IU, Notre Dame play to 0-0 draw

One hundred and ten minutes was not long enough for the Hoosiers or the Fighting Irish to come away with a win from their season opener Saturday evening in South Bend.

The No. 17 IU men’s soccer team (0-0-1) played to a 0-0 tie against in-state rival No. 12 Notre Dame (0-0-1). The game was the first away-from-home season opener for the Hoosiers since 2006.

The Hoosiers and the Fighting Irish stayed at 0-0 through two halves and two 10-minute overtime periods.

However, the game was not without drama. Notre Dame was consistently in the Hoosiers’ defensive zone but could not put a shot in the back of the net.

“I think they had a little bit of an edge on the offensive side, but our defense was playing really strong,” junior goalkeeper Luis Soffner said. “We felt like we weren’t going to give up, and we just held our line strong.”

The Irish outshot the visiting Hoosiers 24-11 and put constant pressure on Soffner, but Soffner did not waver. Despite the large disadvantage on total shots, the two teams tied in shots on goal.

Though the Notre Dame offense consistently pressured the IU defense, the Irish were unable to get many good looks on goal. Even when they did, Soffner was waiting for them as the last line of defense.

Despite the lack of offensive rhythm in the season opener, IU Coach Todd Yeagley said he saw a lot of positives out on the field from his young squad.

“We have a lot of young players and a lot of new faces,” Yeagley said. “I thought our upperclassmen did a great job being there when we needed them to, and that experience is what we need from them.”

With his team matching up against a veteran Notre Dame squad on the road in front of a big crowd, Yeagley said the Hoosiers handled the challenge quite well.

“There were several games last year that we played well offensively and didn’t come away with a win,” Yeagley said. “A tough environment, first game on the road. There are a lot of things that we can build on from here.”

After only scoring one goal in two preseason games against Duke and Xavier, the Hoosiers once again struggled offensively. Yeagley said he thinks that could have been caused by a few easily correctable issues. He said he’s confident that his team will get back on track shortly.

“We were a little out of sync offensively, and that has to do with our lack of movement,” Yeagley said. “It could have been maybe the preseason took a toll, and the legs weren’t there as much as we thought. We will be performing better offensively, that’s for sure.”