For the first time this season, IU was out-possessed against South Florida on Sunday night. One of IU Coach Todd Yeagley’s tactics is keeping possession and controlling the game, but the match against South Florida was different.
The Bulls controlled possession in most of the first half, to the point where the Hoosiers switched formations from a 4-3-3 to a 4-2-3-1 midway through the game in order to create more chances. The creativity led to goals for the Hoosiers, who went on to win the game 3-0.
Yeagley said he was impressed with the way South Florida played in the first half, and he praised South Florida's passing as being the best he has seen in a long time.
“We had to adjust,” Yeagley said. “There was no panic with our group because we knew it was something that they could do, so we were ready for it. You can’t be stubborn and play the way you have all season long, and you have to learn to be successful in different ways. We did that tonight.”
IU opened the scoring in the 14th minute after junior defender Timmy Mehl played a ball down the pitch to junior defender Andrew Gutman, who then played the ball to freshman attacker Thomas Warr in the box. Warr held the ball, fought off a defender and laid it off to Gutman, who slotted the ball into the bottom right corner.
"We can play any system," Gutman said. “At the beginning of the game we tried to get in behind their defenders, but as the game went on, they started to possess in the back line a little bit so we had to drop one player back deeper into the defense to disrupt their movement."
After good defensive play by both teams for most of the game, the second goal came after a South Florida defender was called for a handball in his own box. That led to a penalty kick, which was taken and converted by junior midfielder Trevor Swartz.
South Florida had plenty of chances to score throughout the game, but couldn’t put away any of its 13 shots. The Bulls disrupted the IU defense, forcing freshman goalkeeper Trey Muse to make 3 saves, tied for a season high.
IU will play its toughest opponent yet in its next match against No. 6 Maryland on the road. The teams tied in last season’s matchup in Bloomington.
