in the 49th minute on junior midfielder Femi Hollinger-Janzen’s third goal of the season after a cross into the box by junior forward ?Andrew Oliver.
“We know (Femi’s) a guy that needs to be in our top three scorers,” Yeagley said. “Balanced scoring is something we thought could be a strength for this team if we could find it.”
The Buckeyes tied the game in the 77th minute on Culbertson’s first penalty kick of the game. Webb called the penalty “questionable.”
Less than a minute later, however, freshman forward Jay McIntosh scored his first career goal on a pass from senior midfielder Jamie Vollmer.
“It was unbelievable,” McIntosh said. “The pass from Jamie was perfect.”
The goal will certainly be one that McIntosh remembers. A native of Kalamazoo, Mich., the statewide hatred of Ohio State still exists with him.
“Nobody from Michigan likes Ohio State,” McIntosh said. “That’s big time for me and my family.”
Despite the big win that puts the Hoosiers in control of their own destiny for second place in the Big Ten, Yeagley wasn’t pleased with the entire game.
“(Sunday) wasn’t a great performance,” Yeagley said. “We were off in the first half. I thought it was one of our weaker 25 minute periods of the season, if not the weakest. At the half, we had a pretty good conversation, more one way conversation, on the good news is that it is zeros, and we can play a heck of a lot better. I was pleased with our response after halftime.”
He said the second half his team returned to a form he was more used to seeing.
“When you’re not at your best, and you can still find results, that’s a really good sign for any team,” Yeagley said.
