IU's season ends with 3-2 loss to Akron

AKRON, Ohio – A dominant second-half performance and frantic comeback attempt fell short for the IU men’s soccer team Thursday. The Hoosiers fell to Akron 3-2 in the NCAA Tournament’s first round.

Akron grabbed control early, rippling the Hoosier net just more than six minutes after the opening kickoff.

Senior forward Reinaldo Brenes streaked through a wide-open Hoosier defense to meet a pass from freshman midfielder Adam Najem. The rolling pass threaded through three IU defenders on its path to Brenes, who slotted his low shot between freshman goalkeeper Colin Webb’s legs.

By the time Brenes’ shot reached the back of the net, hundreds of Akron students gathered behind the goal had erupted — the Zips took an early 1-0 lead.

The Hoosiers had no fewer than three chances to equalize following the early goal, but shots by freshman forward Tommy Thompson and senior midfielder Harrison Petts failed to produce a goal.

Akron capitalized on a bit of fortune in the 23rd minute, doubling its lead with a goal from Aodhan Quinn.

A scramble in front of the IU net pulled Webb off the goal line to turn away a shot. When the deflected ball fell to Quinn’s feet, the senior midfielder took one touch to evade a defender and lofted a shot over a crowd of both crimson and white shirts. Webb was unable to recover in time to prevent Quinn’s shot from settling in his net and doubling the Hoosiers’ deficit.

IU Coach Todd Yeagley said he saw a strong performance from his team in the first half despite the scoreline.

“I thought we were the better team in the first half in the quality of chances that we had,” Yeagley said. “We knew we’d get more. They’d taken a lot of risks going forward ... I thought we picked and chose our moments, just didn’t convert well in the first half.”

A flurry of goals early in the second half took the game from its halftime score of 2-0 to a 3-2 Zips lead after just nine minutes.

Brenes’ second goal of the game gave Akron a 3-0 lead, but a rapid-fire response from the Hoosiers pulled them within one goal after two scores in under two minutes.

Junior midfielder Dylan Lax put IU on the scoreboard first, heading home a corner kick from junior defender Patrick Doody. The Hoosiers’ first attempt at goal clanged off the right post before falling to a waiting Lax, who put his header away.

The Hoosiers struck again 104 seconds later by converting another Doody corner kick.

Doody’s ball into the box was deflected by Thompson off the crossbar and fell to the feet of senior midfielder Jacob Bushue, who rolled a shot through a sea of defenders and inside the left post. Bushue’s goal made the score 3-2 in favor of the Zips with 37 minutes and 15 seconds remaining in the game.

As the clock wound down, the Hoosiers peppered Akron goalkeeper Jake Fenlanson with shots, with the sophomore’s strong performance the only thing keeping IU from an equalizer. The Hoosiers’ bid at a comeback fell short, and their season ended, taking with it dreams of back-to-back national championships.

“We left it on the field, and we can always be proud at the end of the game if that happens, regardless of the outcome,” Yeagley said. “One team will be ultimately smiling at the end of the season. This group got to experience that last year.”

The loss ended the careers of IU’s five seniors: midfielders Harrison Petts, A.J Corrado, Nikita Kotlov and Bushue and defender Matt McKain — the second time the group has had a season ended in Akron. In 2010, IU fell to the Zips by a score of 2-1 in the NCAA Tournament.

“Obviously it’s disappointing to go out in the first round,” a sullen Petts said after the game. “I couldn’t have asked to play with better seniors and better teammates this year. It’s been an up and down year, and I don’t know any other group of guys who could’ve dealt with that.”

IU finishes the 2013 season, in which they entered as the nation’s No. 1 team, with a record of 8-12-2, the most losses in one season in program history. Despite his team’s struggles throughout the season, Yeagley said their performance to rebound and win the Big Ten Tournament will serve as a teaching point for future IU teams.

“I think any time you leave a season with a title, that’s one of our main three goals, to win the three that are winnable for us,” he said. “The quality of soccer this team played throughout the year, with adversity that we faced with results, and how they came back from that and did what they did at the Big Ten, I think will be one of those moments we’ll talk about. We’ll use that as a learning lesson for teams in the future.

“Anyone that watched this team knew how this group plays. I think tonight was an example of that.”

Follow men's soccer reporter Alden Woods on Twitter @acw9293.