The last three minutes. With the lead, they can feel like an eternity. Facing a deficit, they can feel like a blur.
Both IU’s men’s soccer team and a visiting Maryland squad bombarded balls into the box all night, and with junior defender and All-American, Grant Lillard, out due to a suspension, the No. 4 Hoosiers knew they needed to scrap for anything they could get.
IU was just three minutes away from its first win over the No. 5 Maryland Terrapins since 2004, but Alex Crognale’s 87th minute equalizer ended the match in a 1-1 extra time draw.
“I thought it was another classic Indiana-Maryland game,” IU Coach Todd Yeagley said. “Back and forth, but tonight we had the better quality chances, and Andrew (Gutman)was unlucky not to have three on the night. The ball was bouncing around the box and it just didn’t find its way.”
It was Richard Ballard who got the Hoosiers on the board to open the scoring with a goal in the seventh minute. From there, it felt like IU was given a jolt of energy without Lillard.
The Hoosiers were pushing the envelope all night, fighting for anything that could bounce their way. There were countless free kicks from outside the area, great build-ups from both sides and outstanding individual efforts, but it felt like the ice was breaking for IU.
The Hoosiers couldn’t hold their one-goal advantage any longer than they did.
“It’s tough,” Ballard said. “It happens and you just have to move onto the next game.”
On a night where stars were all over the field with two top-five teams, it was IU sophomore defender Andrew Gutman, clad in pink cleats, who was making runs and sending balls into the box all night. He finished the night tied for a game-high five shots along with an assist on the Ballard goal.
“We were just unfortunate that we didn’t get a ball to bounce our way,” Yeagley said. “We created enough good chances to win the game — I feel good about that.”
There was plenty of creativity with senior midfielder Tanner Thompson and junior forward Rashad Hycenth playing off of each other up front, but neither of them could find that breakthrough moment.
The chances for the brace were there for the Hoosiers, but like Yeagley said, the ball just didn’t bounce their way. Like all good teams do, Maryland hung around and it paid off.
“We had our chances, but we just didn’t put them away,” Gutman said. “Maybe on a different day it would have happened, but credit to their goalkeeper, he made a lot of good saves.”
There is no doubt this match will sting for the Hoosiers being just three minutes away from a big win without one their best players. Yeagley said there could still be things taken out of this game moving forward. The players may not have been thrilled with the result, but the message was still positive.
“Remember a lot of the good things,” Yeagley said. “They were upset, but they stayed focused and didn’t lose sight that we can’t give them a goal. The takeaway is that I’m really proud that we could get a result in a tough scenario.”
In the short term, this result will keep these two sides tied in the Big Ten to start play. When you look at the long term, this result does make things interesting when the Big Ten Tournament rolls around. That however, is way off in the distance.
“I have a lot of respect for Maryland,” Yeagley said. “Hopefully we get to play them again.”
