Sophomore Tanner Thompson played a ball in to junior Andrew Oliver and darted towards the bottom left corner of the 18 yard box.
Oliver at the top of the box and his back to goal chipped the ball behind him towards the end line.
Thompson runs it down and creates enough space to deliver a cross into Oliver. Georgetown goalkeeper Tomas Gomez reacts and tries to clear the ball with punch, but the ball makes it only as far as junior Femi Hollinger-Janzen.
Hollinger-Janzen had been watching the play, waiting for this exact opportunity. He collected the ball and calmly slotted it into the bottom left corner of the goal for IU’s lone score in the 26th minute of a 1-1 draw against No. 9 Georgetown.
“We wanted to come out, put them on their heels and get some chances early,” Thompson said.
This trio of attack minded players will be tasked with creating the majority of IU goals this season. Oliver is a natural forward, Hollinger-Janzen is a left mid with a propensity for streaking towards goal, and Thompson is a player who gets his kicks off of creating chances.
“Just finding the pockets in between their defensive midfield and their center backs is what I like to do,” Thompson said. “And then turn, run at the back line and try to create chances for our team.”
IU came out in a 4-2-3-1 formation. This put Oliver all alone up top, while Hollinger-Janzen, Thompson and Jamie Vollmer all sat just below him looking to either make runs down the wings or take on defenders down the middle.
Against a defense led by center back Joshua Yaro, a sophomore named to Top Drawer Soccer’s preseason Best XI, and goalkeeper Tomas Gomez, reigning Big East goalkeeper of the year, goals and chances were expected to be hard to come by.
“Oliver has a big frame,” Thompson said. “Their center back was pretty athletic and I thought Oli did a good job flipping some balls on and that’s how our goal came out with Femi.”
Hollinger-Janzen’s goal was just a brief moment of what this attack can potentially turn into IU Coach Todd Yeagley said.
Oliver was presented with the ball inside the 18 multiple times throughout the game. Sometimes it was cut out by a last effort challenge by a defender, other times he miscued on the final product.
“We had a lack of composure tonight offensively,” Yeagley said. “But we have a lot of growth potential for where this team can go going forward.”
One moment where this offensive immaturity presented itself was with 14 minutes left in the first half. Thompson was in possession of the ball just outside the 18. Oliver made a lateral run towards the box which Thompson tried to connect too.
Yaro slid to block Thompson’s pass but merely deflected the ball towards the middle of the box, where Oliver stood alone with only the goalie between him and a 2-0 IU lead.
Oliver shot it over the crossbar in what was the last quality chance IU had.
“We need to convert the chance we got with Andrew,” Yeagley said. “That changes the game at that point.”
