The floodgates finally opened for the normally sluggish Hoosier offense Tuesday night, as No. 9 IU defeated No. 13 Kentucky 3-0 at Bill Armstrong Stadium.
“The team played great,” junior midfielder Andy Adlard said. “We had a lot of possession – knocking it around, moving them around. There were lots of gaps and opportunities. Luckily, they fell for me.”
Adlard, who came off the bench Tuesday because of poor play, scored two of IU’s three goals. Freshman midfielder Nick Blevins scored the Hoosiers’ other goal.
Adlard came in after junior midfielder Daniel Kelly went down with an injury.
“Andy has not been playing well, and he would probably be the first to admit it,” IU coach Mike Freitag said. “Sometimes splinters are a good motivator. Andy sat at the beginning of the game. I think the message got through to him, and I thought he had a great game tonight.”
Tuesday’s win was IU’s first home victory, but more importantly, the first win against a top-25 opponent.
IU’s record improves to 5-2-1 (1-0).
“I think the picture was a little better tonight,” Freitag said. “Not to say we played poorly in the other games, but a lot of it has to do with the players feeling confident about things and feeling good about themselves. This is their team.”
